Amazing post—even more amazing journey. Partnership love!!!
Some agency relationships are magical. You become friends. Partners in crime. All building toward the same goal. As a client, you get to set the stage and get the ball rolling — knowing there's an entire team working diligently to make it happen. That's what frees you up to focus on everything else you need to deliver for the business. I've been lucky to have many partnerships like this. Here's what I've learned makes them happen: 1. A clear brief. Clear doesn't mean simple. It means opening the kimono — giving your partners real access to the challenge, inside and outside the organization. 2. A seat at the table. Bring them into the room. Let them exchange ideas with the other critical parts of your business — PR, innovation, production. The best thinking happens at the intersections. 3. Work together. Question each other. Create think tanks. Your role as the client is to lead — and to push your partners toward boundaries nobody even knew were there. 4. Celebrate success together. Enjoy the job. Enjoy the journey. You'll never have enough money or time, so build in stages — but always be building toward something bigger. The best agency partnerships don't feel like vendor management. They become an extension of you. Thank you to the partners who've made this true for me: Invite Only, White Label (now known as Sidecar), Hakuhodo Inc., Publicis Groupe, Johannes Leonardo, Big Com, Swarm, Jayne Agency, LLC, TERAN\TBWA Mexico, @Love + Miami — and the many more to come.