Choosing an Agency Alex Holliman

The last episode of season 2 features Abb-d Taiyo, the co-founder and director of Driftime® Media, a digital design practice on a mission to create social, environmental and economic impact through digital design.

Abb-d spoke about using purpose and values as a filtering process for choosing an agency. He also shared his views on what needs to happen before (or instead of) a pitch, forming budgets together with clients and what makes an agency a good or bad fit.

Russ Avery and Tim Brown run a sustainable brand transformation consultancy, Avery & Brown.
In the episode, they discussed the importance of sustainability and becoming a regenerative business, as well as what to look at when selecting an agency. They covered values, checking an agency’s reputation, and red flags.
They also addressed awards, certifications and other credentials which might be of more importance.

Steve Richards and Ryan O'Keeffe are the founders of a personal branding agency with an emotional intelligence edge - Jago®.

Ryan and Steve speak on the immense importance values, culture and purpose play when working with agencies, as well as how to use social proofing to check up on an agency.

They also discuss pitching, agency red flags, and share amazing insights on how to communicate to resonate and attract the right people to you.

Suds Singh is the founder of Interesting Content, a video content production company that specialises in content for SaaS, Fintech and Beauty Brands.
Suds spoke about the importance of transparency and honesty to attract an agency you can trust. He shared his opinion on pitches, awards and what makes an agency a good fit.
Alex and Suds also had interesting discussions on how much values really matter, whether clients should look at accreditations of their agency and diversity in agencies.

Doug Dinwiddie started White Digital, an agency specialising in website design, development and SEO, with the goal to improve on the service offering other agencies were providing.

Doug spoke to Alex about how clients and agencies should be setting expectations to get what they want and more, as well as how to run pitches and structure briefs to understand which agency is right for you.

He also covered values, awards, budgets and how to check an agency’s reputation.

This episode features Adam Graham from Gray Matters – a business development consultancy for agencies.
Alex and Adam cover how clients should respond to speculative approaches, how to innovate the pitch process for better results, and why you should be maintaining relationships with multiple agencies (not just your current partner!).
Adam also shared why he believed sales, PR and marketing must work together for ultimate success, how clients can get the best work, check an agency’s reputation, and gave further tips on how to determine if an agency is a good fit.