A new service designed to help clients procure the best marketing services agencies outside London has been launched.
The move follows the acquisition of The Drum’s Recommended Agency Guide, by a new company – The Recommended Agency Register – headed by Steve Antoniewicz, a former director of IAS Smarts.
The RAR will draw on the research process established by the Recommended Agency Guide. Each year up to 1,000 client companies are invited to rate their current marketing services providers. Agencies that are endorsed by existing clients are then included as part of the register.
“The independent research is a really strong proposition,” Antoniewicz said. “We can offer clients insight into agencies, based on fact, not just opinion and agency sales-speak. There are currently over 200 featured agencies in the register, drawn from across the UK covering every discipline from digital to DM. Unlike other intermediary services, agencies don’t have to pay for inclusion in the register and only appear if they are good enough.”
Building on the knowledge gathered through the research, the RAR will act as an intermediary between clients and agencies. Offering services such as brief refinement, short-listing, agency selection and fee negotiation, the service will draw on a unique bank of consultants, selected by sector specialism and by marketing discipline. “Our consultants have worked at a high level in agencies or within marketing functions of blue-chip clients, their experience backed by the knowledge from our research is a powerful combination,” said Antoniewicz.
“Existing intermediaries tend to be based in the South East and London-centric in their advice. Clients want more information on the agencies in their own marketplace and agencies believe that the bigger accounts could be easily handled locally. This service will encourage clients to procure marketing services responsibly, buying from within their own communities wherever possible.”
The Carnyx group will retain an interest in the business.