Orange has drafted in an agency appraisal consultancy, Relationship
Auditing and Management (RAM), to evaluate and track its relationship
with its roster of agencies.
RAM will initially work with Orange's brand communications team, headed
by Nicole Louis; its ad agency, Lowe Lintas, which won the account last
year from WCRS; and media agency Media Planning Group.
The evaluation comes as part of Orange's plans to shift to a system of
payment by results (Marketing, January 4).
Louis said the work signifies Orange's 'determination to invest in our
relationships with our agencies' and added that it will have benefits
for both parties.
The mobile giant is the first client brand to sign up with RAM, which
was founded by former ad agency executives Carey Evans and Simon Rhind
Tutt at the end of 1998.
RAM, which is also working with several other undisclosed marketing
services agencies, has been developing its system of appraising,
tracking and measuring agencies' performances and relationships with
their clients over the past couple of years.
The system is based on a series of qualitative interviews. RAM asks both
agency and client to comment on how they feel the relationship is
progressing.
They then compare notes to identify any problems and show where progress
is being made.
'The aim is to give an uncluttered and clear perspective on how agencies
are doing and help to fix relationship issues,' said Evans.
'It is time-consuming for clients to appraise their agencies and this
takes one element out of their daily life.'
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