This post is part of an ongoing series giving you a glimpse of AMA Chicago events you might have missed. If you couldn’t make it to the Signature Speakers panel “Unlock the Secrets to Successful Brand-Agency Partnerships” in February 2025, read on for a snapshot of this in-person event.
Whether you are looking to hire a marketing agency, an advertising consulting firm, a social media marketing company or a digital marketing service provider, you’ll want to find the right match. You’ll also need to ask the right questions. But what do you need to know to find a marketing company or advertising agency that is right for your organization?
AMA Chicago recently convened experts in this field to discuss best practices and help its members in Chicago’s marketing community successfully connect with advertising agencies to build their success.
Panelists
Deb Giampoli, Co-Founder, Stone Soup Consultants
Deb’s background includes agency and client-side line and staff positions in marketing, brand management, consumer promotion and activation and advertising. She is skilled at creating and leveraging marketing and creative agencies and other partnerships, as well as creating and socializing national and global marketing “next practices” and developing marketing talent.
Tom Browning, CEO, JLB+P
Tom brings 30+ years of advertising agency experience across global, national and regional accounts to JLB+P. He worked the majority of his advertising career at DDB Chicago, serving as Senior Vice President and Global Business Director on worldwide brands including McDonald’s, Anheuser-Busch, S.C. Johnson, Discover Card, Bel Brands, Frito-Lay, Nestlé, and Midas International.
Julia Fitzgerald, CMO, Hindman Auctions and Author of Midsize: The Truths & Strategies of Marketing in Midsize Firms
Julia is the former CMO of Build-A-Bear and the American Lung Association. She is a proven executive with 20+ years’ experience in developing and implementing growth strategies, marketing plans and brand strategies to achieve revenue, share and profit goals. She is the author of a new bestselling marketing book Midsize. She also holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
Moderator
Jamie McGarry, Integrated Business Development and Growth Lead, QUAD
Jamie has 20 years’ experience leading business development teams. With a passion for winning new business, she worked with high-profile clients such as the US Army, McDonald’s, Miller Lite, Blue Moon, Symantec and Kroger. Prior to joining Quad, she served as the Chief Growth & Marketing Officer for Havas North America.
The assembled leaders commented on what makes partnerships work, addressing key factors such as relationships between firms and clients, how to structure communication and the pitfalls that cause clients to seek new agencies.
What should ad agencies do to win new clients?
Julia: Agencies need to understand the client’s budget and bandwidth. Don’t spend all the money on developing a strategy that you expect the client to execute when you don’t know if they have enough staff to do that. At the same time, agencies should bring big ideas to midsize clients, without holding back because they think the client is too small for a big idea.
Tom: Advertising agencies need to show their relevance to a prospective client. Specifically, how they have helped similar clients grow.
Deb: Agency partners need to make the client’s job easier. Specifically, you need a good relationship between the people at the agency and the client to make sure this happens.
What should marketing firms bring to a pitch?
Julia: What’s relevant to the client is what they can’t get done [in house]. As far as budget, I advise midsize firms to tell the agency what their budgets really are. When some of my clients tell me that they don’t want to disclose their budget for fear that the agency will spend it all, I say “Well isn’t that the point?” Also, all agencies say they have good people, but they need to add something specific to prove why.
Tom: You need to know what your client is looking for in order to present the best version of yourself. I also praise clients who search for the best fit with a particular agency, regardless of its fame. One client told me “If I just want the hot agencies, what am I talking to you for?”
Deb: We never start a search without a really clear search brief — if you don’t get it right, you don’t get the results you want. Even the best agencies don’t do their best work for all their clients. Communication between the two parties is key.
What are some good new trends in the agency search process?
Deb: Client leaders need to be comfortable with creativity because the rest of the industry is talking about great ideas and how they work. Good clients are asking agencies, “Who do I need to be so that you can do your best work for me?”
Tom: Clients are looking for more creativity, so they are looking for full-service agencies (not just media buying). The tools we have now allow us to tie creative to media results better than ever before, so it makes sense to have them integrated.
Julia: There is a lot of great storytelling being done through deep content.
What trends should stop?
Julia: Stop talking about Gen Z — look at Gen X; they are key for the growth of my business.
Tom: Time-based retainers should go away. With AI becoming more prevalent, clients want to pay for value, not time spent working on a project.
Deb: Clients should not pay more because it takes agencies longer to do the work. Use deliverable-based compensation instead.
Should agencies make clients uncomfortable?
Tom: Yes, and if you are a good client, you’ll ask for that. Especially if there is a good relationship.
Deb: There is nothing more uncomfortable than not getting great work from an agency — and if they scare you, ask them to help you sell it up to your boss.
Julia: Yes, and clients can do some of that themselves. When I was at Build-A-Bear, I hired a public relations firm with a background in beauty products to bring fresh ideas to the brand.
What role should diversity play when agencies are looking for clients?
Tom: Clients want diverse leadership, but in particular, clients want agencies that understand their customers. Therefore, an agency looking to differentiate itself on the basis of diversity should also emphasize their understanding of key customers.
How can agencies who are looking to serve medium-size companies find those potential clients?
Julia: Use LinkedIn to search for companies using the same search logic as job-hunters do. By applying the various filters, including company size and location, they can find many companies they didn’t even know existed.
Tom: The American Association of Advertising Agencies website has a list of target companies that might be a useful starting point.
For more opportunities to hear from industry experts and meet like-minded marketers, check out the AMA Chicago’s upcoming events listings.
Join AMA Chicago today to get free access to webinars and most events throughout the year.
