Many business leaders clearly understand the need for a strong brand and clear, consistent communications. It is not uncommon for many business, both large and small, to earmark a certain amount of dollars each year to be directed solely to marketing.

However, as companies begin to grow, more opportunities arise to "tell the story" of an organization and the job of identifying, sorting, editing, distributing, and following up with a particular story becomes very difficult.

Many companies have dedicated individuals on staff that are qualified to develop marketing strategies designed to align with the company's goals and effectively "tell the story". Unfortunately the implementation of these strategies, while not impossible, becomes very difficult as most of the dedicated individuals have additional responsibilities within an organization.

Add this responsibility with that of working with vendors, publications, television, radio and web site representatives - each of which need to be individually managed - the strategy begins to turn into confusion and the original idea of a clear and consistent message becomes cloudy and vague.

A good agency with a long history brings years of experience to the table. Many agencies have been working within a region for a long time and bring together an entire network of pre-evaluated vendors to your fingertips. In addition, they manage the vendors and make sure the story you are telling is as clear and accurate as your strategy describes.

A good agency will assist you in identifying your goals and matching them to your budget - recommending targeted techniques that will deliver maximum return on investment.

A good agency can "do it all" - press, television, web, newspapers, billboards, radio, newsletters - the list goes on and on.

Vendors will know when you are working with an agency and will provide the best possible costs and options to ensure their future success.

A good agency will provide a single point of access to simplify contact and decision making.

There are a lot of good agencies out there.

But there are not many great agencies. A great agency is one that thinks about marketing 100% of the time - a great agency will always act in the best interest of its client - a great agency is fearless and willing to reach beyond a client's expectations - finally, a great agency will ultimately help your business succeed.

At GM Anderson, we are that agency.