Supplemental Consulting Services and
Agency Relationship Optimization

A “blueprint’ is also useful in implementing important post-selection and on-going relationships between you and your agency. Each of these blueprints or services is supplemental, with individual fees for each, based on the size and complexity of your need.

To help clients get the most value from their agency relationships, we offer these services:

Agency Performance Evaluation

Your relationship with your advertising agency is unlike any other business relationship. The dimensions are varied, such as:

Agency performance evaluations can help improve your agency relationship. But, we believe that this must be a two-way process to be of value. In other words, Blueprint evaluates the agency and you and your team independently.

We work with your team and the advertising agency to establish clear-cut, measurable performance objectives that can be linked to agency compensation, if desired.

Most of our clients prefer Blueprint Communications involvement in agency evaluation beyond simply setting up the evaluation process. We give you the benefits of our experience and objectivity. In addition, we can maintain historical tracking that allows you to identify trends by comparing agency performance over several periods.

Although we prefer in-person contact, we can conduct these evaluations online to speed response and serve multiple locations.

Even with the best intentions, you and your new agency can get off to a bumpy start. For example: Additional expectations on your part can arise.

• Your agency may encounter more staffing challenges than originally anticipated.
• You may not be able to devote enough time to set policies and procedures.

The same types of issues can also erode relationships with existing agencies.

Blueprint Communications has the experience and processes to help clients.

• measure performance
• clarify evolving client expectations,
• manage agency deliverables
• improve client/agency work processes.

Back to Top

Advertising Campaign Measurement

Before deciding to search for a new agency, evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising campaign. Blueprint Communications can help you evaluate the impact of your current traditional or online campaign.

The methodology used presents a precise audit of advertising results, separate and apart from other marketing variables. As a result, we provide you a more accurate basis for evaluating advertising agency performance.

Blueprint Communications can help you determine:

• Does the campaign generate enough awareness to provide for substantial sales impact? If not, why not?
• How strong is each individual ad in its ability to attract attention, identify the brand and communicate the intended message?
• What impact is the ad campaign having on image, usage and sales among people who are reached by it?
• Is the advertising delivering the right audience efficiently? How well is the media mix working?
• What is the relative contribution of each media platform to overall campaign results? Should the ad budget be allocated differently?
• Is the advertising budget right for the brand? What would be the most profitable budget for the brand?
• How should the advertising budget be allocated among various markets to optimize campaign impact?
• What inroads are competitive campaigns making? What counter measures should be taken?
• Has the campaign worn out?

Media Assessment

Blueprint Communications provides an in-depth audit of existing media plans and buys to identify opportunities for improvements and cost savings. We can help you determine:

• Whether you should separate media planning and buying from your creative agency.
• If media plans reflect the agreed-upon media strategy.
• How cost efficient the agency is in buying your media.

Workshops

Blueprint Communications offers a number of thorough, one-day workshops that gives your company team and your agency team blueprints for becoming the most effective client/agency team. This is covered in more detail in the Workshops section of this Web site.

Cliency

Blueprint Communications offers a thorough, one-day workshop that gives you and your team a blueprint for becoming a more effective client in optimizing results. It enables you to see yourself from the agency's point-of-view and pinpoint improvement opportunities.

This workshop can include a special section on Communicating Styles, somewhat similar to Myers Briggs, to help participants identify and flex their own personal communications to build effectiveness. This helps your company team minimize the problems of personal chemistry issues with their agency counterparts.

Benchmarking

Blueprint Communications develops best practice studies to improve advertising decision-making, effectiveness and cost efficiencies. While these studies salute client strengths, they also reveal areas for improvement. We have completed studies, for example, to help a client streamline and improve the effectiveness of its internal media organization. With another client, we recommended a new organizational structure for their marketing and advertising department after benchmarking "best practices" of several consumer companies.

Train the Trainer

Blueprint Communications recognizes that are some companies that would prefer to conduct their own agency search without the use of an outside consultant.

We offer a two-day seminar on "How to Identify, Select and Compensate your New Advertising Agency."

This is an in-depth seminar that covers all aspects of agency selection and provides detailed templates that you can use during the process. At the end of the two-day seminar you and your team will have all the tools necessary to conduct your own search whether it is an advertising agency, promotion agency, direct marketing or digital agency.

<< See Agency Compensation/Contract Optimization | Advertising Measurement & Evaluation >>

For a free, personal and confidential consultation on agency
compensation and other contract issues, please call Dwight Shelton
at 770-331-8298

Back to Top