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When marketers hold on to a paternal vision of how their brand should look and feel, it seems particularly tough to ask an outside agency to steer its online development. It must be as wrenching as packing kids off to school for the first time.

A brand must be confident that the agency it chooses has an intrinsic grasp of its values, and has the technical know-how to implement creative ideas. So, while the client sets the campaign guidelines, in terms of goals and reach, it is up to the agencies to provide the creative pedal-power.

The first hurdle a client faces is matching the right agency to the product. Brands turn to agencies with specialist skills - and chemistry in the partnership helps. Brand and audience knowledge is a key factor in inviting an agency on board.

"We decide on the agency we will use based on specific experience," says Alan Chadwick, e-business development manager at Crookes Healthcare. "We take a look at how we feel the market is moving, what people are doing on the internet and how it relates to offline."

When Crookes put together its Clearahill game to promote Clearasil (see Revolution, June, p6), it had to be certain the agency would contribute new ideas - and deliver online. "Lots of people are doing exciting things, but they have to be able to promote our brand otherwise they are just producing fancy toys," explains Chadwick.

Crookes picked digital gaming agency Jaildog for its gaming experience and its good relationship and success in previous campaigns, such as the Flash-based Neurofen Relief Racer. "What they proposed was right for the brand, and they had the right expertise."

The way in which a client briefs its agencies is the basis of a campaign's creativity. "By including digital at the start," says Danny Meadows-Klue, chief executive officer of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, "clients will reap the benefits in creativity.

"Advertisers are missing a trick if they only plan digital at the end of a process. Online is the sum of what you can do across all media. Advertisers can benefit from giving agencies freedom and kudos by involving digital at the start of the conversation."

This means going back to the strategic bones of a campaign before adding the creative skin. Through involvement in the strategic planning, agencies can devise a campaign that is both creative and can be accountable for results. This will mushroom the return on investment (ROI).

Deborah Keay, marketing partner at digital communications agency Oyster Partners, whose clients include Abbey, BT, Rockstar Games and Epson, says that, when producing a creative campaign to achieve distinct retail targets, she has no control over the campaign's success unless the rest of the web site is optimised for that campaign.

"Creativity and success is about hitting targets. There is no point in getting eyeballs on your web site if they haven't bought anything," she points out.

"Retailers need campaigns that are creative, but they also need to integrate what they are doing online with offline work. There are a lot of creative briefs with no strategy involvement. We can only be accountable for the cost-per-click model and what happens when a customer with the propensity to buy lands on the site if we can be involved with the online strategy to get people to the site."

Keay says that barriers in driving customers to an online shop often arise in poor briefing of an agency by a marketing team who might not be in charge of their company's web site. "We spend a lot of time building bridges between the e-commence team and marketing and brand team."

Cross-briefing with all agencies and media at the start of a campaign ensures alignment. Pooling information evolves the campaign. Patrick Baglee, creative director at EHS Brann, says: "It might cost a bit in bacon sandwiches and espresso, but I'd brief each new piece of integrated activity to all the agencies simultaneously: digital, above-the-line, and below."

Ashraf Choudhury, Fiat's internet and e-business manager, says that the automobile giant briefs its above-the-line agency Leo Burnett and digital agency Arc Interactive together. The briefings are integrated with its global operations teams so that the agencies are in tune with Fiat's culture - including after-sales and dealer operations - and Fiat's marketing team understand the agency's processes. This builds trust. "We take the initial brief to a certain point and ensure that our objectives are met in terms of creative requirements," says Choudhury. "Then agencies are the doers to push the boundaries with their technical and creative knowledge."

Patrick Brady, digital strategist at Craik Jones Digital, explains that it was pooling of research that helped the agency to meet tight deadlines and push creativity when it developed the online marketing programme for drinks company Diageo's gin brand, Gordon's. The brief was to create an email and web-based programme direct to consumers to look for creative solutions online while working with a similar cost per customer acquisition as the old direct mail approach.

He explains that Diageo has a team dedicated to marketing and online media communications, which focuses internally on Diageo's learnings from its campaigns. It then shares that information across agencies that are working on different brand teams. The teams are able to access Craik Jones' server and see its ongoing creative work before it has gone live. Brady explains, "We then bring the strategic and creative expertise to build on this and deliver; we turn to regular stop-and-think sessions to help development."

Brands and agencies unable to shake their inhibitions about sharing information are suffocating creative success. Michael de Kare-Silver, managing director of digital agency Modem Media, says that, in order for agencies to produce relevant creative work, the client should reveal its product research: "On many occasions in a pitch environment there is no willingness to share research, so you end up making assumptions about the product and the audience. Agencies and clients should share, discuss and learn together."

He argues that it is important for agencies to reciprocate knowledge: "Clients can be unsure about what they can expect from online ads and aren't necessarily up to speed with the tools and technology that can work," he says. "3D technology is just emerging as something that is different and exciting, for example. Good agencies will inform the client of the most up-to-date possibilities."

Ken Frakes, managing director of Arnold Interactive, agrees: "Clients now appreciate that market research and planning for the online audience is essential in understanding how to communicate brands and create relevant messaging. It makes all the difference if you have a good understanding of what turns people off or on."

Neil Hughston, client services director at integrated digital agency Tribal DDB, says the openness that comes with a long-term relationship opens far-reaching creative opportunities. Tribal DDB has worked with car manufacturer VW since 1998 and work includes the launch on the Golf Mk V and the super-luxury Phaeton. The agency carries out all online work including media planning. Hughston reckons working on a retainer basis helps the agency develop a more insightful campaign.

"We have a hive of understanding of the client's overall vision and needs. Long-term relationships promote creativity," he argues. "We can add value on top of the original brief. We have the trust of the client to develop a communication strategy - it gives us a licence to become more involved in the whole development process and to challenge the brief rather than sticking to the knitting."

With the solid foundations of a good working relationship, shared information and inclusion in the overall campaign across all media, the next step to a good creative campaign lies in setting goals. A good brief needs to examine what will work best for digital, and allow online to have a unique voice. But there are no set rules on whether a simple or detailed brief will give the most creative results.

Mark Weber, CEO, Atticmedia, says a good brief will look at the benefits of digital by distinguishing what works well offline and online. "We should use the internet for what it's good at and not just to translate TV to online. It's an on-demand service, something people have to go out and find."

Frakes says that for creativity, prescriptive briefs are the toughest to work to: "We are expected to be creative with given elements within a strict template which fills bought and booked inventory. If you can eek some creativity out it's an achievement. Even better, convince the client that they would get better results by loosening the brief."

Matt Ramsay, director of digital agency E3 Media, suggests that a strict brief can be challenged to allow for greater creativity: "Very often we will get a strict set of instructions from a brand manager. In these cases you need to push back at the client and ask them to look at the challenge from the consumer's point of view - to make it more engaging and entertaining.

"We often get the same situation in a pitch," he says. "Our most creative work challenges the brief and presents solutions that they may not have thought about. It's only by pushing the boundaries like this that you can produce your strongest creativity."

It isn't always possible to set out clear goals upfront in a strict brief, though. Jennie Mirams, senior executive for e-services at the Engineering and Techology Board, says that, in developing the Scenta portal (see box, p42), digital agency tmg Consulting had to implement a wide-ranging brief: "ETB had a vision for Scenta; tmg had the ability, originality and creativity to meet the demands of our ever-changing needs.

"Tmg has a well-defined creative and development methodology that gave our stakeholders and us the opportunity to participate and drive the whole user experience process. This gave us the ability to create our visual canvas, knowing the structure, navigation and content components were all going to work."

Craig McCullock, tmg CEO, says: "Our creativity comes from a structured approach to intuitive user experience." He bases this on understanding the user and organisational goals, defining the information layout, creating the visual and interface design. "As Scenta evolves, we are constantly looking at new creative ideas and technical tools that address the needs of the users. The creative challenge never stops."

By setting a simple brief, Carlton pushed the creative boundaries for its web site, which supports Saturday morning children's show, Ministry of Mayhem, aimed at nine- to 14-year-olds. The producer wanted to translate the fast-paced, slapstick feel of the show online.

Lorna Moxham, interactive producer, Granada, says the company deliberately didn't put too many restrictions in its brief because it felt creativity was more important. The site had to include branding opportunities and the brief involved discussion about the TV programme.

Digital agency Atticmedia pitched the idea of creating a ministry feel where the user took on the role of a secret agent. The site includes various activity locations and an online community, including a "virtual mobile phone" that allows moderated chat among users. Product placements provide links directly to brands' sites via an integrated rewards points system which ties in with partners, and users can access branded downloads.

Moxham explained: "We liked the concept. Atticmedia put so much into the process and was passionate about it. It is key for an agency to understand an audience. They must also be prepared to compromise on their concepts where budget is an issue."

Mark Perry, senior project manager, Atticmedia, says Carlton had an understanding of digital and realistic aims of where they could go with the project. "They gave us lots of information, which allowed us to come up with ideas under the widest possible scope. We mapped out ideas, worked out what was possible with our budget and time, and developed the brief together."

Tom Adams, communications director at Mook, argues a precise brief is the starting block to focus creativity. Mook was approached to produce work for The Sunday Times' monthly interactive entertainment CD-Rom, The Month, in January 2003, to go live in August 2003. Its remit was to set the design, translate editorial content to a digital environment, and produce fresh material. He believes The Feature, a monthly interactive editorial piece, is among the most creative work Mook has produced.

"The way we have been able to produce cutting-edge work is based on collaboration, trust, clear briefing and a long-term relationship. The teams from The Sunday Times talked with us on every level - from whether we should edit a word to looking at how a feature could be brought to life. They set out distinct goals and were clear about objectives - and provided lots of research.

"The pitch process can be valuable to see where a product might go, but the real creative work began when we started to work with them. As a result of this, trust has developed. The client has a very good sense of our capabilities and was prepared to take risks."

TMG CREATES HUB AT ETB'S SCENTA

The Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) approached digital agency tmg Consultancy to produce a site to address the needs of the UK's science, engineering and technology community. It had to give industry organisations a common voice and support skills development. The resulting portal, named The Science, Engineering, and Technology Association - abbreviated to scenta - collates information across 35 sectors. Scenta.co.uk provides industry news, profiles, jobs, forums, online resources, and an email newsletter for registered site users.

Adrian Talbot, director of e-services, ETB, explains the partnership: "Creativity starts by finding a trusted partner, where mutual respect builds a powerful and creative relationship. Tmg has invested in our relationship, our creative process and gained an in-depth knowledge of both our users and stakeholders."

TEN TIPS FOR CLIENTS WHO WANT TO GET THE BEST FROM THEIR AGENCIES

1. Be open-minded and ready to learn. A good agency will have a wealth of know-how and best practice experience to share and guide your future online marketing plans.

2. If you do invest online, make sure you don't invest half-heartedly. Be committed to make the internet work for your customers. If you do invest some of the marketing budget on the internet, then do so in a committed way with sufficient time and resources.

3. Get really good customer research. And insight into the online preferences and desires of your target customers; research focusing on their offline behaviour is rarely appropriate.

4. Test and Trial. Don't try to invest huge sums straight away. Test and trial a series of ideas and initiatives to identify what really works.

5. Recognise that online development is a journey. Success cannot be achieved overnight. It takes time to learn what will really drive sales, leads and relationships online.

6. Use agencies that really understand the internet. You should be looking for people who have "got the internet" and interactive in their DNA, not TV/offline/above-the-line agencies that are "dabbling" in a bit of online work.

7. Acknowledge online is a different medium; as such it requires different creative treatments and solutions than you will have used elsewhere in business.

8. Recognise that technology is changing. New tools and approaches are available. Uniquely, it is possible to truly innovate in the way you communicate online, and the environment and opportunity is evolving all the time.

9. It can be supply, as well as demand-driven. Because the internet is still relatively new, straightforward customer research may not reveal latent customer preferences; new approaches, carefully tested, may reveal new and exciting opportunities for your business.

10. MMR - Measure monitor and report. The internet provides a wonderful environment to really measure, monitor and learn, and a good agency should be proficient and skilled at providing these as part of their service.

10b. Enjoy! It's a fun and exciting time in this medium. ITV, mobile are all developing - it can be great to be part of an emerging channel to market.

- Courtesy of Michael de Kare-Silver, managing director of digital agency Modem Media.