Size matters. Just maybe not what you were thinking.
(Up front: We’re a smaller agency. On purpose. This blog post is about the value of small and mid-size companies like us and whether the big celebrity firms are really a good match for an independent hotel. So yeah, this is sort of a pitch on behalf of us and all our small and mid-sized brethren in the business.)
Maybe smaller is better.
Which is why it doesn’t always work out when a single
property or smaller management company signs on with an outside advertising,
PR, digital or web firm that is simply too big for them.
It’s an old story in the ad business. Some agencies will
pursue almost any piece of business with a pulse whether it’s a size match or
not. The big guns come in to pitch, the fabulous portfolio is presented, the
client signs on and then . . .
. . . they never or
rarely see those big guns again and their budget doesn’t allow for the fabulous video or ad campaign that wowed them in the first
place. And sometimes, a firm will outgrow some of its original clients.
If you’re Marriott, Choice or a large national management
company with a few dozen properties in your portfolio, you’d better have
big-time marketing communications support. It just makes sense. And you’re paying enough
in fees to that big firm that you can be sure of getting all the top-shelf
stuff.
Then again, if you’re a single property with somewhere
between 75 and 200 rooms it might not make sense to sign on with a big
firm. Here’s why:
An agency is a business with all the expenses that go with it. And the bigger it is, the bigger the monthly nut. The more profitable
accounts are going to get the most attention and the best (and most highly
paid) staff. It just makes sense. In order to make a smaller fee work, they logically
have to either assign junior staff to the account, farm it out to freelancers,
limit the hours applied to it or even put it on the back burner.
That’s why maybe that ad campaign seems kind of ordinary to
you or those changes you need to your website seem to take forever to get done.
Or why your calls and emails don’t get
answered very quickly.
In a very real sense, you’re competing for attention with
other clients your agency, PR firm or web firm has. They simply cannot afford
to give you the same grade of service their gorilla accounts merit.
There are a lot – a whole lot – of terrific small and
mid-sized web firms, digital agencies, PR practitioners and ad agencies out
there who can do great work for you. And, as a mid-sized account, you’re more
likely to have a team of experienced seniors on your account at a small or
mid-sized agency than at a big one. It’s just the mathematics of the thing.
Don’t misunderstand. This is not a hit piece on big
firms. We respect them and admire their work. But we wish they wouldn’t take on
clients that are too small to merit their “A” material.
Think about this. Who is more likely to know your name,
greet you, call you up if there’s a problem you need to know about or work with
you to reach your financial goals – one of the local branches of a big national
bank or a local community bank? At which one do you deal with a teller and at
which one do you have a relationship with management? And which one is going to
be more focused on the big corporation in your town than your small business?
Sure, it might be nice to tell people that you have the same agency that works for, say, Hospitality Megabrands Worldwide, but what does that actually do for you?
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