Using paid search to market brands is so fundamental that it’s self-evident. However, that’s not necessarily the case when it comes to building agency brands.
Adweek found that few of the 56 agencies assessed in this year’s Report Card evaluation have bought sponsored links tied to their names on Google. In fact, just four — AKQA, Campbell-Ewald, DraftFCB and JWT — have sponsored links on Google. The rest have no such links, though their Web addresses generally appeared at or near the top of each search.
Adweek also found evidence of smaller specialty shops "punching up" by piggybacking on the names of larger rivals to gain attention. For example, sponsored links for business-to-business specialists such as Stein Rogan + Partners and PJA Advertising + Marketing popped up after typing the names of better-known players such as Arnold, DDB, Young & Rubicam and OgilvyInteractive.
"Why not put ourselves out there as a viable alternative?" said Tom Stein, president and CEO of Stein Rogan + Partners, a 40-person shop in New York with a dozen clients. "It’s a little bit of counter-marketing."
Of course, little guys have to do more to generate buzz, and typically on a shoestring budget. So, not unlike Alltel tweaking Verizon and AT&T in a TV spot, some smaller shops use the glare of bigger agency brands to raise their profiles. Within the sample, however, such a scrappy move was rare compared to a swath of inactivity. It’s yet another example of agencies not always practicing what they preach to clients, despite the relatively low cost of buying search terms.
The sample shops that buy sponsored links find them valuable for attracting prospective clients, recruiting employees and sharing news, capabilities information and insights. Some report spikes in Web traffic as a result of such efforts. Plus, they’ve gained experience and understanding of the practice that helps them advise their clients.
"It’s very difficult to recommend certain things to your clients if you’re not in the game yourself," said Craig Conrad, director of account development and marketing at Interpublic Group’s Campbell-Ewald in Warren, Mich. "So often we’re focused on our client business [that] sometimes it’s easy to forget about our own brand."
Even among practitioners, the use of search in agency branding is relatively new. Campbell-Ewald, whose top clients include General Motors’ Chevrolet and the U.S. Navy, started using paid search in January. IPG’s DraftFCB, with clients like Kraft Foods, Taco Bell and Coors, began in mid-March.
Search is just one way to raise an agency’s profile. DraftFCB and Campbell-Ewald, for example, also employ traditional methods of outreach, including phone calls, mailings and face-to-face meetings, as well as other Web-orientated efforts, such as setting up pages on social networking sites and producing podcasts. Targeted e-mailing to prospective and current clients is also common.
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