Positive professional persistence
Lane believes in what he calls “compounding relationships.” It’s like compounding interest. Since he co-owns the agency, he isn’t going anywhere, so he has years to invest.
“If [you] just nurture a relationship without expecting anything in return, history has shown that you never know what the future holds,” said Lane.
After a gracious thank you to Browder and the board, Lane kept in contact with Crystal Coast TDA. In 2022, he noticed one of its ads and emailed Browder to praise it.
“Despite not winning the account, FerebeeLane was very gracious and did maintain ongoing communications. Not too much, but they were touching base, and they expressed a sincere interest in our progress,” said Browder, noting this included encouragement towards the success of the relationship with Zimmerman.
“I would refer to this as kind of an education for me in positive professional persistence,” he added.
Both Lane and Browder didn’t see the RFP as the end of the process but rather the start of a relationship.
Round 2 and success
Four years on, the TDA decided to move in a different direction, so Browder enlisted Cavanaugh again. This time he invited 15 agencies to the RFP, including FerebeeLane. However, despite its history with the client, the shop didn’t necessarily have an advantage over other agencies, per Cavanaugh.
For one, the RFP was quite different from the last, which had been developed during the pandemic. FerebeeLane had to address existing pain points and establish what the next agency had to accomplish.
One thing FerebeeLane didn’t communicate well in 2020 was strong digital capabilities.
“We felt if FerebeeLane could at least cross the threshold of being able to demonstrate its ability to fulfill the technical obligations of the relationship that it had, the team (could have success),” Cavanaugh told ADWEEK.
Cavanaugh said many agencies lose interest after losing a pitch or want to forgo the tourism sector entirely. Also, when some creative shops are invited to pitch a second time staffing has changed and they bomb.
With FerebeeLane, Cavanaugh said it was like having an old friend show up at your door after years away and slotting right back into your life. But there was still the matter of fit and timing.