Coalition is all the rage
The current political situation is like a soap opera waiting to unfold. Getting coalitions to work is a tough job and is something that takes a lot of time and patience – perhaps not ideal in the political world.
We’re increasingly seeing client-side researchers asking for a greater level of collaboration between their agency suppliers. Admittedly at first it does create a knee-jerk reaction of “What! Work with the competition?”, but when handled correctly it can bring real benefits to all involved.
The trick is to ensure you utilise the skills of the teams to the best effect – never mind which side of the fence they are on – rather than treating the coalition as a game of one-upmanship.
In the world of research, coalitions can combine the massive resource and “on-the-ground” fieldwork capabilities of a big agency, with the flexible, bespoke and focused thinking of a specialist insight and analytics agency to great effect.
In industry and politics there are bound to be differences of opinion on what the key focuses should be and where the money is best spent, and a strong central figure managing the project is a must. Whether David Cameron can succeed in the role of project manager and mediator remains to be seen.
Caroline Walker, International development director, Nunwood
