Agency Website Scorecard
Mid-Size Full-Service Agencies

Thanks for viewing our agency scorecard for mid-size full-service agencies. Below you’ll see scorecards for Zehnder, Godfrey, and Loomis. 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.

Agency #1 – Zehnder

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User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Super easy to navigate the site:
- Everything is very clearly spelled out in the menu dropdowns.
- The site makes it very easy to move from one service or one industry to another by sharing the icons for the other services or industries in each of the service and industry sections.
- The case study section of the site gives the prospect the ability to filter by industry, and when on a specific case study, it gives the prospect the ability to see all case studies with a simple click of the button (without having to use the back button or click on “case studies” all over again.)

Results-centric

Shows value of what agency can do?

Zehnder does a nice job populating their case studies with results (in most cases). Some of the results are a little soft (e.g., impressions), but for the most part, they are solid.
One consideration to really reinforce the value of what they do is to repeat the results at the top of the case study, so prospects recognize going into a case study read that this client’s program orchestrated by Zehnder was a real success.
I also find it interesting that they included metrics on their industry pages. While not all program-performance-centric, the metrics used helped validate their value in each industry’s respective space.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

The website keeps it very simple and direct throughout.
Each section on the website keeps everything very straightforward. Prospects aren’t overwhelmed with too much text; they do a nice job of incorporating visuals into case studies, on the home page, etc. to make the viewing of the site a lot more pleasant.

Positioning

Defines what agency does and how unique?

The positioning language used (e.g., “beyond advertising” and “next level growth”) are solid ways to talk about the agency and, at least initially, frame it in a way that’s different from other firms.
The only reason we didn’t give it a “5” was because the positioning statements don’t really pay themselves off – at least immediately. While the video is nice and cool, it requires a lot of time on the part of the prospect to watch it and get some of the story.
Where the “beyond advertising” and “next level growth” seems to really come to life is in the “About Us” section, where the “Listen Hub” is discussed. There’s a lot of good language used in that part of the “About Us” section that could be used to immediately pay off the claims made on the top of the fold on the Home page. Rather than just roll into things you see on many agency sites (e.g., “Services”, “Case Studies”, “Industries”) it would be nice to see something like the ”Look How Data Drives Our Work” section immediately follow the top of the fold to help provide prospects with a reason-to-believe why Zhender does it better

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in agency?

Zehnder does an excellent job of telling a very compelling story about the work they do and what they know about the industries they play in.
Not only do they incorporate results on all of the case studies presented on the site (some more substantial than others), but they also do a great job of establishing solid thought and category leadership on each of their “Industry” pages. They take it to a level that we haven’t seen many agencies take it to. They start with a nice story that talks about their knowledge and experience in the space. They follow with a logo block to help establish further credibility. They then move into a broad review of key metrics they’ve generated for client programs, a video that speaks to the “go beyond” experience, followed by “featured projects”, and lastly perspective from their blog.
A prospect that operates in any of the categories Zehnder plays in would certainly be impressed with their level of know-how and experience.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

The agency does a really good job of telling a consistent story across most of the site. They open a handful of sections recapping what makes them different/better than other firms. As an example, on the insights/blog page, they don’t just roll into the posts, they open with a statement that talks about how they “Think Ahead” and keep clients “Ahead of the rest”.
Would be nice to see the same treatment on the “Services” page as well.

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Agency #2 – Godfrey

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User Experience

Easy to navigate?

While the Godfrey site is generally easy-to-navigate, there are some places where there are opportunities to enhance the user experience:
- Make it easier to move from one service offering to another. Rather than having to back out to see all the services again, sharing the full range of services at the bottom of every page (like is done at the bottom of the case study pages), would make it easier to move between them.
- And either be more specific about what the next case study is (as they give prospects the opportunity to jump to the next case study at the bottom of every case study – but don’t tell the reader what the next case study is), or give the prospect the opportunity to more easily jump back to the full battery of case studies on the site (like is done on the bottom of every blog in the “Insights” section of the site).
- We would recommend removing the “Services” banner at the bottom of every case study. Prospects are coming to that portion of the site to learn about specific client work and should be given the opportunity to see more work as soon after viewing one case study as they can – and not have to scroll through a presentation of services after each case study.
- If the agency decides to keep the “agency services” banner under each case study, and the intent in presenting the services was to share the services that are tied to the case study just read, then this needs to be made more clear. Right now, it just reads “Our Services” and doesn’t indicate that the services listed are tied to the case study above.
We like the fact that each case study block not only has the name of the brand, but also a description of what Godfrey did for the client. It would be nice (and helpful to the prospect) if the “Work” section either allowed readers to filter by industry or see on the tile what industry the brand played in. This would make it easier for readers to find things that are relevant to them.

Results-centric

Shows value of what agency can do?

While there will be situations where not every case study has results when agencies do have results, they should shout them out boldly – just like Godfrey does in most, but not all, situations.
Repeating the results on top of each of the case studies and/or highlighting the testimonial that is used in some of the case studies on top of the case study will help reinforce the value of what Godfrey does and motivate readers to want to read on.
It would be great if Godfrey could talk a bit about the results they have generated for a given industry, on top of each industry page. Reinforcing the results in relation to to what Godfrey can do in that specific industry will only make the story that much stronger.
And lastly, while the agency’s story seems to be mainly tied to being there to help out industrial companies that want to build up their internal team with some added support from an agency that is very targeted to their space, it would also be nice if the agency could talk a bit about results at the opening of the website on the home page. Right now, there’s very little about the outcome of what Godfrey does for clients, only content about who they are and how they support their clients.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

Overall, the site is very direct and to-the-point with its communication – only exceptions being:
- The language used to move prospects from one case study to the next.
- The filtering of the case studies by industry or the addition of an industry descriptor on the case study tiles.

Positioning

Defines what agency does and how unique?

Godfrey does a nice job of defining its stake in the ground “B2B for Complex Industries”; unfortunately, we have seen similar messaging for other B2B agencies in the past (and present).
- If Godfrey could speak more specifically about the things they know and do for companies in these industries (e.g., understand complex regulations, know how things are built, know what motivates buyers in this space), this would make the “Complex Industries” messaging more compelling. Maybe still not super differentiating compared to others that talk the same story, but at least Godfrey’s story would be a bit more robust and meaty.
- And it might be nice to follow the top of the fold with a list of industries (presented like they are presented at the top of the “Industry” page, or as simple tiles) that Godfrey operates in, so a prospect can immediately turn to their own industry and learn about your smarts and work in that specific space.
We also feel like the agency is mixing up messages and positioning by talking a lot about how they can complement an internal team. Really any agency can tell the “we work well with internal teams” story (whether they’re capable or not). Maybe taking that part of the story and dropping it into the “About Us” section would be a more appropriate place to talk about your ability to collaborate and play nicely in the sandbox if there are other agencies involved.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in agency?

As mentioned above, we feel that there is an opportunity to build credibility across the site a few different ways:
- Call out results across all case studies that do have results. Don’t bury the results in a paragraph, and if possible, repeat the results and/or testimonial at the top of every case study page.
- Talk more about results on pages like the home page and the Industry pages as reasons-to-believe that Godfrey can do it better because they are focused in on this space.
- Use the home page more effectively. Rather than talking about things like the team and your ability to “extend” a company’s team (things that either are already in the “About” section, or can be moved to the “About” section), use this page to sell the depth of your expertise and smarts by showcasing all of the industries, pulling up your insights and client logos, and talking about what it means for the prospective client to be focused in/around their space.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

Overall, the story and messaging is fairly consistent across the site. Every page talks about where Godfrey plays and what they do (marketing for B2B clients).

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Agency #3 – Loomis

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User Experience

Easy to navigate?

Generally speaking, the site is fairly easy to navigate. There are some areas that could use improvement to make the experience more streamlined and fluid.
- Make it easier for prospects to both filter for the case studies tied to their category and make it easier for prospects to move back and forth between case studies.
- If filtering by industry sector isn’t an option, it would be helpful for the prospect if they could see what industry each case study tile is tied to. Some will be obvious (like Papa John’s), but others like UMC will not be.
- Same is true for the blog portion of the site. Would be helpful if it was easier to move back to the full slate of blogs, at the end of each blog.

Results-centric

Shows value of what agency can do?

Loomis does a nice job calling out case study results (when they have them). Repeating the results on top of each case study will further reinforce the results orientation of the agency.
We would recommend adding some language to each of the case study preview tiles that speaks to what the agency did for the client. As an example, with UCM it could say something like: “expanding the base of active members.” Sharing a statement of what business goal Loomis addressed will make the case study relevant to potentially more people – not just to the prospects in that particular industry.
And on the home page, rather than follow the four industry blocks with “Leaders of the Pack”, let’s payout the claim of “Work that Actually Works” with the “Think Like a Challenger” section in the “About Us” part of the site.
Maybe after the “Think Like a Challenger” section, you could have a section that would say something like “Deliver Like a Challenger” and showcase some key metrics for clients in the different categories. As an example, “Grew Retailer Fitness Connection sales by 22%.” Doing these things would help a prospect see that Loomis thinks like a Challenger, knows how to help Challengers, and has delivered for Challengers.
And on your “The People” page, it might be helpful to open with a few sentences about the team – your experiences working with challenger brands, your character and how that meshes well with challenger brands, and your expertise.

Clarity

Gets to the point?

The site is pretty easy to “consume”. Nothing confusing or verbose about it.
All of the case studies are laid out the same way, so it’s fairly easy to move from one case study to the next and know what you’re looking at.

Positioning

Defines what agency does and how unique?

While we’ve seen other agencies that call out their “challenger brand” character, Loomis does a nice job of carrying that theme throughout different parts of the site.
That said, it would be good to see more of the challenger theme wrapped up in the case studies. Simple things like instead of just saying “The Ask”, change it to “The Ask of the Challenger” and then bake some of the challenger messaging into the case study.
It would also be nice to see some of the “Think Like a Challenger” perspective/insights built into the case study as well. Doing these things will just help reinforce the positioning and general mindset of the agency.

Legitimacy

Instills confidence in agency?

While the book certainly helps reinforce Loomis’ “Challenger” positioning, it would be helpful to see some of the book’s ideas and insights scattered through the site – or possibly some trend or other industry data about challenger brands that might reinforce the smarts of the Loomis agency.
And as noted above, providing more of a reason-to-believe why Loomis does it better and calling out results on the home page and more so in the case studies, could also be of value in making the story more credible.

Consistency

Tells a cohesive story across site?

As noted above, there are opportunities (in our opinion) where the “Challenger” story could be better woven throughout the site. Talking about the employees and how they fit into the story, and the case study work and how it reinforces the story – both these things can help make for a more cohesive (and compelling) presentation of the unique perspective and work that Loomis does.

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Agency Website Scorecard
Mid-Size Full-Service Agencies

Zehnder

Godfrey

Loomis

Agency #1 – Zehnder

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Agency #2 – Godfrey

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Agency #3 – Loomis

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Connect With RSW/US

Site Map

Follow Us

Agency Website Scorecard Mid-Size Full-Service Agencies

Zehnder

Godfrey

Loomis

Agency #1 – Zehnder

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Agency #2 – Godfrey

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Agency #3 – Loomis

User Experience

Results-centric

Clarity

Positioning

Legitimacy

Consistency

Connect With RSW/US

Site Map

Follow Us

Agency Website Scorecard
Mid-Size Full-Service Agencies