The best answer is found by considering your own needs, your current knowledge of the process and available resources.  Still, because I hear this question so frequently, here’s my two cents in the hopes it helps you in your own researching phase.  Of course, I’m also always happy to guide you to a decision in person, as well!

How to choose an Agency

You’ve most likely realized that working with an agency brings the benefit of having a team of experts, each adept at their particular area and experienced at working with others to produce results no one could achieve on their own.  At this point, the choice should become less about price, and more about fit.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you begin the research phase:

Has the organization does this before?

Yes, your needs are unique, but the organization you work with should be able to provide comparable examples to the work you need under discussion. At a minimum, look for signs that the organization has skills that will be easily transferrable to your project!

Can the organization provide comprehensive strategic thinking?

Most agencies can throw together a website these days.  However, the recommendations provided must consider your long-term organizational goals.  If you’re not discussing the ways the strategy will provide a return on your investment, your team may be missing the boat.  Also, make sure your team is capable of bringing ideas, recommendations, and long term support as your needs or problems change.  A great article we’ve posted on in the past about digital vs. integrated marketing teams was written a few years ago by our own Topher Overstreet.

Are the recommendations provided scalable?  Do they integrate with your full plan?

Your team is responsible for ensuring your project meets your immediate needs, but should also be an advisor to keep you abreast of the latest trends and ideas to further enhance your business.  Additionally your agency should steer you in the right direction because a tool meets your needs, not because it’s something they like doing.  (A great read about custom Content Management Systems by Doug Karr can be found  here.)

Do you have an excellent rapport with the team you’ll be working with?

Expect to have a few bumps in the road.  Your agency team should be your advocate, and will occasionally need to ask difficult, challenging questions.  Ensure you’re comfortable that the team you’re working with will do so, and that when they do, you’ll be comfortable answering them honestly.   Do you feel like you’re interviewing these guys?  Run.  Like.  Hell.

Does the team have great references?

Most agencies have case studies of the work they’re proud of on their site.  If you’re happy with the look and feel on their portfolio, ask for references and ask about their satisfaction with the work throughout the process, and after the project was completed.   The number one question:  was it effective?   The number two question: was the process fun?

Making a choice about the organization to work with does require research and a great deal of trust.  Above all, make sure you’re comfortable that the team you work with brings the right mix of skills to make your project both effective AND enjoyable.  I’d love to know – what research did you do when you chose a team to work with?   What other steps or questions would you recommend?

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Seoul, Korea for the 3^rd SIGGRAPH Asiaconference on computer graphics. The rest of the xiik geeks celebrated once they heard news I would actually be gone for a full month on an extended trip through Asia. (Because they were happy for me. Yes, that’s why.) After the conference in South Korea, a few friends and I planned a journey to tackle the east side of China, traveling from Beijing to Shanghai to Hong Kong and lastly Macau.

Needless to say, it was an experience of a lifetime. I consistently ran into one difficulty, however, while in China: staying connected with everyone back home. My friends, family and co-workers depended on social networking sites or an email here and there to know that I hadn’t fallen off the Great Wall or gotten lost in the Forbidden City. Aside from Hong Kong and Macau, which have an entirely open Internet, while in mainland China (Beijing and Shanghai), we soon realized that contacting home through our normal websites – Facebook and Twitter mostly – was not going to be an option. Not convenient!

So, what’s behind China’s policies to block such popular social networking websites? Though China has always exerted more control over its media than Western-style democracies, the real straw that broke the camel’s back was when violent riotserupted in the western region of Xinjiang in July 2009, where authorities blamed the use of the web, specifically Facebook and Twitter, for its planning. The entire Xinjiang region lost access to the entire Internet for several months as a result.

As I began to make friends with locals in these cities with restricted access, I asked them what their opinion on the matter was. Most felt the violence wasn’t the major player. Instead, they felt the blame was on China’s domestic services like Weibo and Kaixin, the Twitter and Facebook of China, respectively. If China has the opportunity to completely cut off the majority of the population to these US-based sites, locals have no other option than to use what is second best. Can anyone say scarcity power? Here is a list of all currently blocked sites in China. (Unfortunately and ironically, for the mainland China readers out there, this link directs to Wikipedia – one of the very sites China blocks.)

For me, a dude who uses Facebook and Twitter multiple times per day, the inconvenience really required some adjusting that I didn’t have the time or inclination for on my travels. Each moment spent searching for a proxy server or way to navigate the text-based websites that magically let me in (such as getus.in) I knew I was wasting time I could easily be using to see more of that vast country! One wonders what kind of cumulative adverse effect on tourism this might have in the long run.

Of course, I am just one guy. I can theoretically survive without my Facebook fix for a couple of weeks. But what happened to all of those China-based companies that relied on Twitter and Facebook as free, essential marketing tools? Are they stuck using the more censored, domestic platforms for now until China eases up or will they try to use proxy servers to gain access? Does this force more of a national, rather than international, approach to their brand-building and business development? There are many questions and implications for a society that does not embrace the connectivity of an open, transparent online global community.

What would you do in their shoes? Could you adjust to life in China as it currently is? Do these policies affect your desire to travel to or do business with China?

All I know is that we were thrilled to reach Hong Kong at the end of our trip, where we could access the real Facebook layout and catch up with our friends back home. If you cannot live without some of these sites every day, visiting mainland China will be even more of a culture shock than you had imagined. Don’t let that stop you, though! For me, a status update can wait. Traveling the world is much more rewarding than getting a few likes or @ messages online.

If you’ve traveled to or conducted business with China in the last few years, we’d love to hear about your experiences with their media landscape.

A nine-year-old boy stood more than 20 feet in the air in a hayloft, stretching his hands out toward a rope swing. His friend below had just launched the long rope (which was strung from the very top peak of the barn) up toward the boy above. But just as the boy reached to grasp the rope and swing out across the barn, his friend accidentally pulled back on the rope to relaunch it and looked up to see the boy suddenly falling down—head first—toward the hard, wooden floor below…

Cliffhanger! What does this story have to do with anything and why is it related to xiik?

Marketing is all about telling stories. I was reminded of this yesterday while attending the MBO Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. Two of the sessions I went to were focused on content planning and strategy—very critical for successful marketing campaigns.

Don Schindler of AgencyND spoke about the successful elements of a story:

The Exposition—quickly setting the scene
Hook—revealing the problem
Rising Action—keep them hooked while building the story
Climax—everything builds to this moment
Resolution—finally giving the answer

Seventh grade English, right? I recall sitting at my desk in junior high, sketching that graph every English teacher wants you to learn. You know—the one that looks vaguely like a mountain range?

So what does basic plot structure have to do with marketing? Everything!

Your target audience must be engaged with your message to gain their interest in your product/services/ideas. A compelling story will captivate your audience and draw them in so that you can lead them toward your goal.

Many folks in the marketing industry fall back on the easy route—using the same old marketing language: “our product can change your life” or “we will beat our competitor’s price.” In this way, we forget that effective marketing messages aren’t written for a company’s compliance office or CEO—they are written for everyday people who are captivated by real, compelling stories about mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure!

The young boy falling down from the hayloft in the story above was my father’s cousin and the boy standing below was my father. Miraculously, as his cousin was falling down, one of the hay bales in the stack below him just happened to be sticking out a bit from the others and managed to break his fall enough to flip him around so he could land feet first. Had those bales of hay been stacked squarely, he may not have survived that fall. My father recounted that story to my brothers and me when we were children as an example of how one tiny unexpected thing can change your life.

To me, successful marketing is like that bale of hay. A fascinating story that sticks out from the usual “marketing speak” can capture people’s attention and possibly even change the course of their life by influencing them to make a decision they wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

I know I am reenergized—how about you?

Unfortunately, this post is not reserved to explain how mind-blowing the conference was, but rather the trouble I had trying to make it home in one piece.

It was a brisk California morning when a large group of us, including my partner in crime, Zeb Wood, decided to rent a car and take a road trip to Malibu for the day. You should know that our flight left the Los Angeles airport at 10:30pm that night! That didn’t stop us.  We headed to Malibu beach to play volleyball and freeze our butts off in the cold water for half the day. The remainder of the day, we were invited to a beautiful wedding ranch on the side of a mountain where we started to really push our time. 8pm rolled around and we are still on a tour of this amazing ranch. We couldn’t resist!

Cut to me flying down Highway 1, weaving in and out of traffic in an attempt to get all the way to the airport, drop off the rental car and check in before our flight took off. Needless to say, we pushed our time too far and missed the check-in by mere minutes! “Bummer,” we thought. But, at the same time, we knew the fault was on us. For now…

We proceeded to the counter designated for special people, like us, who had problems with travel. Finally reaching the front of the line, both Zeb and I went to separate counters to figure out how to get on standby for the next flight. Boy, were we wrong! After a confusing and very unhelpful conversation with the Delta attendants working the counter, we were told that because of “Priceline’s agreement with Delta” we would need to purchase completely new tickets for the same flight the next night. Only one word comes to mind: expensive! Overall, we were extremely upset and left confused as to why we had to purchase completely new tickets. Not cool. </rant>

So, what do we do now? In the heat of the moment, I could only think of one idea where I could simply tell my story and possibly reach someone at Delta about this unfortunate situation – Twitter. If you want to read my first tweet about the situation, it can be found here. As you can tell, I was a little upset.

To my amazement, after a couple days, @DeltaAssist direct messaged me and asked me to tell them my story. It took me about 11 messages, but I let them know what was up! Sure enough, one week later, Zeb and I both received emails from Delta with a sincere apology and $50 in credit vouchers for purchasing another flight with Delta.

At this point, I realized the power of Twitter. From a simple 140 character-long tweet, I was able to gain the attention of this enormous company and have my story heard! Four years ago, Twitter was created. Two years ago, I would not have been able to get this response from Delta. They may not have even had a Twitter account yet! I predict this type of customer feedback is and will become extremely popular in the very near future. Hold me to that.

All in all, I am pleased that Delta took the time to address our situation and attempt to do as much as they could to correct it. I guess I’ll call it Delta’s second chance. Hopefully they get it right. And don’t think this guy will be missing a flight anytime soon!

Our support didn’t end there. On the day of the Mutt Strut xiik launched the Web site for the 2011 Indianapolis Poster Pooch Contest, a contest that will determine which Indianapolis-area dog will be the face of next year’s Mutt Strut.  Dogs are voted on by their human companions, who can log onto the site to vote for their favorites. The winning dog will be decided by having the most votes when the site closes at midnight on Friday, July 9.

Indianapolis-area residents can submit photos of their adorable pooch that can be voted on by the public. To register your pooch, you must make a minimum $5 donation and each vote is a $1 donation. Be prepared to enlist your friends and family to vote for your dog – the current leader has more than 300 votes. Have no fear, though, because voting is still open for several more weeks so there is plenty of time to get a rousing campaign for your pooch going. You can even use the site to solicit support from your friends and family by sending emails encouraging them to vote for your pooch.

And if you don’t have a pooch, surely you know someone who does, or you enjoy looking at photos of cute pooches. Log on today and find your favorite – you’ll be helping provide a second chance to the animals at the Humane Society of Indianapolis who dream of one day being a poster pooch (or kitty!).

Whether you want to show off your pooch, or see others’ favorite pets, we hope you join us in supporting this great cause.

The most notable additions are the full size mannequins that just so happened to grace us with their presence overnight a couple weeks ago. Our best guess is they ran away from Hollister because, let’s be honest, nobody can stand the smell of that place for more than 15 minutes. Their names are Xira [Zira] and Xahn [Zahn], but I have a feeling those names change every week since nobody can remember. No big deal – mannequins don’t have feelings.

Graffiti seems to be popping up more and more around the office and bathroom walls. Our front door sidewalk is tagged with the xiik logo and games of hangman make bathroom time even MORE fun. Give us chalk and you’ll be sure to see the 8-year-old in each of us. That is, all of us except Donny, who has a strong aversion to chalk.

So overall, we have just been making ourselves at home here and making it as fun and comfortable as possible. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, stop by and try to solve our latest hangman puzzle.

Why London, you might ask? Ever heard of a little something called Her Royal Majesty? Apparently, she’s a big fan of the work we did for the Humane Society of Indianapolis’ Mutt Strut (April 25) and wanted us on her newest endeavor: her Facebook Fan Page.

This is great news for our youngest employee, Josh Corken, as he will get the opportunity to relocate overseas and manage xiik’s newest office.  Hopefully Josh will be able to put everything he learned from xiik’s “Talk Like a Brit Day” to good use. However, if I remember correctly, the only thing he knew how to say was “bugger off.

We wish Josh the best as he searches for a flat and prepares to “mind the gap.” Stay tuned for progress on the project and updates on Josh going international with no return flight home. For now, pip-pip, cheerio and all that jazz!

My guess is you’re probably asking “What the heck is SIGGRAPH?” Fair enough. You have to be on a whole new level of nerd/hardcore computer graphics fanaticism to recognize it. I won’t lie, I am! Just check out the picture below of my conference badge and how much stuff is on that thing.

SIGGRAPH is the largest international professional organization “to promote the generation and dissemination of information on computer graphics and interactive techniques.” In other words, it hosts a conference every year in North America (usually in a major city) where thousands and thousands of students, educators, researchers and  professionals get together for a computer animation festival, huge exhibition, art gallery, emerging technologies, classes, behind the scenes amazingness and so much more. Let’s not forget about the parties. Oh, you heard right. Nerds can throw down!

Anywho, they just recently started hosting a conference in Asia halfway through each year, starting in December of 2008 (the original conferences are held in early August). It was a huge transition and a big step forward for the field of computer graphics and Asia, but also came with a lot of struggles such as language barriers. To our surprise, it wasn’t bad at all! There were great reviews and as a student volunteer, I was able to help most  every case that came across my path. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard though. Either way, the blending of cultures into one huge mesh of the most talented artists in the world is one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had. You literally pass people who helped create the films you watch everyday, the technology you use, the games you play and the amazing visuals that accompany every single aspect of our lives.

That’s most undoubtedly a true statement. In Japan, I was able to talk to owners of animations studios, producers and artists from Pixar, big guns at Lucas Film Animation and even the winner of best in show in the computer animation festival. That alone is worth the trip! Since I could practically write a book on my experiences at SIGGRAPH, I’ll leave you with some pictures of my trip. Some are from the conference and others are around the town of Yokohama. Enjoy!

Evaluate Your Goals
How has your business changed in the last year? What’s 2010 going to look like for your industry? Do current sales meet your expectations? Are you making a compelling case for your product or service to a targeted enough audience? What have you learned? We all work hard every day to keep the little gears grinding, but it’s crucial to take a step back periodically to tweak your overall course. Sit down to restate what you want for 2010, assess what worked in 2009, and imagine how you can shake up those pieces that need more focused attention or an entirely new tactic.

Listen to Your Audience
The best source of advice is often those people you are looking to please the most: your clients. They can offer valuable clues to engage them if you’ll just listen. Now, listening doesn’t involve just our ears anymore; there are many tools marketers can use to better understand their audiences. If you haven’t already, install data metrics & tracking software like Google Analytics on your web site to audit geographic demographics and behavioral patterns of your site’s visitors. What pages keep your visitors’ attention the longest and where do most flee the site. Research tools like Quantcast can be leveraged to get an interesting picture of the internet trends for your target audience. And get on board with digital word-of-mouth by staying involved with social media sites.

Audit Your Methods of Communication
Remember when people used to just talk to each other? Like face-to-face? Yeah, well there’s an increasing number of ways to interact with your clients and the most successful efforts are those that integrate several modes of communication, proportionate to the habits of your target market. Your options these days are in-person, phone, HTML email, your website, ads on other Web sites, social media, and traditional forms of advertising like mailers, print ads, television, and radio. Do you have the right mix? Are the tools you’re using having effect? Are you cross-promoting (i.e. social media links in email blasts)? Is your website too content heavy? Consumers respond more to visually engaging experiences online rather than a page of text. Are there any opportunities to convert paragraphs into interactive media like video, slideshows, etc?

Rethink Your Budget
Some businesses think they should axe their marketing budgets when the economy goes south, but there are more responsible tactics to trimming expenses.  Strong, effective marketing campaigns don’t always mean dropping big bucks.  Consider the return on your investment, which is highly trackable these days. Strategically targeting and communicating with your audiences can help grow your business. Can you redirect resources from an underperforming activity to one that’s working? Is the underperforming activity failing because your approach is not quite right or because it’s simply not a smart way to reach your audience? Ask these questions before making cuts. And marketing cuts may be unavoidable, but the most critical imperative is for you to prioritize. It may take more planning, but as the economy rebounds, your business will have remained relevant and visible in the public eye. And you’ll outperform those less savvy competitors.

Be True to Yourself and Your Business
Be authentic. People are often smarter than we give them credit for and many can see through a false façade. We as consumers appreciate authentic, heart-felt communications. And in this digital age, anyone can try their hand at the latest new-fangled gadget or digital idea; but those who succeed in digital media approach it with careful planning, research and strategy. Does your brand adequately reflect your company’s values and culture? Avoid hyperbole. Sure, find the magic in your company’s story, but don’t over-promise and under-deliver. Good branding (and by extension, marketing) is about defining an identity and purpose of being that everyone can unabashedly embrace. Create an organization in 2010 that you, your employees, and your clients can all be proud of!

Our new creative office has changed significantly since then. We can’t even recognize the place now. Okay, that’s a stretch, but we really have done a lot to make it more inspiring to the creative brain. Everything from desk layout to our secret snack stash is a little piece of genius that we all take daily pride in. And as we’ve been adding more folks to the team, those snacks go faster and faster — not something I’m too fond of: Dang’nabbit, who drank the last Capri Sun and ate the last string cheese! Just kidding. The new staff additions are amazing, regardless of snack consumption.

And fear not, we still have Yoda watching over the office. He keeps us in line and productive. We’ve also geeked out the walls with a couple of film posters that you can see pictures of below. Finally, one of our favorite aspects of the office is the two walls painted with black chalkboard paint. We express our interactive natures by writing all over the walls like kids. Really nerdy kids. And one of those walls occupies the bathroom — we don’t waste a minute! Topher even went as far as writing a Thanksgiving message backwards on that wall that reflects correctly in the mirror so you could read it. How clever!

Our Geek Bar will continue to grow in such details that encourage new ideas and ways of thinking. Some of these additions may seem minor, but they go a long way to getting ourselves outside the proverbial box and letting folks have a sense of humor, which is always a creative place to be. How can your office benefit from a little more company culture?