Review your agency roster – are you doing enough?

Reviewing your agency roster

There are lots of uncertainties hanging over us all at the moment, but as a marketer, I’m willing to bet one of your biggest worries is an internal question you keep coming back to – Am I doing enough?

And the only thing that breaks the repetition of the question in your head is your frustration with your agency mix.

Your agency roster was supposed to be your marketing Swiss army knife, but it always felt like something was missing, and now 2021 has left you feeling like you really don’t have the agency resources to tackle today’s challenge.

Could there be a gap in your agency roster?

The reason this is happening, I believe, is because you have a gap in your agency roster. It’s a common problem. One lots of marketers don’t even know they have. See if this strikes a chord. 

You’ve got a big, well-known lead ATL agency. They are cracking at all top-level brand strategy work. Real big thinkers. And then you ask them to activate it and you start wading through treacle. Everything takes forever and costs twice as much. You don’t have the time.

So you turn to one of the specialist agencies on your roster. They’re quicker (and potentially cheaper) and happy to do it. And that goes great for a while. Until you realise the problem is their specialism is also their Achilles heel.

They struggle to produce work that really resonates with your wider brand strategy. You end up with activated content that isn’t connected and therefore doesn’t tick all your boxes. And again, you think to yourself Am I doing enough? There has to be a better way.

Don’t worry. There is.

Fix your frustrations with a new type of agency

Our agency is a special breed that’s evolved out of the need to fill the void between the lead ATLs and the channel specialists for very big brands.

Here at Ride Shotgun, we specialise in bridging gaps in agency rosters with our strategic capabilities and creative skillset that effectively deliver brand strategy alongside creative and agile activation.  

It means that marketers like you stop being forced to compromise, no longer have to deal with agency egos and (most importantly) finally feel like they are doing enough. 

Procurement teams love the idea too, clearly seeing the opportunity to ensure value for money and efficiency, without compromising on quality. And all too often they don’t have an agency that offers what we can in the mix.

Our team members work across disciplines and combine their skills and expertise to translate high level strategy into content and campaigns that are quick to market. The results catapult your brand forward across channels with creative assets and persuasive messaging while never neglecting effectiveness and ROI.

Our challenging thinking ethos means whether we’re laying the foundations of a brand, picking up from your lead agency or keeping up momentum on project deadlines, you can count on us to think objectively, bring fresh ideas and push your projects to better places.

For you, working with an agency like Ride Shotgun means no opportunities get missed anymore, you’ll never choose between budget and brilliance again and everything will run smoothly without the drama.

In the past you might have thought it sounds too good to be true. Well, th last couple of years have taught us that anything is possible.

Questions to reflect on

Now’s the time to take your Am I doing enough? Questionnaire and get more specific with it.

Here’s three things to ask yourself:

1. Is my current agency roster causing me delays, holding up important projects and leaving me to watch opportunities slip by?
2. Am I always compromising because my agency can’t flex? Either they can’t deliver what I need for my budget, or my budget won’t stretch far enough.
3. Are there egos and attitudes in my agency mix that are causing me headaches I really don’t need? 

Really reflect on those questions for a few minutes. If the answer to any is yes, then I’d suggest you look at making some additions to your roster.