To help celebrate the launch of the Chime Agency Marketing Report for 2023, we sat down with Anton Jerges, CEO of experiential marketing agency We Are Collider to talk about the report findings and why he thinks it’s important for agencies to reflect on the outcomes.
Q: Anton, as you know We Are Collider scored top out of all the events/experiential agencies scored in the report and were 11th overall! From our findings, what surprised you the most about the industry specific scores?
A: Firstly, I’m thrilled that We Are Collider has been ranked top in our sector! We are very passionate about what we do and it is always reassuring to know that is coming across, not just in the way we deliver for clients but across our marketing efforts as well.
I must say, I was surprised by the statistics around strategic approaches to social media content outputs. We all know that approaching social media content creation strategically helps to achieve specific goals and objectives, increases engagement, and reach and ensures consistency in brand messaging – so why are so few agencies harnessing this?
Q: Why is it important for agencies to practice what they preach when it comes to marketing?
A: It's essential for agencies to practice what they preach because their clients expect them to lead by example. If an agency is promoting a certain way of working to its clients but not implementing it themselves, it can come across as hypocritical and damage the agency's credibility.
By practicing what they preach, agencies build trust with their clients and establish themselves as thought leaders and experts in their industry, it shows that the agency is committed to understanding and developing their offer, as they grow.
It can also help attract and retain top talent! Employees want to work for a company that are aligned in their values and beliefs and can demonstrate this in real terms with tangible examples. An agency that practices what it preaches is more likely to recruit and retain employees who resonate with the organisations mission and want to help perpetuate those values.
We’re really pleased that We Are Collider was seen to be doing this. We’ve worked hard to ensure that our marketing reflects our brand positioning and values, and it appears we’re now reaping the benefits.
Q: Can you tell us more about the importance of keeping yourself accountable as a business?
A: Personally, I believe that holding yourself accountable is vital for the success of any agency. I’ve owned and run a number of agencies over the years, and if you don’t take ownership of both your failures and your successes you can’t learn, meaning you’ll struggle to grow. We won’t always get it right and that’s okay, so long as we’re committed to recognising why that happened and what we can do to prevent it in future.
I’m really keen to get under the skin of the work we do both for our clients, but also for ourselves. We regularly set targets and KPIs for our team and external service providers as this allows us to stay on track and motivates us to improve. There is no reason our marketing strategies and campaigns should not follow suit. Holding ourselves accountable for how we are presenting our agency to potential clients and our competitors means we allow space for learning and improving as well as celebrating what we do well.
Q: Why should agencies invest in their own marketing?
A: I think this report shows the answer very clearly! Those who don’t invest (and not necessarily just money, but time) are less likely to attract and retain clients, build brand recognition or differentiate themselves. We Are Collider have learnt that showcasing our expertise and thought leadership through our marketing via our behavioural science backed research has supported us in establishing trust and credibility with a wide range of potential clients. We’ve also received anecdotal evidence that our work is being seen by a wider audience on LinkedIn than expected. It’s not always the most creative part of the job, but if we don’t shout about ourselves, who else will?
Having an objective, unbiased review of your marketing can be difficult to orchestrate which is why a report like this is so timely, this information will be invaluable and helps to identify where agencies need to start on their improvement journey.
Q. What are the main issues that have been highlighted by the Chime Agency Marketing Report?
A: I was surprised by the stats around audience targeting (44% of agencies seeming to produce content without a clear audience in mind) this seems like really basic stuff that all agencies would tell their clients on a daily basis! It seems there are a lot of missed opportunities out there. There is definitely a real need for agencies to do better and it seems clear that utilising a marketing agency for agencies is a good way to do this!
Q. What do you think agencies can learn from the work that We Are Collider have done on their marketing, and how do you think you will continue to improve on your score for next year?
A: I think the most important learning is to really understand who you are as an agency. We all think we know but what makes you really unique? We’ve focused a lot of our time on our work understanding how human behavioural science impacts the success of experiential marketing and ensured that this has been a golden thread through the work we produce and the way we speak about ourselves to the wider world.
Next year I’d love to see We Are Collider in the top 5 agencies, so for me the focus will be on really honing our social media strategy to ensure we’re communicating with the right people on the right channels and pushing our content to work harder for us across earned, owned, and paid media.
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