Background

Evoke Giant was a small agency specializing in pharmaceutical advertising. Acquired as part of a growth strategy, the agency faced the challenge of integrating with new specialty firms, each with differing practices. Legacy systems—including outdated accounting software, Google tools, and Excel spreadsheets—were heavily used but lacked the security, accuracy, and efficiency required for larger-scale operations.

Challenge

• Rapid growth via acquisition introduced complexity with multiple agency cultures and workflows.

• Existing accounting and reporting tools were distributed and manual, leading to errors and overrides due to many hands managing data.

• Inability to quickly respond to dynamic client demands due to inconsistent offerings and slow reporting turnarounds.

• Poorly defined scopes, staffing models, and project estimations forced teams to cross-bill hours, creating financial and operational inefficiencies.

Solution & Approach

Phase 1: Discovery and Role Definition

• Conducted a strengths and gap analysis across acquired agencies to identify best practices.

• Assigned clear roles and responsibilities to lead the creation of standardized templates and workflows.

• Formed centers of excellence to centralize expertise, improve knowledge sharing, and establish consistent agency-wide standards.

Phase 2: Technology Consolidation and Contract Negotiation

• Implemented centralized media and analytics platforms, negotiating contracts with vendors such as MediaOcean and Google tools to ensure scalability and data integrity.

• Instituted a standardized baseline fee structure on all TV/video media buys to cover platform fees transparently.

• Centralized contracts and contact databases for vendors, creating a preferred but flexible vendor list across TV, YouTube, social, and programmatic media.

• Negotiated group discounts linked to increasing spend levels, enabling cost efficiencies.

Phase 3: Operational Process Scaling and Governance

• Positioned a dedicated media team expert to partner with analytics, enabling rapid data pulls and reporting without overstretching bandwidth or overlapping scopes.

• Established a clear service fee baseline with well-defined scope limits, mandating that each team operate within guardrails and proactively alert leadership when projects exceed estimated time or fall out of scope.

Insights and Results

• Significant improvements in reporting speed and accuracy, enabling the agency to meet accelerating client demands.

• Process standardization eliminated cross-team billing confusion, enhancing financial transparency and project management discipline.

• Centralized vendor management and contract negotiation produced measurable cost savings and stronger relationships.

• Clear role definition and centers of excellence fostered an environment of shared expertise and continuous improvement.

• The agency was better positioned to scale media and analytics services in line with growth objectives, while maintaining quality and agility.

Conclusion

Evoke Giant’s operational transformation underscores the importance of structured standardization, centralized technology platforms, and disciplined governance in scaling a pharmaceutical advertising agency post-acquisition. By instituting clear roles, automated processes, and vendor partnerships, Evoke Giant enhanced its responsiveness to client needs, improved financial and operational controls, and established a scalable foundation for sustainable growth.