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INTRODUCTION. <p>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.</p> <p><b>1. AGENCIES: CAN’T LIVE WITH THEM, CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT THEM.</b></p> <p>Understanding What you Want from an Agency.</p> <p>Understanding the Nature of your Organization.</p> <p>The Collaborative Spirit: The Essential Ingredient.</p> <p>Starting off on the Right Foot.</p> <p>Ensuring that the New Team Works Well Together.</p> <p><b>2. HOW AN AGENCY WORKS BEHIND THE SCENES.</b></p> <p>Understanding how an Agency is Structured.</p> <p>Understanding the Creative Development Process.</p> <p><b>3. SELECTING AN AGENCY.</b></p> <p>Preparation Before an Agency Review.</p> <p>Working with Third-Party Specialists.</p> <p>Guidelines on Agency Search and Selection.</p> <p>Meeting the Agency Face-to-Face.</p> <p>Post-Pitch Feedback.</p> <p><b>4. BRIEFING AN AGENCY.</b></p> <p>The Value of the Briefing Process.</p> <p>The Role of the Different Briefing Stages.</p> <p>The Key Elements to the Brief.</p> <p>Four Principles for a Good Brief.</p> <p>The Hotspots of the Brief.</p> <p>Developing a Challenging Communications Proposition.</p> <p>Creating an Inspiring Briefing.</p> <p><b>5. CHAMPIONING THE CREATIVE PRODUCT.</b></p> <p>How to Evaluate Creative.</p> <p>Providing Usable Feedback.</p> <p>Creating a Creatively Receptive Environment.</p> <p>Presenting Creative Effectively.</p> <p><b>6. SMOOTHING THE WAY FOR EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNS.</b></p> <p>Establishing Project Management Systems.</p> <p>Approval Procedures.</p> <p>Checking the Legal Aspects.</p> <p>Moving from Concepts to Campaign Execution Effectively.</p> <p>Managing Problems with a Creative Concept.</p> <p><b>7. TAKING CARE OF THE FINANCES OF THE RELATIONSHIP.</b></p> <p>Different Agency Remuneration Structures.</p> <p>Working with Procurement.</p> <p>Contract or No Contract?</p> <p>Setting a Budget.</p> <p>How an Agency Works in Terms of Finances.</p> <p><b>8. DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP.</b></p> <p>Managing Creativity.</p> <p>Knowing the Friction Points.</p> <p>Balancing Success and Failure.</p> <p>Getting your Portfolio of Agencies to Work Together.</p> <p>Evaluating Agency Performance.</p> <p>EPILOGUE.</p> <p>REFERENCES.</p> <p>USEFUL INFORMATION SOURCES.</p> <p>ABOUT THE AUTHOR.</p> <p>INDEX.</p>

<b>Mike Sims</b>, is Client Services Partner at Partners Andrews Aldridge, London UK. He is responsible for agency resourcing and overall agency delivery to clients. He has worked in both big and small agencies and has been involved in all areas of account handling, heading large and small client services departments. Since his arrival at the firm they have become the first agency to secure Campaign Direct Agency of the Year, the DMA Grand Prix and Precision Marketing Agency of the Year at the same time.His sector experience covers automotive, telecoms, IT, and financial services. He has worked on traditional and digital campaigns, consumer and b2b brands and has led pan-European accounts. Prior to working in agencies he was a teacher and worked in training and development in the marketing industry.

Change is afoot in the nature of the relationships between creative agencies and their clients. On one hand, clients are becoming more experienced and demanding; on the other agencies are increasingly polarized between the big consolidated groups and smaller independents. Yet as more organizations than ever seek like-minded business partners and more agencies throw off the historic mantle of creative aloofness, so a new potential for collaboration between them grows. <p><i>Working with Agencies</i> has been written for marketers in client organizations who want to refine their skills in the key areas of selecting an agency, briefing creative work, creative evaluation and developing campaigns together. Mike Sims explores the partnership from both sides, stressing that even the most creative products require a logical approach to communication, and shows how clients can ensure that their relationships deliver synergy, campaign efficiencies and a strong market presence.</p> <p>In a new landscape the basics of productive cooperation remain: knowledge, trust and a sense of collaborative adventure. This book reveals the inside secrets of how to achieve all three in your own agency relationships – and reap the rewards.</p>

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