Values of A Really Great Agency

In about 10 weeks from today, BRANDTHINK Malaysia will celebrate 10 years in the marketing communications industry. What started as a boutique ad agency in the year 2000 has grown into an integrated communications group that includes PR, interactive and activation. BT2010 is a passion project to highlight our thoughts and aspirations as we draw closer to our big year. Over the next 10 weeks, we’ll share our List of 10 on what we believe in, our hopes and our dreams for the future.

10 Values of A Really Great Agency

10 years is a really long time in this industry and in that time, I am often asked what differentiate us from other agencies. What makes us unique? Rather than the tired notion of how creative we are, or how good we are at providing great solutions or best thought-out ideas – things that every agency should already be good at – we thought we’d share with you what we believe are values that define a great agency.

1. Integrity
With the recent backlash in financial markets that resulted in the worst economic crisis of our time, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles is more important now than any other time. Integrity must become a central part of any agency’s DNA in a world that is increasingly dishonest. It used to be tough in our earlier years when we refuse to offer kickbacks, or create illegal transactions as a precondition to win businesses, but in the long run, the trust that is gained from our reputation is the ultimate reward. Great agencies have integrity.

2. Only do something when you know you can do it well
It took us 7 years before we officially marketed our PR unit just because we couldn’t do it well enough until we established a winning team who can. I remember the pain of having to turn down projects because we don’t have the resources to run it or simply referred prospects to other agencies that specialize in their exact need. When we do have the ability to deliver, we made sure our capability is top notch. Only then would clients trust in our ability to deliver. That’s how a great agency gains a great reputation.

3. Love All Thy Clients
The most obvious of values: when you love the client – whether it is the brand, or the person working behind it – you’ll do what you can to help them. You’ll do work that’s better because the clients matter. And you’ll seek out the rush you feel when your clients are delighted by your work. That makes the agency a great agency to work with.

4. Remember the small things
We always look for the big in things. Big projects. Big ideas. Big budgets. But it’s the small things that make all the difference. Sometimes that means doing that extra little things that others will dismiss as insignificant distraction. It means taking small steps and consistently achieving mini-goals. It means never ever letting small mistakes put a mark on your otherwise flawless execution. Only when an agency excels in doing the small things can they become entrusted with the great things.

5. Zero Bullshit
A client once told me that if they have a penny for all the bullshit that walks through their door, they’d retire rich by now. A grave reminder to us that great agencies know that if there isn’t anything good to say – say nothing at all.

6. Be willing to roll up your sleeves and dig in
It’s 8am in the morning and it’s about 3 hours before the looming deadline. The press release has yet to be finalized, and the setup is in a complete mess. Agencies face obstacles like these all the time. It’s the nature of our business. But what separate great agencies from good agencies are how we respond. Great agencies will do whatever it takes to overcome challenges because they know all to0 well that when they are responsible for something, they will never be too high up there to roll-up their sleeves and dig.

7. Everyday is a learning curve
In our years growing up, we remember the countless amount of battles we faced with bigger, more established agencies in new business pitches. We’ve had our fair share of wins and losses but the pertinent thing I remember with all our wins was that we let our expertise, experience and skills trump the day. In the face of established agencies many times our size, what gave us the winning edge was simply that we knew the subject matter better than our competition. Those experiences taught us that great agencies never overestimate themselves no matter how big they grow and continually challenge themselves to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge.

8. Never give up. Never surrender.
If we had given up, we wouldn’t be working with some of our clients now whom we courted repeatedly for years before they hired us. If we have surrendered to stress of projects, we would have accepted sub-standard work simply to escape. If we had taken “no” at face value, we wouldn’t have convinced our clients to embark on unconventional ways to deliver exponential sales. If we were complacent, learning new skills or acquiring new knowledge will never be a habit and we wouldn’t have seen the need to be better versions of ourselves. If we just bow out, we will never become a great agency.

9. If you must give something up, quit gracefully.
Let’s face it. You can’t be good at everything you do. The brick wall is a familiar sight for us and that wall could represent anything. It could be a mismatch of client/agency personalities or conflicting views on the direction to take for a particular project. Sometimes, it may even be caused by an internal dilemma over integrity and legality. We sometimes have to decide whether the cost of scaling that wall is worth the reward beyond it. In that dire of circumstance, great agencies know when to quit gracefully and part ways with dignity and respect.

10. I will confess all my sins and repent.
No agency is 100% perfect. Great agencies however never shifts blame or find excuses. When mistakes are made, great agencies come clean quickly. They take responsibility for mistakes without justifying them; learn from them so that they’ll never repeat; and understand that failing to do this will quickly become another mistake.

What do you think? Do you have your own list of values of great agencies, or feeling we’ve left out any important values? Look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Jui Hong Teoh
Managing Director
BRANDTHINK Malaysia