Key takeaways
• Strategy and execution are different capabilities that require different evidence.
• Agencies can only tailor a proposal to the expectations they understand.
• Open briefs encourage creativity, but hidden evaluation criteria create unnecessary guesswork.
• A little more clarity leads to more relevant, more comparable proposals.
• The most effective procurement processes don’t reward agencies for reading between the lines. They help them demonstrate how they can add value.
Two recent RFP processes highlighted something we think is often overlooked in agency briefs. Both clients wanted to appoint the right communications agency, but they were looking for completely different things.
One told us:
“We know you’ll be able to deliver the work. What we want to see is your strategic thinking and how you’ll help take us to the next level.”
The other said:
“We’ll develop the strategy together once we’ve appointed an agency. Right now, we want confidence that you can execute.”
The interesting part was that neither expectation appeared in the written brief. We only discovered them through informal conversations with the people leading the selection process.
It made us wonder:
If agencies don’t know whether you’re evaluating strategy or execution, how can they tailor a proposal to what you’re actually looking for?
Your organisational structure shapes the partner you need
Some organisations have experienced in-house communications teams looking for fresh strategic thinking while continuing to deliver much of the day-to-day activity themselves. Others have specialists across content, digital marketing, or creative services but need an external partner to bring those disciplines together under a coherent communications strategy. Some have lean marketing teams – or no dedicated communications resource at all – and need support with both strategic direction and hands-on delivery.
Each set-up requires a different kind of support and when you work within the same organisation every day, it’s easy to assume external partners share the same context. In reality, agencies can only see what the brief makes visible. Whether you’re looking for strategic thinking, operational delivery, or both, making those expectations explicit gives agencies a much better chance of answering the question you’re really asking.
Different questions produce different proposals
Strategy and execution aren’t competing capabilities. They’re different things to demonstrate. If an agency believes you’re looking for strategic thinking, it will naturally spend more time sharing insight, recommendations, and ideas. If it believes you’re looking for operational confidence, it will probably focus on experience, processes, and delivery.
Neither proposal is necessarily better. They’re simply answering different questions and that’s what makes unclear expectations so challenging. Clients can end up comparing proposals that aren’t directly comparable because each agency has interpreted the brief differently.
Clarity doesn't limit creativity
This isn’t an argument for highly prescriptive RFPs. We’ve produced some of best proposals when agencies were given the freedom to challenge assumptions and apply our creativity. The issue is hidden criteria.
So before issuing an RFP, it is worth asking:
• Are we primarily looking for strategic thinking, delivery capability, or both?
• What would a successful proposal demonstrate?
• Will every agency understand how we’ll evaluate their response?
A little more clarity at the outset often leads to more relevant proposals and a simpler selection process. Because the purpose of an RFP isn’t to find the agency that’s best at reading between the lines, it’s to find the agency that’s best placed to solve your communications challenge.
Hannah Kitchener
Associate Director
About the author
Hannah is an associate director in the UK, leading strategic campaigns for industrial clients across the EMEA region. A professionally qualified journalist (NCTJ), she combines specialist sectoral knowledge in construction, energy, and materials handling with a strong network of trade media contacts to secure valuable coverage. Her expertise in inter-cultural communication, honed by degrees in modern languages and translation, is key to executing campaigns that succeed across diverse European markets.
