Six Steps

 Step 3: Getting Client Buy-In & Approval

In signing the Release Form, clients are giving formal approval to the case, and permission to publish if it wins. Clients have been known to refuse, sometimes after a lot of work has been done. The following may be useful.

1. Identify the person with the power to approve, and approach him or her early on. This is often someone very senior, in which case a top agency person should make the contact—and should maintain contact through the process.
2. Assure the client that they will have full veto over any sensitive content before entry, and that you will submit the case in time for them to review it, and make changes. Make sure you know the client’s availability as the deadline approaches.
3. Establish beforehand what the client's sensitivities are, and propose ground rules for excluding or disguising sensitive data. Cases give away little or nothing that competitors do not already know. Sensitive data can easily be masked. And much of the information is already in the past.
4. There are close to 120 cases on the CASSIES website. Many are from highly competitive blue-chip companies. There is no evidence of any competitive disadvantage from publication.
5. On the positive side, a CASSIES win can be valuable ammunition in the client's organization, helping sell skeptical colleagues in other departments on the value of advertising.
6. Marketing groups do not get enough kudos! A CASSIES win is a significant achievement.
7. Most clients are looking for ways to attract talent. A CASSIES win can help sell the company to potential new hires, and on university campuses.
8. The CASSIES benefit Canadian business as a whole—very important, given globalization.
9. A winning case will improve the client's profile in the agency.
10. Preparing a case always turns up "Lessons Learned" that would otherwise have been overlooked.

As an extra measure, the ICA, ACA and AAPQ will gladly add their voices to your argument.