AgencyFinder’s Power Index™

The first & only accreditation and new business scorecard for marketing firms

Finding and hiring the top ad agencies doesn’t have to be difficult, but it can be complicated by the fact that some marketing organizations aren’t as intuitive or as committed to the new business process as the client is. For example:

• How does a CMO tell the difference between an agency that wants new business and one that doesn’t?
• Why should a CMO waste time with an agency that isn’t new business ready?
• What agency new business factors are most important to the CMO?

Since 1997, the staff at AgencyFinder has been helping identify suitable advertising agency candidates for clients and then assisting in the review and introduction process. Naturally we’ve developed a lengthy list of important criteria, along with powerful do’s and don’ts. To validate and expand on that, we queried those who know best.

We randomly surveyed more than 4,000 of 9,500 previously registered clients (clients who used our service) to learn what they identified as most important factors when evaluating contenders based on agency records.

Answers were compiled and shared with a blue-ribbon panel of client-side marketing executives. Taking direction from this advisory board, we created a real-time algorithm that scores and ranks each agency in the database.

What the Score Means:

Perfect Score = 100. The AFPI algorithm reflects the completeness of the agency data file while not discriminating between large, mid-size and small agencies with regard to capitalized billings, employee counts, number of offices, etc. Missing data, missing or incomplete essays and case histories are subtractive. The algorithm also reflects the agency’s historical record on invitation responsiveness, process compliance and fiscal responsibility. The algorithm makes no representation as to agency personality or creative capabilities.

Effective October 2007, agencies were notified of their AFPI and given suggestions on how to improve their score. Responsive and pro-active agencies will find themselves making the first cut in more searches more often, subsequently maximizing their AgencyFinder investment.

Effective November 2007, all agencies selected in a preliminary search that satisfied mandatory client attributes have been ranked by AFPI, giving searching clients an opportunity to cut from a gross to a net group of candidates based on a true, apples-to-apples comparison of new business criteria, without first reviewing reams of essays, case histories and data.

Registered agencies are encouraged to afix their Power Index Certificate anywhere on their agency website. When doing so, RSS feed from AgencyFinder to each agency keeps that score live and “up-to-date”. That action also serves to boost the agency’s Power Index by 2 points (max score 100).

We’re proud to have introduced the Agencyfinder Power Index™ (AFPI), the industry’s first and still only agency accreditation and new business scorecard.

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