Patterson/Bach Communications, Inc.

Here at the agency, we’ve filled out a slew of RFPs and RFQs recently in connection with some business presentations. In many cases, these documents are a client’s first impression of a particular advertising agency—and you know what they say about first impressions. So we put lots of care and thought into answering them.

One thing you’ll find in most RFPs and RFQs is a section asking the responding agency about its previous experience in the client’s business category. Agencies with relevant experience pounce on this to demonstrate their expertise, and understanding of the client’s business. Meanwhile, agencies lacking experience brew a fresh pot of coffee and ponder, How are we gonna dance around this?

Common sense tells you an agency with previous experience in a business category has a leg up on one lacking such experience. But common sense also told us the sun revolves around the earth, and humans would never fly. Let’s look at both sides of the experience coin.

The case for experience

Obviously, there’s some comfort level knowing an ad agency has previous  experience in a client’s business category. If the agency has had notable success in a particular field, such as a spectacular and well-received ad campaign, so much the better. Of course, there are no guarantees that the people who created the great work of the past are the ones who will work on the present piece of business: that’s one thing an advertiser should verify.

There’s something else an advertiser should consider. Namely, for all its experience in a business category, will an agency bring fresh thinking and ideas to your business? It’s not uncommon for an ad person (or an entire agency) to get burned out working years and years on the same piece of business. Eventually the idea well runs dry, and it’s time for a change.

As they say in the investment world, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Nevertheless, previous business experience does provide a measure of comfort, along with a track record a client can use to evaluate a potential ad agency.

The case for a fresh slate

Can an ad agency that has never worked on a widget account jump in there and make them fly off the shelves (or wherever widgets fly from)? Absolutely. Success in the ad business demands that you be a fast learner, capable of getting up to speed quickly in a wide variety of business categories. This skill is simply part of a good ad person’s DNA. A little research into an agency’s account roster, along with a probing question or two, should give an idea of how quickly and effectively an agency can learn the ropes of a client’s business.

Also, don’t discount the benefits of bringing a new perspective to your advertising needs—a perspective unaffected by accumulated experience. Sometimes, it’s the agency that’s never had a widget account that finds fresh and interesting ways to advertise them.

Of course, inexperience can be a challenge in the case of a particularly esoteric business category—like for instance psychoneurobiochemical photospectroscopy machines (I’ve got one at home!). You may not feel comfortable having a Gen Y, Kings of Leon-worshipping creative team working on that one. Under normal circumstances however, lack of experience shouldn’t be an automatic disqualifier for a client seeking an agency.

So, how do you choose?

My two cents: choose the agency you feel most comfortable with, regardless of their experience in your business category. If they have tons of experience in your category, that’s great. And if not, don’t sweat it. The real question you should be asking throughout the selection process isn’t how much or little category experience the agency possesses, but:

How good is the agency at the business of advertising?

After all, that’s what you’re really hiring them for, isn’t it?

For examples of this, visit—you guessed it—pat-bach.com. Some of the work you’ll see stems from our considerable experience in various business categories, while other campaigns demonstrate our ability to bring fresh perspectives to new fields of business.

The common denominator in both cases? Quality. That says all you need to know about the “experience vs. novice” debate. And about Patterson/Bach, too.