Eighth Thought Leadership Digibate on choosing the right agency

"With the integration of various marketing platforms, agencies need to be specialists in a whole lot more and take on a sustainable and holistic approach when handling the creative briefs for the current and prospective clients," says Dawn Rowlands, CEO Sub Saharan Africa, Aegis Media, who will moderate the session.

Panelists will delve into the elements that brands should consider when selecting a creative agency..

Topics:

• What should you look for in an agency?
  
• How often does cost play a role in the decision to go with an agency?
  
• What would make clients want to leave an existing agency and why is this often such a hard and emotional decision?
  
• What are the deadly sins a media agency - or client for that matter - could commit that would result in the end of a relationship?
  
• What are key rules to keep the relationship strong and steady between client/agency?
  
• Do agencies ever terminate the business relationship with clients and what would lead to this decision?
  
• It would appear that social media can get an agency fired - tweeting without thinking. Is this something to watch?
  
• Who owns the intellectual property rights during a pitch process?
  
• Why are the procurement departments making the final decisions and not the marketing team at brand/ client level?
  
• Is the pitch process flawed? Currently agencies submit an RFP, then go through to the presentation to client phase, then the decision is made - surely a client would want to delve deeper/spend time with the agency, before making a decision and spend millions with an agency?

Panelists include:

• Tony Koenderman, editor & co-publisher of Adreview
  
• Mike Joubert, CEO, BrandsRock!
  
• Zahn Rossou, head of agency search & selection, Yardstick
  
• Luisa Mazinter, founder, CUBE (on the square) and TheMarketingsite.com
  
• Lwandile Qokweni, media manager, Carat SSA
  
• Nigel Morris, CEO, Aegis Media Americas & EMEA (via Skype)

Listen live

Listen live via www.bizradio.co.za - mobile or pc - or listen to the podcasts here on Bizcommunity after the debate. BizRadio is the creation of Ingrid von Stein, Grant Jansen, Chris Kolbe and Colin Jones, who together bring combined skills and expertise from the worlds of traditional radio, media, strategic communications and entrepreneurship. [Note: BizRadio is an independent company and is not connected with Bizcommunity in any way.]

The official Twitter hashtag is #aegisTL.

Listen every month

The Thought Leader Digibates are held monthly and include a panel of leading media-marketing experts who will discuss, debate and share their knowledge - gleaned over years of experience - with a wider audience. The official Twitter hashtag is #aegisTL.