_Dawna Henderson is President & Managing Partner of “henderson bas”:http://www.theniceagency.com, an agency that focuses on interactive, sales promotion, direct marketing, and campaign integration. Recognized as a leading agency by Marketing and Strategy magazines, henderson bas is renowned for developing superior creative that works. henderson bas discovers interactive and direct opportunities for great brands like, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Honda, Molson, Nike, Levi’s, and Schneider Foods._
*One Degree: Why “the Nice Agency”?*
Well, we’re not the best looking agency, but everyone here has a really great personality.
*One Degree: Many of the campaigns you work on (like Nike’s runTO) are done in conjunction with other agencies. From the client’s perspective, what are the challenges and benefits of bringing in best-of-breed agencies instead of handing everything over to one shop?*
We are asked this very question often. Instead of the standard, padded answer everyone expects – let’s just put it this way – would you rather buy peaches from a farm-fresh fruit stand or a large grocery chain? Great, now I’m craving fresh peaches.
*One Degree: We recently asked Gurval Caer, CEO and President of Blast Radius about the difference between interactive agencies and web developers and he said in part “Interactive agencies are great if you want interactive billboards and ads. Otherwise, its web developers who are doing the heavy lifting to transform businesses – to open up new channels, to better manage customer relationships and increase satisfaction.” I’ll put the same question to you: How should a client decide what type of vendor to select and how best can they find a right fit for their needs?*
It depends on the department doing the search and the corresponding objectives. If the client is in marketing and they are looking for opportunities that affect the marketing and sales P&L based on actions like; acquiring, retaining, and growing the customer base or increasing customer brand awareness – they should absolutely look for an Interactive Agency. If the client doing the search is in IT – looking solely for tech solutions – they will likely want web developers. We work with marketers – we primarily create, develop and support marketing opportunities
The debate is similar to the term CRM. For marketers – CRM is marketing. It’s strategic marketing that drives customer interactions based on share of wallet, loyalty, and propensity. For IT – CRM is process and software.
Although, there is no clear line of demarcation because we have a strong, seasoned web development team that supports our marketing and advertising efforts.
*One Degree: People seem to be pretty optimistic about the Internet industry these days. Any fears of us creating another bubble or is it different this time?*
It is not different this time. I live, breathe, sleep, and eat fear. Should people be optimistic about the Internet? Absolutely. You’d have to have your head in the sand to ignore the power of it now. But (and here comes the reason for fear) because the Internet is something to be reckoned with – everyone wants a piece. So I don’t see the Internet bubble bursting. But I do see people trying to take a piece of our bubble away – which can cause it to burst.
*One Degree: Increasingly we’re seeing CEOs of technology companies using blogs to communicate directly with the market and to establish better transparency. Have you considered joining the ranks of executive bloggers?*
What’s a blog? Kidding – no, not yet. But I agree blogs can provide great insight. I wonder if blogs work for new business development. Hmmm.