34!
There are 34 experienced advertising agency search consultants listed below. There are surely many more when you add in local and part time consultants.
Savvy search consultants generally act as personal shoppers for larger advertisers trying to locate the perfect agency out of hundreds, even thousands, of specific agency options. It is estimated that about 10% to 15% of all searches use the services of a consultant (I am thinking about dollar volume not total agency searches.) I suspect that the number of consultant led pitches is well over 50% for clients that have large budgets, complicated accounts (think global ala Microsoft’s recent search) and now, highly specialized agency requirements.
Should You Make Contact?
Should your agency contact the search consultants on this list? Yes and no.
Here is the drill. Most of these consultants work for larger clients and they have hundreds of agencies to keep track of. They get lots of incoming from agencies every day. Based on my 28 years of conversations with search consultants, I can tell you that most of the incoming gets ignored even if the consultants need to keep abreast of the agency universe. Ignored because most agencies do not really have a realistic reason to get on the consultant’s radar.
Realistic? Consultants are primarily interested in a core set of agency attributes. Obviously, they are looking for agencies that match their current searches. However, in general, any new agency (new to market or new to them) needs to have some distinctive attribute to get a consultant’s attention. That means having a good reason for these busy consultants to pay attention to you. What might that mean?
Here are some examples of what I would want to know if I were a consultant:
Can your agency handle really large, complex accounts?
Do you have international offices?
Are you compellingly creative (like really creative and can prove it?)
Did your team just leave a hot agency where you’all did famous work?
Do you have media planning and buying expertise?
Do you have demonstrable digital expertise? You can’t just say we do social. Did you crack mobile advertising?
Do you have deep experience in an important client category?
Are you known for your strategic chops?
Get the picture? The bottom line is that you need to think about what agency attributes will be of value to the consultant. Do you have something really special that a consultant needs to know about for their business and clients? Before you make any contact, please take the time to understand what search consultants look for.
Expert Opinions
I am going to have twelve interviews with advertising industry experts in my book on pitching: The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. A couple of interviews are with industry leading search consultants. Here are two responses that go directly to the question… “should my agency make contact with a search consultant?”
The first answer is from Russel Wholwerth of External View Consulting . The second is from Darren Woolley of Australia’s TrinityP3 — both are on the master list.
PL: I assume that you get a lot of incoming from agencies. How could a small to mid-sized agency get your attention? What attributes should they have before they bother making contact?
Russel: We get at least 20 to 30 inquiries from agencies every week. Most agencies act as if they have no clue how we operate or that they will need to really stand out to generate interest. Great work will always get our attention. Also, agencies that are off the standard deviation curve excite us. Too many agencies sound and look alike.
Darren: Interestingly we have noted a change in the marketing mix. Even advertisers from multinational companies, with a global or regional agency alignment are increasingly interested in small to mid-size agencies to improve and often compensate for deficiencies in the aligned agency. Therefore med-sized agencies with particular strengths are increasingly important and in demand in the agency mix. As are smaller agencies that can articulate and prove a core specialist competency that makes them distinctive from others is a real benefit.
So, to answer the “should you make contact” with national search consults question… I’d do these three things to start the process.
Make sure that your agency can stand out in a national or international search by having something special to sell. Brand distinction rules here. These are good days for specialists. Be one.
Understand the needs of the consultancy you are pitching before you make any contact. Do some research and don’t just mass mail every consultant. Use your marketing gray-matter to think through how to sell what you have to sell. You may only have one shot.
Make sure your agency is listed in consultant agency databases.
On to the list. Yes, it is unwieldily. Thats why you need to take a few hours to study each consultant before you make any contact. Otherwise, you will be wasting a lot of time. Especially, yours.
A Team
www.a-teamadvisors.com
639 Front Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.391.8201
Jerry Gibons
jerryg@a-teamadvisors.com
4 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
917.597.3879
Margo Kornfeld
margok@a-teamadvisors.com
Richard Corman
richardc@a-teamadvisors.com
AAR Partners
www.aarpartners.com
155 East 55th Street, Ste 5C
New York, NY 10022
212.644.0790
Leslie Winthrop
winthrop@aarpartners.com
Lisa Colantuono
lisa@aarpartners.com
ABA Consulting, Inc.
www.abaconsulting.com
5080 Spectrum Drive Suite 760 West
Addison, Texas 75001
972.774.9960
Pete Bogda
pete@abaconsulting.com
Amy Bogda
amy@abaconsulting.com
Ad Management Insights, LLC
www.adinsights.net
3018 John Marshall Drive
Arlington, VA 22207
703.241.2121
Lynn Osborne
lynn.osborne@adinsights.com
ADvice & ADvisors
www.adviceandadvisors.com
244 West 74th Street
New York, NY 10023
212.799.1973
Linda Fidelman
linda@adviceandadvisors.com
AgencyFinder
www.agencyfinder.com (North America)
www.agencyfinder.eu (Europe)
4327 Cox Road
Vantage Place
Glen Allen, VA 23060
804.346.1812
Chuck Myst
Chuck@agencyfinder.com
Agency-Select (UK)
www.agency-select.com
646..355.4030
44.0.20.7060.1014
Joan Weinberg
info@Agency-Select.com
Agency Spotter (a digital approach)
http://www.agencyspotter.com/
318 Cherokee Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30312 USA
Brian Regienczuk
hello@agencyspotter.com
Alan Krinsky Associates
www.akrinsky.com
301 East 48th Street Suite 8F
New York, NY 10017
212.752.0539
Alan Krinsky
alan@akrinsky.com
Ark Advisors
www.ark-advisors.com
140 East 83rd Street, Suite 4B
New York, NY 10028
Ann Billock
212.861.3976
annb@ark-advisors.com
305 West 86th Street, Suite 5A
New York, NY 10024
Ken Robinson
917.498.7067
kenr@ark-advisors.com
Avidan Strategies, LLC
www.avidanstrategies.com
110-20 71st Road
Forest Hills, NY, 11375
718.997.6463
Avi Dan
avi@avidanstrategies.com
Bajkowski + Partners
www.bajkowski-partners.com
6 Varick Street
New York, NY 10013
212.226.3919
Laura Bajkowski
laura@bajkowski-partners.com
The Bedford Group
www.bedfordgroupconsulting.com
3343 Peachtree Road NE
Suite 333
Atlanta, GA 30326
404.237.4565
Jane Bedford
bedford@bedfordgroupconsulting.com
Tiffany Allen
tallen@bedfordgroupconsulting.com
Kerry Kielb
kkielb@bedfordgroupconsulting.com
Dan Plachta
dplachta@bedfordgroupconsulting.com
Blamer Partnership
www.blamerpartnership.com
825 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10022
212.520.8520
Steve Blamer
steve@blamerpartnership.com
2863 Via Victoria
Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
310.800.5282
Craig Campbell
craig@blamerpartnership.com
9600 Edmondson Drive
Denton, TX 76207
323.804.5757
Larry Varnes
larry@blamerpartnership.com
Joanne Davis Consulting
www.joannedavisconsulting.com
325 East 57th Street, #7D
New York, NY 10022
212.935.0320
Joanne Davis
joanne@joannedavisconsulting.com
Drexler Fajen & Partners
www.drexlerfajenpartners.com
127 West 96 Street 3J
New York, NY 10025
646.459.2325
Michael Drexler
mike@drexlerfajen.com
Stephen Fajen
steve@drexlerfajen.com
External View Consulting Group
www.ext-viewgroup.com
9925 Jefferson Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
310.841.4502
Russel Wohlwerth
russelw@ext-viewgroup.com
Debra Wurzel
debraw@ext-viewgroup.com
3158 Hawkslanding Dr.
Cincinnati, OH 45244
513.225.0242
Gerry Preece
gerryp@ext-viewgroup.com
Hasan & Company
www.hasanandco.com
8601 Six Forks Road, Ste 400
Raleigh, NC 27615
Phone: 919.676.5301
Hasan Ramusevic
hasan@hasanandco.com
Robb High Associates
www.robbhighconsult.com
132 East 43rd Street #455
New York, NY 10017
917.856.1058
Rob High
rhigh@robbhighconsult.com
Jackie Walts Consulting
www.jackiewalts.com
6235 Aspinwall Road
Oakland, CA 94611
510.339.9105
801.383.6343
Jackie Walts
jackie@jackiewalts.com
Joanne Davis Consulting
www.joannedavisconsulting.com
325 East 57th Street, #7D
New York, NY 10022
212.935.0320
Joanne Davis
joanne@joannedavisconsulting.com
JUEL Consutling
www.juelconsulting.com
340 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10173
212.220.9346
June Blocklin
blocklin@juelconsulting.com
Elizabeth Zea
zea@juelconsulting.com
Alan Krinsky Associates
www.akrinsky.com
301 East 48th Street Suite 8F
New York, NY 10017
212.260.8334
Alan Krinsky
alan@akrinsky.com
Mercer Island Group
www.migroup.com
PO Box 1599
Mercer Island, WA 98040
206.236.0447
Stephen Boehler
steveb@migroup.com
Robin Boehler
robinb@migroup.com
Matt Driscoll
mattd@migroup.com
Morgan Anderson Consulting
www.morgananderson.com
300 Moonhaw Road
West Shokan, NY 12494
518.719.3396
Lee Anne Morgan 212.741.0804
lamorgan@morgananderson.com
Arthur Anderson 212.741.0805
aanderson@morgananderson.com
Pile and Company
www.pileandcompany.com
The Prudential Tower
800 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02199-8130
617.267.5000
Judy Neer, President
jneer@pileandcompany.com
Meghan McDonnell, Sr. Vice President
mmcdonnell@pileandcompany.com
R3:JLB
www.rthree.com
500 North Michigan Avenue, Ste. 300
Chicago, IL 60611
312-396-4155
David Beals
david.beals@rthree.com
Mary Conrad
mary.conrad@rthree.com
Kim Kilchenmann
kim@rthree.com
15 West 53rd Street, #9J
New York, NY 10019
917.863.4255
Brian Goodall
brian.goodall@rth
Reynolds & Fyshe (Canada)
www.reynoldsandfyshe.com
3044 Bloor St. West
Suite 143
Toronto, Ontario M8X 2Y8
416.992.6269
Dan Reynolds
email: dan.reynolds@sympatico.ca
RFP
http://www.rfpassociates.net/
173 Chestnut Ridge Rd
Bethel CT 06801
203.748.8198
Steve Drake
The Rojek Consulting Group, Inc.
www.rcgconsulting.com
Crown Centre
5005 Rockside Road
Cleveland, OH 44131
216.573.3780
Lorraine Rojek, President
lrojek@rcgconsulting.com
Cameron McNaughton
cmcnaughton@rcgconsulting.com
Dave Windahl
dwindahl@rcgconsulting.com
Roth Associates
www.askroth.com
120 East 79th St. _#5c
New York, NY 10021
212.861.9420
Dick Roth
rroth@askroth.com
1510 Carver Street
Los Angles, CA 90278
310.896.8275
Casey Burnett
cburnett@askroth.com
Select Resources International
www.selectresources.com
1520-C Cloverfield Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-453-9200
Catherine Benison
catherine@selectr.com
Melissa Cheng
melissa@selectr.com
Rod Damrow
rod_d@selectr.com
Pamela Rhodes
pamela_r@selectr.com
TrinityP3 (Australia / Asia)
http://www.trinityp3.com
TrinityP3 Sydney
Suite 702, 53 Walker Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
61.2.9964.9900
Darren Whooley
darren@trinityp3.com
Bob Wolf Partners/TPG
www.bwp-tpg.com
202 San Vicente Blvd. Suite 16
Santa Monica, CA 90402
310-260-1340
Dan Pearlman
dpearlman@bwp-tpg.com
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