The FMBE Awards 2021: Professional Agency Management Award

The category has been one of the very top ones for the past three years and this year we knew it was likely to show up some excellent entries. It didn’t disappoint. The challenges thrown down to agencies during lockdown brought out the best in our most resourceful management teams. We saw stories of creatively pivoting to survive and also stories that showed how periods of enforced downtime had been used for business restructure and team training.

In the best of these entries management teams knew that simply finding sufficient work and income to survive, whilst an achievement, would not be enough.

Judges looked beyond each pivot for evidence of the management process that underpinned the resulting contract or financial successes.

It was a strong shortlist that equally produced a compelling list of winners.

BRONZE N2O

As the largest sampling and experiential agency, N2O needed to find new routes to sample delivery and did so. N2O first partnered with home delivery brands and parcels to get samples into households, then later struck deals with companies like Airbnb to put brands into hands. One judge particularly commended the partnership with Amazon orders.

There were some strong results attributed to N2O’s pivot – described in a confidential part of the entry paper.

SILVER Big Picture

Like others in the consumer electronics sector Big Picture quickly understood that there would be limitations and hinderances ahead for the core business. It was the agency’s quick, clear and personalised approach that proved highly successful.

One judge commented: “Live in-store demos badly affected by the pandemic. Big Picture quickly adapted to the situation by assessing their staff’s skills and experiences and re-deploying them accordingly (as live-chatters, video creators, social media creators, etc.) Big Picture turned the potential for disaster into an opportunity. In the short term this delivered their largest ever revenue growth and over the long-term it means they are now able to compete in different sectors, setting them up for future growth and success.”

SILVER Field Sales Solutions

Field Sales Solutions was praised for its ‘innovation’ and ‘cultural success’ by our judges as the agency transferred its ownership to its employees.

Julian Cordy, Group CEO, said “As an organisation that relies on people as our primary asset to deliver our service and make a difference, what better way for our team to work in partnership with our clients than to have skin in the game by owning the business. The dynamic culture within the Group and the ongoing potential, as well as the importance of everyone, meant that we did not want to lose the culture, ethos and identity we have all worked so hard to build under the Group name. We hope that putting the company into the hands of all employees will allow them to further commit to the Group with a stake in the sustainability and success of the company. Crucially, everyone can be certain that the best interests of all stakeholders will be always at the forefront of any decisions made.”

GOLD Blackjack Promotions

There were a few entries from brand experience and retail experience agencies that showed how the agency had reacted to the prospect of long periods of lockdown but faced with one of the most damaging sets of circumstances Blackjack’s leadership team created a series of turn arounds that made the best of their highly responsible and capable travel retail staff and brand ambassadors.

Blackjack’s management was empowered to go for new contracts by many of its 1100 staff because of their existing trusted relationship, their PAYE structure and iCademy training. In one PCR testing contract – declared as a six-figure win for the agency – staff supplied have become full time data analysts and lab technicians.

The entry evidenced the management journey, the staff response and the success of the new contract wins, including testimonial.

One judge made the following feedback about what stood out about this agency manoeuvre:

“All FM and BE agencies have faced significant challenges during the pandemic, but Blackjack possibly had the most to lose due to their high levels of engagement in the travel retail sector. The business made a huge pivot, switching from the glamorous world of travel to the distinctly less glamorous world of Covid testing and PPE logistics. They quickly turned a threat into an opportunity and Blackjack more than survived…they appear to have thrived. The business decision led to a triple win: 1) for the agency, 2) for their staff that made the transition with them and 3) for the clients that urgently required fully vetted and trustworthy staff.”