Are changes in the air?

A couple of recent job opening have got me wondering — are changes in the air?

More specifically, within the past week I’ve seen an opening with the Idaho Lottery for a Marketing Director, and a Marketing Manager for the Boise Hawks Baseball Club.

Now the realist in me says that I’m reading way too much into things, but I have to at least pose the question. I’ve seen it happen entirely too many times in the past — a new marketing manager or director joins an organization, has their own opinions and personal favorites as to which agency they’d like to work with, and ends up yanking the account from the incumbent agency.

Will that happen with the Idaho Lottery? Doubtful. Within the past year they went through the entire RFP process and renewed their relationship with Drake Cooper. If I remember correctly, though, there were a few stipulations in the RFP guidelines that could open it back up again — one of which was a change in agency ownership / management or a change in leadership at the Lottery office (Disclaimer – I’m going off of memory here, so I could very well be mistaken).

The Boise Hawks? Well, that’s another story all together. Since the opening is not for the Director of Marketing, but rather someone that reports to the Director, it doesn’t seem as likely that this account would change hands, but then again, you never know.

So, the moral of the story — if you’re the incumbent, by all means don’t just sit back and expect business as usual. If you want to keep them, you’re going to have to defend your accounts virorously. And on the flip side, if you’re looking to pick off one of these accounts, this may be your best shot at doing so.

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One Reply to “Are changes in the air?”

  1. You make an excellent point. With a government agency – like the lottery — sheer bureaucratic inertia makes it very hard for any individual to initiate dropping an agency, assuming they want to. The RFP process is a lot of work, and not something anyone wants to go through without good reason. Personally, I think that you would be better served to look at whenever the current contract expires. By that point the new Marketing Director will have had time to establish themselves and to get a feel for the incumbent. If you know when a contract expires, and can talk to the key person before an RFP is issued, they will give you a pretty good indication of their satisfaction with the current agency. If you wait until the RFP is issued, they will be constrained by rules and regulations from giving honest information.

    Does anyone know when the lottery contract expires?

    For the most part, in the government arena it’s very hard to dislodge an incumbent.

    The private sector operates differently, and sometimes a new hire may want to change agencies because they have a good relationship from a previous experience, or simply to establish themselves as in charge.

    And by the way, if you read the job description for the Marketing Director at the link you provided, is there ANYONE in Idaho that meets that job description?

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