Case Study: Aquent vs. Ad Agency

Client: Confidential Client - Ranked in the top 25 of the Fortune 100

Industry: Financial (Personal credit institutions)

Location: Atlanta, GA

Client Background: Offer private-label credit cards for their retailer clients across the nation. Solution proposed was specifically for their Direct Marketing channel, responsible for direct mail/email communication to their retailer client’s consumer credit card holders.

Problem Client’s perceived challenges:

• Revisions were taking too long when sent to the ad agencies (24-48 hours)

• Cost of using agencies Aquent performed an evaluation at no cost to the client which uncovered much deeper challenges:

• Each of the Client’s regions worked with different external clients and ad agencies for concepting, graphic design and production artist functions. They had no continuity regarding the deliverables or processes

• They were using 22+ agencies and had no idea what their total annual agency spend was

• Regional offices could benefit from a standardized process allowing for faster execution

and continuity. Also determined that use of master templates for layouts would help cut costs and time

Case Study: Aquent vs. Ad Agency

• They were paying approximately $150/hr for services provided by their ad agencies,

regardless of job function or deliverable

• Their division isn’t a profit center and uses a bill-back model. Because they were working with so many ad agencies, it was a difficult and VERY time-consuming process to manage.

Action • Gathered additional information regarding their processes, volume, overview of types of

deliverables, asked for actual samples of those deliverables, projects slated, budget, etc.

• Recommended Client scale back to 1-2 ad agencies of their choice based on expertise. Agencies would have responsibility for concepting based on Client’s strategy. Execution of the Agencies’ concepts would then be executed by Aquent contractors, allowing better control, quicker implementation/revisions, and cutting costs between 50%- 75%. I put together a contractor staffing model to build an internal creative/marketing team based on the appropriate mix of skill sets necessary to execute on initiatives in conjunction with utilization of Client’s current employees.

• Proposal included cost comparison: Annual spend using an Aquent staffing solution vs.

Ad agencies

• Worked very closely with Creative Director to build trust and help him gain approval from his management team to implement Aquent’s staffing model. He was then able to champion our recommendations for a solution through all levels of approval, finally gaining approval from his CMO.

• Worked with client to identify appropriate rate to bill-back internal clients for services

provided by Aquent’s contractors. Rate would need to cover contractor’s hourly rates for

Case Study: Aquent vs. Ad Agency

services, down-time as well the ramp-up phase of implementation of the hybrid solution. We determined that $75/hr would be an appropriate rate to bill their internal clients.

Results

• Aquent cut the client’s annual costs by 50%, resulting in a savings of approximately

$1MM in 2008. By the end of 2009, the client will have saved $2.5MM and the savings continues to grow exponentially year over year as more and more execution is performed by contractors.

• Greater control over the process resulting in: -a truly seamless multi-channel integration strategy -Control over brand & messaging -Contractors helped develop style guide providing continuity -Utilizing industry best practices -Streamlined process reducing timeline from concept to completion -Greater digital asset management

• By implementing the recommended hybrid model, Client was able to reduce the number

of ad agencies from 22 to 2. I then worked with the Client to position the Aquent studio (contractors) pricing against the agencies to drive down cost further by creating a more competitive environment resulting in additional savings.

• Client’s Creative Director responsible for initiating solution presented results update to CMO in August 2009. CMO determined the hybrid model continues to be the ideal solution as it provides tremendous savings, shorter timelines for project completion and the higher quality of deliverables.

• The Client shared the following slides with Aquent verifying the results:

Case Study: Aquent vs. Ad Agency

Client samples: Created by Aquent contractors

Case Study: Aquent vs. Ad Age

Slide content provided by ClientCreative Director to Client’s CMO, August 2009

udy: Aquent vs. Ad Agency

provided by Client as presented by s CMO, August 2009

Case Study: Aquent vs. Ad Age

Slide content provided by ClientCreative Director to Client’s CMO, August 2009

udy: Aquent vs. Ad Agency

provided by Client as presented by s CMO, August 2009