PROCUREMENT SERVICES
Ark Advisors has a proven track record of collaborating effectively with Corporate Strategic Sourcing and Procurement teams. Our skill sets and in-market expertise add value to a wide range of marketing-related functions including agency search, compensation and contract management. We also provide ongoing counsel and online tools to ensure that new and existing partnerships continue to be strong and productive.
- Agency Search & Selection: Ark Advisors can quickly and efficiently source and qualify a list of agency candidates that best fulfill your specific selection criteria. We offer a streamlined process and unbiased methods of discovery to help you select the best agency partners. We’re experienced in leading a range of searches, including Agency of Record (AOR) & project-based engagements, global & national scopes, integrated multiple agency partnerships & single resource reviews. We handle searches across every discipline including creative, media, digital, social, mobile, PR, and shopper marketing.
- Compensation Consulting: Ark Advisors has negotiated hundreds of compensation arrangements — local, national and global — including incentive-based compensation agreements. Our comprehensive knowledge of agencies and their costs enables us to expertly support your efforts. We can benchmark your agency fees against our own proprietary database as well as against industry norms and best practices in order to assure fair value to your company and fair pay to your agencies.
- Agency Roster Modeling: Do you have the best agencies for each area of your marketing efforts? Have your agencies kept pace with evolving business needs? Has your business changed in any significant way that may require a reassessment of the capabilities of your agency partners (international expansion, new distribution channels, increased competitive activity, etc.)? Perhaps you are seeing a duplication of services and want to consolidate agencies to gain better operational and financial efficiencies. Ark Advisors can evaluate your roster to determine the appropriate mix of agency partners to provide the right services for the right scope at the right cost.
- Relationship Management: The best way to ensure healthy and productive relationships with your outside agencies is to conduct regular assessments of “the state of your union”. Ark Advisors is a third-party partner with unparalleled industry insights and expertise. We offer both one-to-one and cloud-based solutions to help Procurement departments assess qualitative and quantitative measures — from drivers of outcomes to barriers to success. We then provide objective interpretation and practical recommendations for improvements, along with customized action plans.
- Qualified Sourcing Report: Not sure which agencies to put into the “top of the funnel” when conducting an internally-led search process? Ark Advisors can help source and vet agency candidates for you based upon conflicts, cost, experience, capabilities, geography and culture. We then deliver a list of pre-qualified agencies that best match your specific selection criteria. If necessary, we can also offer this service while maintaining your company’s anonymity.
- Agency Pool Report: Want to learn about the latest breed of social agencies, the top pharma shops, hot new creative boutiques, or up-and-coming data analytics firms? Typically fielded annually, this Ark Advisors Custom Pool Report is the best way to keep tabs on agencies most relevant to your business or sector. That way, when needs arise throughout the year, you’ll have a list of agency candidates ready to go.