It’s that time of year again: report card season. School adminstrators figured out a long time ago that it was wiser to mail these directly to parents rather than rely on students to carry those portentious envelopes home. Not that I’d ever suspect my second and fourth grade boys of trying to conceal their grades from their father and me…okay, actually, ever since one of them lost his $1,100 retainer and didn’t tell us until the day after the trash pickup (yup, it had accidentally been thrown out, wrapped in a napkin), I’ve known my guys are capable of at least some forms of denial. But we usually find an occasion to celebrate in each report card. “Shows improvement in….” “Consistently demonstrates….” Like most parents, Tom and I look for strengths our children can build on, and try to help them work on developing skills that may challenge them. The report cards give us the guidance to do our jobs.
Many of the agencies that provide data for the PROMO 100 ranking each year are after similar guidance. Sure, they know that brand managers refer to the ranking throughout the year when screening which shops get RFPs. So there’s a certain “gotta be in it” thinking in the weeks leading up to the application. And who doesn’t want to see their company’s name leapfrog up the grid dramatically? (In fact, several did this year.) But the impartiality of the scoring process, based as it is on the data submitted, means that the PROMO 100 is very much a reflection of the strengths and skills of the agencies on the list. Is your growth strong but revenue still modest? You’ll get there. Not happy with where you placed in the Campaign Work chart? Send more thoughtfully selected examples next year, with a detailed description of how the work met the client’s goals (it was amazing how many shops sent pretty pictures with little or no quantifiable backup). Just don’t try to hide this issue from your boss!
While we’ve devoted the entire feature section of this issue to this year’s ranking, for complete coverage, be sure to visit our Web site at promomagazine.com.
CORRECTION: In May’s coverage of the 2005 EMMA Award winners, the agency for the Crest interactive campaign tied to The Apprentice was incorrectly identified. It was ePrize, Farmington Hills, MI.
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