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Episode 81

Don't Get Fooled by Agency Hype: A Guide to Finding the Right Partner for Your Business

· 32:00 · Host: Todd Juneau & Kelly McGuire

We passed on pitching a brand that we didn't feel was a good fit. Then they came back and asked us to help evaluate the pitches of the three agencies still in the running.

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Chapters

  1. 00:00:00 — The moment the whole system falls apart
  2. 00:01:20 — Reviewing a founder's agency pitches with nothing to gain
  3. 00:02:40 — Buying media is easy, keeping it working is not
  4. 00:05:10 — Is the working budget big enough for strategy to matter
  5. 00:07:50 — One flat fee across media, analytics, creative, email, and SEO
  6. 00:11:30 — Month one optimism versus month 10 silence
  7. 00:14:20 — Vet the strategist and account manager, not the pitch team
  8. 00:17:30 — The A team pitches, the C team runs your business
  9. 00:21:00 — Specialists over generalists and building in real upside
  10. 00:26:50 — Case studies, cherry-picking, and what they should actually prove

Show notes

We passed on pitching a brand that we didn't feel was a good fit. Then they came back and asked us to help evaluate the pitches of the three agencies still in the running.

In this episode, Todd and Kelly share what they learned from the other side of the table. Buying media is the easy part. The hard part shows up in month 10, when results flatten, a competitor arrives with real money, creative wears out, and the client asks a question nobody on the account can answer.

Kelly breaks down the two places every proposal falls apart: a working media budget too small for strategy to matter, and one flat fee stretched across paid media, analytics, creative, UGC, email, and SEO. Todd calls out a reality most agencies won't admit. The A team pitches. Whoever is left runs your business.

Before you sign your next agency agreement, here's what to vet: the strategist and account team who will still be there when things go red, a fee structure that rewards going the extra mile, and case studies treated as support rather than proof.

Contrary to Popular Opinion is a podcast from Vuja Dé Digital, a performance media agency.

Chapters:

  • (00:00:00) The moment the whole system falls apart
  • (00:01:20) Reviewing a founder's agency pitches with nothing to gain
  • (00:02:40) Buying media is easy, keeping it working is not
  • (00:05:10) Is the working budget big enough for strategy to matter
  • (00:07:50) One flat fee across media, analytics, creative, email, and SEO
  • (00:11:30) Month one optimism versus month 10 silence
  • (00:14:20) Vet the strategist and account manager, not the pitch team
  • (00:17:30) The A team pitches, the C team runs your business
  • (00:21:00) Specialists over generalists and building in real upside
  • (00:26:50) Case studies, cherry-picking, and what they should actually prove

Links and Resources:


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About Contrary to Popular Opinion

Contrary to Popular Opinion is the show where marketing's conventional wisdom gets cross-examined. Hosts Todd Juneau and Kelly McGuire take the advice every marketer repeats — and test whether it actually builds brands or just follows the crowd — drawing on decades inside the advertising business to give leaders permission to do the thing nobody else is doing.

See all 81 episodes of Contrary to Popular Opinion →

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