Agency Website Scorecard
Large Media Agencies

Thanks for viewing our agency scorecard for large media agencies. Below you’ll see scorecards for Kelly Scott Madison, Empower, Barrington Media Group. RSW/US has been supporting marketing agencies’ new business efforts with our outsourced agency new business/lead generation program and reviewing agency websites since 2005. To learn more, click here.

Kelly Scott Madison

View Website

User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Generally speaking, the site is easy to navigate. Giving prospects the ability to choose whether they want to move to the next case study or go back to the page that carries all of the case studies is one example of where KSM has simplified the user experience.
There is one area that is a bit overwhelming and to some degree confusing. On the “Solutions” dropdown, there are so many choices that it almost becomes a bit too much – not really knowing where to choose or where to start. And when a prospect clicks on one of the choices, and scrolls down to the bottom of the page, it only features six of the thirteen selections offered in the “Solutions” tab – which could make a prospect feel that things like “Out of Home” and “Social Media” (not among the six) aren’t as important or don’t play as prominent a role in KSM’s overall offering.
A solution would be to put many of those executional items (like “Out of Home”) on the “Media Solutions” page – and allow prospects to easily navigate through them, versus having to always go back to the dropdown.

Results-centric

Shows value of what agency can do?

We feel that there is an opportunity to better call out the results-orientation of the work that KSM does – particularly given that all of their case studies showcase business results generated from the work done by the agency.
On the home page, it does talk about “Business First”, which is great, but most of the dialogue above the fold is about the reasons-to-believe (e.g., “Data Truths” and “Data Meaning”) why they do it better.
We suggest a couple things to better speak to the meaningful impact KSM’s work has on a client’s business. One idea is to steal a page out of the case study section and use the word “Impact” on the home page. Something just as simple as changing what is on there now (“Business First”) to “Business Impact First” should help strengthen the results-story.
The other thing we would recommend doing is calling out success metrics in the case study more than is done now. The results can still be buried in the “Impact” paragraphs at the bottom of each case study, but we would suggest also including them at the top of the case study where “The Basics” and “Objectives” are summarized. The idea is to get the prospect engaged with the case study early by showing them the impact the agency is able to make on that prospect’s business.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

Other than some of the confusion around the “Solutions” dropdown and the relative importance of each within the full KSM offering, the general messaging and the content are clearly articulated.

Positioning

Defines what agency does and how unique?

The brand’s positioning is good, but in our opinion can be reinforced in a better way throughout the site.
If we’re all about “better” data and not just “more” data, let’s speak to that more directly when we talk about “Powerful Truths”, “Emotional Connections”, and “Brand Love”. We suggest KSM add a line above each of those headlines to reinforce the value of their data/insights and their respective contributions to delivering each of those ends. As an example, instead of just saying “Powerful Truths”, turn the headline into “Data Quality & Meaning Deliver Powerful Truths” or “Data Insights and Uncommon Ideas Deliver Emotional Connections”. We realize the paragraph below the current headline for each section speaks to all of this, but prospects aren’t necessarily going to take the time to read an entire paragraph – so we need to make it easy for them.
Another example of where this “Data Quality” positioning can be reinforced is on the “About Us” page. Right now, the positioning of the agency is set up as: “Kelly Scott Madison is a media marketing agency built to drive change.” Building in some of the “Quality” of data language into this statement could help better reinforce this positioning.
And the last place to consider it is in the case study section. Rather than just calling out “Precision Execution”, the agency could bake in some of the “Quality Data” language into the section headline and talk about it in the supporting text that follows.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in agency?

The “Intel” section does a really nice job of showcasing KSM’s thinking and expert position on media topics central to their prospects’ lives.
Other than some of the mixed messaging relative to the agency’s positioning, the story hangs together reasonably well and the website presents itself in a very legitimate and meaningful way. The site does a decent job of building confidence that this agency is well-equipped to do what a prospect will need them to do.
The only thing that might help further the legitimacy of the site is to incorporate some client testimonials that speak to the more actionable, meaningful, and quality nature of the data that KSM uses to support their client accounts.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

For the most part, the presentation of the brand (in terms of look, feel, and character) hangs together across the site.
The fact that all the case studies present themselves the same way helps make it easier for prospects to see the things they need to see.

Empower

View Website

User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Overall, the site is challenging to navigate. As an example, when a prospect clicks on any of the dropdown selections under “Company”, there’s a delay in moving to that specific place on the “Company” page.
In addition, the right scroll navigation makes it hard to manage the consumption of content on the site. While there is an arrow pointing the prospect to the right, there is nothing to indicate how to move back if a prospect wants to look at blocks of content they’ve passed over.
There are either a lot of words to work one’s way through, or in the case of work examples, the prospect is kind of forced into viewing the case studies in the order placed on the site, versus making it easier for prospects to navigate back to the main work section and/or select the case study example(s) they want to view.
And lastly, when a prospect navigates to something like “Our Heritage”, they are forced to scroll up or down in order to get the “Menu” to re-appear.
Overall, it just feels like the site is trying to do more than it really needs to.

Results-centric

Shows value of what agency can do?

With only a few exceptions, Empower does a nice job of baking results into their case study presentations. Our only concerns is that they are mostly baked into the videos and not called out in a manner similar to what is done for Rust-Oleum. Leading with results will help engage prospects and make them want to better understand how Empower generated the kind of outcome they did – and possibly watch the videos!
The other reason to call out the results up front (in addition showcasing them in the video) is because at the opening of the “Work” section, it calls out “Explore the Results”. If a prospect does like most prospects will do – which is scan the content and not spend a lot of time watching the videos – they will leave feeling like the promise of “Results” isn’t delivered upon because they’ll see very little presented in the same manner as the results were presented in the Rust-Oleum case study.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

When prospects come to an agency’s site, they need to understand who the agency is, what the agency does, and why the agency does it better. In the case of Empower’s site, none of these things even start to gain clarity until the 4^th panel on the home page.
We’ll talk positioning in a minute, but the “Unholding Company” language doesn’t tell a prospect what Empower is. It’s a feature, so it doesn’t tell prospects what Empower does – or why it’s better than other firms that they compete with.
It really isn’t until the “About Us” section that the agency begins to paint a picture of this notion of “hustle” and “creative media” – characteristics of an agency that aren’t necessarily inherent in an agency not part of a holding company. If “hustle”, “creative”, and “media” can be better tied together, that might help put Empower in a different spot right from the moment a prospect enters the site.

Positioning

Defines what agency does and how unique?

While there are makings of a sound positioning in something like “creative media with creative hustle”, the reasons-to-believe why Empower is uniquely equipped to deliver on this are scattered throughout the site and aren’t cohesively brought together in any one place – nor reinforced across the site in places like case studies or capabilities.
Simply being an “Unholding” company isn’t unique. Nor is offering media, creative, analytics, and word-of-mouth. The site needs to define its space and then use the home page to reinforce it. Right now, it feels like there’s a lot of space that can be better utilized to define and strengthen the brand’s positioning. As an example, instead of just calling the GNC case study “Flavor Story”, call it “Breaking through the New Year’s Hype with a Creative Media Flavor Story”.
In the spirit of better communicating Empower’s brand story, we would also recommend changing the order of what is presented on the home page.
- We would recommend introducing the agency’s positioning at the top of the fold.
- Follow with a statement of what makes the agency different. As an example, at the top of the Media, Creative, Analytics, and Word-of-Mouth pages, a statement could be incorporated to frame how what the agency does is different.
- We would next showcase a client logo block and possibly include a section on awards. These things will help create a greater sense of legitimacy and help payout the value of the brand’s positioning.
- We would then recommend that the site roll into 3-4 work example blocks with the revised headlines (per the above) and then finish with content from the “Latest” section, highlighting posts that speak to the agency’s thinking and not just accounts won or news about Empower sponsoring BLINK.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in agency?

Overall, the site gives prospects a lot to consume, which in and of itself helps establish some measure of legitimacy.
Calling out results more prominently, making it easier to view content without having to scroll right, adding logos and awards won in a more prominent place – like on the scroll-down off of the main home page – will all help more quickly situate Empower as an agency with strong credentials and a different way of managing their clients’ worlds.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

There is a fair amount of consistency in how different parts of the site are presented (like the use of the right scrolls), but there are a couple things that don’t align across the site:
- Case study presentations of results.
- Main messaging/positioning for the brand.

Barrington Media Group

View Website

User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Overall, the user experience is solid and this can be characterized as a very “self-contained” site. By self-contained, we mean there aren’t a lot of moving parts. When a prospect opens up one of their “pillars”, they can easily move through all four without having to bounce back and forth between pages. Or when a prospect wants to see the results of some of BMG’s client work, the case study opens a graphic that shares the results and background without bouncing the prospect off the page.

Results-centric

Shows value of what agency can do?

Barrington wins the prize for being hyper results-centric. Their positioning speaks boldly to it (it talks “performance-driven” everything and talks about how results are all that really matter), the case studies focus primarily on results, and everything else talks ROI and the results of what they do.
They also incorporate testimonials into the site, which furthers the case the agency makes for being all about the results they deliver for their clients.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

The site does a really nice job of getting to the point. They are clear from the opening home page, all the way through to the case study work and the “about us” page. Nothing confusing about how things are presented or what the agency is trying to tell its prospects.

Positioning

Defines what agency does and how unique?

We have seen plenty of agencies talk results as part of their offering, but it’s often baked into a story about the agency’s people and the service level provided by the agency. Not here. The fact that they come right out and tell prospects that they only care about results – which might turn some prospects off because they also want a touchy-feely relationship – is probably more aligned with what prospects want.
We only gave the “Positioning” dimension a “4” because the positioning of the agency in and of itself isn’t highly unique, but it is consistently presented and hammered home throughout the site.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in agency?

BMG does a really nice job of telling a convincing and compelling story. Not only do they include results for all of the case studies they share, but they also incorporate client testimonials to further validate the value of their offering.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

The site is very consistent in its presentation across all sections.

Agency Website Scorecard
Large Media Agencies

Kelly Scott Madison

Empower

Barrington Media Group

Kelly Scott Madison

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Empower

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Barrington Media Group

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

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Agency Website Scorecard Large Media Agencies

Kelly Scott Madison

Empower

Barrington Media Group

Kelly Scott Madison

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Empower

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Barrington Media Group

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Want to learn more about RSW/AgencySearch and how we can help you find better agencies, at no cost to you?

Newsletter Sign-Up

Site Map

Contact Us

Connect With Us

Agency Website Scorecard
Large Media Agencies