International Creative Services (ICS) is rolling out a new industry service that allows clients and agencies alike to be matched with industry suppliers across all disciplines in the marketing and advertising industry.
The service has been created to respond to the industry-wide issue that finding the right supplier fit can be difficult and time consuming, whether that is for clients in need of some inside industry knowledge, or for the busy agency that doesn’t have the time or wanting a fresh injection of talent outside the usual well-worn industry choices. Some agencies are also not scaled up to have specialist producers or project managers in-house any more.
For many businesses the services of a pitch doctor or consultancy is out of reach and many marketing teams are capable of running the pitching and briefing process themselves with a little guidance to get started, or to have some fresh ideas by objectively matching to fit the business needs. No longer is there question over accountability or credibility on supplier choices.
With suppliers scrambling for relevance in the current climate many are taking on tasks outside their capabilities causing widespread industry confusion about who does what. ICS founder Anne Miles (pictured above) said: “It is time for a fresh model in supplier procurement for the industry that ensures the best people are being recognised, and not just those who invest in award entries, friends of people in positions of influence or where there is bias due to hidden commissions.
“It is important to ICS that the businesses searching for suppliers can do so for free, that there is one place to go to be connected with all industry suppliers under one roof, for clients and agencies of all sizes to have a solution that is right for them, that all suppliers are treated equally without bias in the process and that the best suppliers get found based on merit. Our intention is to be a totally independent game-changer for the industry.”
ICS engages a number of industry consultants where specialist expertise is required, and taps into a database of over 10,000 industry suppliers.
