Articles

Infocommerce Report, August 2005

Adweek Directories Aligns With Agencyfinder

When Agencyfinder launched in 1997, it was not an online directory. Instead, it was a matching service that paired advertising, public relations and marketing agencies with clients. The model was simple: interested parties would register and begin their search online. Agencyfinder would follow up with a telephone consultation to help improve the quality of the search results.

"In those telephone interviews, we realized some people were trying to use our service as background to find agencies because they had something to sell to the agencies," said Chuck Meyst, chief executive officer of Glen Allen, Va.-based Agencyfinder. "That's the opposite of what we are. So in those conversations, we referred them to Adweek Directories. So we thought, why don't we find a way to introduce them directly?"

When using Agencyfinder's original service, profiles that meet a user's search criteria are presented. However the name of the agency is not immediately revealed so there is no preconceived bias and each has an equal chance of being selected.

Still, "we knew people were trying to look up an agency and contact information," said Meyst. "They

That's when Meyst approached Mitch Tebo, directory marketing director for Adweek Directories, based in New York City, about his idea to add Adweek Directories content to the Agencyfinder site. "I thought it was a good fit," said Tebo. Together, Agencyfinder and Adweek Directories launched the Adweek Agency Namefinder service on the Agencyfinder Web site (www.agencyfinder.com) last month.

"We provide [Agencyfinder] with an expanded list of agencies and are making [users] aware of the information in Adweek Directories. "The main purpose [for us] is to drive traffic from [the Agencyfinder site] to ours-the ones not interested in recruitment services, but just want contact information." Tebo said the Adweek Directories offer agency profiles, including services they provide, key personnel and their accounts. Combined, Adweek and Agencyfinder offer information about more than 10,000 agencies.

To utilize the Namefinder service, a site visitor must enter at least part of an agency's name to begin a free search. Either information from Adweek's Agency Directory or Agencyfinder's