How to be a good client: 5 tips for working with digital agencies

An interesting trend I've noticed - as digital 'know-how' becomes more commonplace, companies are increasingly hesitant to work with a digital agency.

"It will cost how much?"

"really? It would take a fortnight?

This attitude isn't helpful, as in some cases an agency is often the best and cheapest option. It's a shame to let a lack of understanding - by both parties - get in the way of what could be a really exciting project with great results, so here are my top 5 tips for working with agencies:

1.  Pick the right one - it may sound simple but think hard about who you want to do the work. It will cost you time and money to hire another agency to unpick and redo a botched job. Let many agencies pitch, but don't be bullied into giving the contract to the agency with the most persistent Account Manager or Business Development guy. Mutual trust and respect is key here and you can tell a lot about their attitude to a project by initial conversations. Go with an agency that listens to your requirements from the outset, but also one who can contribute and build on your own ideas - it is this expertise and added value that you are paying for.

2. Write a good brief - even the best agencies aren't psychic and digital projects can be an especially tricky to verbalise if you're not at home discussing technology. If the end result is nothing like what you had envisaged, the chances are you haven't conveyed your ideas properly so it's worth taking the time to explain in writing (and face-to-face if possible) exactly what your aims are at the beginning. Clearly stating your desired message and target audience, your expectations and (at the risk of sounding wanky) 'what success looks like'. Don't be afraid to tell the agency how you expect this project to make you money!   

3. Agree costs and timings in writing upfront - ask for a written timeframe and a breakdown of costs. Any good digital agency will be doing this as standard, so be wary of one that tries to skip this bit! For larger projects there may be initial costs involved in a 'scoping' phase which is a legitimate request. The agency will need to dedicate man hours to planning and technical investigation to find out how best to implement your brief so if you decide not to go ahead with the project after this has taken place they will be out of pocket. Costs and timings are designed to help both parties, so it is also important not to erode trust by not sticking to agreed timeframes at your end, or quibbling over the bill later.

4. Respect experience - ultimately, an agency will do as you ask: you're the one paying the bill. The way to get the most from your money, however, is not to browbeat them into submission even when they advise against something. Account management will be fighting some arguments for you behind the scenes ("I don't care if you don't like the colour, it's our client's branding, work with it!") and they know how to pick their battles, so when they do take issue with something, it's for a good reason. They will tell you not to broadcast mass emails on a Friday afternoon (no-one reads them), not to use tiny fonts (it's against accessibility guidelines) and to place unsubscribe links at the bottom of things (its a legal requirement). They tell you this from years of research, experience and best practice so do take note.

5. Get good at giving feedback - once you have the first designs or wireframes in front of you is the point where you really get to show your worth as a client. The agency are twiddling their thumbs until you sign it off or send over amends, so you need to be prompt, but resist the temptation to dismiss with a "looks good" until you've fully appraised the work. I can say from experience - the most annoying thing a client can do is drip feed amend after amend, changing their mind several times and giving ambiguous instructions. Not only is it annoying it can be costly, undermine the relationship and prevent top quality work. Your job now is to give full, crystal clear feedback, within the agreed timeframe. Often it's easiest to annotate screengrabs of a website to avoid writing indecipherable directions like "in the top right bit of the second box there's a typo".If there are to be several rounds of amends set up a shared document such as an excel file with all the changes, which can be ticked off as completed or comments added.

If you've followed the above you should be on the way to a great and hopefully lasting relationship with your digital agency. If you don't follow the above you might find yourself on here.

Menshn'd in Despatches

I'd thought about doing a post on Menshn back in June when it launched, but at the time the new social network - created by Louise Mensch - was only available to people living in the U.S.

The network was set up by the (then) Conservative MP, with the aim of filtering out the 'noise' found on Twitter and focussing debate around selected topics. Louise Mensch has now resigned from her seat in Corby and East Northamptonshire to spend more time with her family. Good for her - every woman makes tough choices about parenthood and I wholeheartedly support a woman's decision to bring up her children how she sees fit.

What does concern me, however, is the suggestion raised in this article that she might use this time to work on her new social networking business.

This should be another 'good for her' moment, surely? Women in business - yeehaa! But the problem is, I really don't like the concept of the network. It's based on the premise that there is a lot of 'noise' on Twitter, tweets that Mensch thinks aren't sticking to the point and therefore shouldn't be heard.

Her ideal would be to keep the discussion slick and filter out anything off topic, which (she has been keen to point out) would also create the perfect engaged environment for advertisers and marketers. Sometimes that does seem very tempting. I agree it can be infuriating trying to make a point and that point hitting a wall of spam and trolls.

But surely the point of Twitter is that it's democratic? Everyone has a voice and everyone is free to listen to (or follow) whoever they choose. If you take away the destractions, the random input, the humour, you lose some of the beauty of Twitter and a lot of the character.

There are already a lot of constrained discussion forums on the internet and none of them are as popular as Twitter, possibly because they lack the human factor. It's that very human factor that is keeping the less talented advertisers and marketers at arm's length, because they fear the openness, transparency and freedom of speech that are the common currency of the Twitter crowd.

Just like a clued-up live audience, Tweeters have the capacity to praise the skilful and heckle the inept into submission, getting right to the heart of the matter. If you silence the 'off topic' jibes or the seemingly irrelevant comments, you risk missing something that will take the discussion to a whole new level or alienating a would-be supporter.

Perhaps the answer lies not in focussing the discussion, but focussing the interactions. Giving people more ways to find and follow people and conversations that might interest them. Maybe providing more more ways to avoid those that won't. I wish Mrs. Mensch all the best, but unless she addresses the issues above, I can't really see her network being a rival to Twitter. If it does succeed of course, I'll be sure to Menshn it here ;)

The Foursquare Special

Many predicted that the introduction of Facebook places would be the death knell for Foursquare, but the network is still going strong.

With 20 million users worldwide (although probably only a portion active), Foursquare is a popular geo-social  network, and brands look to make the most of this. When the network first became popular 'specials' were quite common. These offers were created and managed by brands and venue owners to try and attract custom, and were free to the promoter.

I have seen less of these offers in the last year or so - perhaps indicating that they weren't particularly effective in terms of RI - however this collaboration between Amex and EAT caught my eye.

Check in to Eat, pay £5 and you get £5 credit! Sounds good doesn't it?

Unfortunately I think it's another case of 'no such thing as a free lunch'. I think the offer is a bad idea, for both brand and customer, for two main reasons:

User Experience: The process requires you to 'synch' your Amex card. Forms (which will probably be filled in on a smartphone due to the nature of Foursquare meaning you are on the go), and handing over credit card details. Everyone knows this is a big turn off for the online customer, and will likely put off the majority of punters.

The process was also pretty clunky, having to synch, then check in to EAT, then use your amex to pay in EAT, then click load or something (I had lost interest by this point).

Proposition: Let's think about what the customer is actually doing here, and also take a look at the small print. You are paying for your lunch with a credit card. I personally don't usually do this. I will get out cash or pay with a debit card, but to me credit is something to be used in emergencies, or when I need protection guaranteed for a large online purchase. The small print says 'credit is usually issued 3-5 business days, may take up to two billing periods'.

So let's get this straight. We owe Amex £5 for up to 2 months, before our balance is restored. If just 1%  of Foursquare users took up this offer, that would be a credit card debt of £1,000,000. Perhaps I'm being too cautious about this, but considering how we got into the current economic climate should we really be encouraging the 'stick it on the credit card' culture? Why not just pay with a fiver from the cashpoint? I think Amex and EAT got this one wrong to be honest...

HTC Elevate

Good news - For everyone fed up of me prattling on about my phone, I now have a different forum in which to do it!

I saw a random tweet asking for 500 people to join the HTC Elevate program, and, given my geeky obsession with the little green robot, I signed up. They are (were?) after people to be part of a community, who share tips, beta test, give feedback and enter competitions. 

Unfortunately there was a confidentially agreement as part of the signup forms, so don't expect any exclusives here, but I will still keep the blog updated on anything that's in the public arena, and any handy hints and tips that I learn.

I think it's a great way of rewarding natural brand ambassadors and also very a good move for HTC itself. The community is giving them honest insights into the product's strengths and weaknesses and even suggesting improvements. It has the feel of market-research-meets-think-tank and members are engaged on a personal level, rather than disintrested focus groups. 

HTC is a company that's really listening, in an honest yet professional way, yet they aren't constantly shouting about it either. Quietly brilliant....

Social Media Case Study: Shell

EDIT: It turns out (thankfully) that this campaign is a hoax orchestrated by Yes Men. Very clever!

It's at times like these you might hear me say that social media just isn't for everyone. A company whose actions are generally quite contentious, would do well not to draw attention to them, no?

Not so for Shell, who thought it wise to open up one of their least popular ideas to the social sphere. 

They asked members of the public to design an advert for Arctic energy production, using beautiful pictures of Artic scenery and overlaying their own text. Here's what happened:

"Turn the power on, it's time to melt some ice"

"You can't run your SUV on 'cute'"

"Some say catastrophe, we say opportunity"

People wrote what they really thought on the posters. In an ironic twist the social voting system (usually employed to encourage users to filter out inappropriate content by voting it down) has meant that those who don't want to destroy the environment, are able to keep their views in the spotlight by others affirming their messages.  

It really couldn't have worked less in Shell's favour if Greenpeace had orchestrated the campaign.

I honestly don't know what Shell were thinking, and the PR department must be panicking now as the site is still currently showing these messages at the time of posting.

Where to go from here? I honestly don't know. They have a few options:

• Remove the website entirely - Not a very 'social' response and would lead to ridicule online and possibly from the press, but would blow over (relatively) quickly.

• Engage with the public, asking them to stick to the advert's intended messaging - although asking people politely to stop is the usual first response to trolling (and a good one) it doesn't really work here because what is being said isn't offensive, and the public have the moral highground.

• Remove the page and replace with a conciliatory message saying something like "we have listened to your concerns and are taking them on board. Please bear with us while we evaluate the best course of action" - Ha! Yeah right. Again, other companies may be able to make this approach fly, but when you're an oil company trying to drill the arctic we're not going to fall for it... 

Moral of the story? If your proposal is going to upset the majority of the general public then don't put it to them publicly via social media. Definitely don't give them a chance to respond. Oh and don't ever, ever, try to con them into creating an ad campaign for you and your morally dubious campaign! 

Camera filters (on, you've guessed it, the HTC One X camera!)

So I keep banging on about this phone. But honestly, there's a reason. Apart from the growing kudos from owning this beautiful piece of design ("what is that? Looks like a mini-tablet!") it's got some great functions too.

First up, the camera effects. Bringing up this little screen below lets you choose from a variety of effects

The Solarize setting is one of my favourites and can be stunning at night: 

And distortion can create some pretty quirky effects with the right composition (or just a friend's face, your choice!).

For anyone doubting that mobile photography is a legitimate method of producing art, the HTC One provides a pretty good (8mp) argument. If you're still not sure, here's a picture of a book I saw at the Tate Modern at the weekend, and a link to the book on amazon. It's a bit out of date though, as One X doesn't seem to feature...

HTC One X camera review

Today was a great excuse for an Easter stroll, and to try out the One X's 8mp camera.

It behaved well (and once I have the right shortcuts setup, will be very easy to use) although quite disappointingly, after opening the application a few times it did freeze on a black screen and had to be restarted. Considering the immense processor power behind it, and the advertised camera capabilities (including 'best shot' - take lots in quick succession and choose the best) I was upset it crashed so soon, but time will tell whether it's a regular thing.

Otherwise, the photo quality was good, and I'll let you judge for yourselves below :)