FMI’s baton exchange strategy for successful project delivery

“What do you do?” is a question that businesses are asked all the time. Oftentimes, the answer anticipated is a quick one-liner, such as “We make computers,” “We sell coffee,” or “We consult investors on where to spend their money.” With FMI, however, the story is a little different.

You’d initially think to classify FMI as an events agency, with a dedicated team of experienced event managers who plan conferences, organise incentive travel trips, manage product launches and run nationwide roadshow events. But we also have a core team of communications specialists who deliver creative design solutions, produce marketing campaigns, run competitions for tactical incentives and manage rewards and recognition programmes. And with a rapidly growing digital team based in the heart of London that produce mobile apps and web platforms, it is becoming increasingly difficult to place FMI into a box and give that quick one-line answer for what we do as a business.

FMI is a far cry from being a ‘typical agency’ that is a single service provider of only live events, brand communications or digital solutions. Because of this, businesses often challenge us to explain why our ‘one-stop shop’ model is better than having three equally-talented, equally-dedicated agencies that specialise in each area. The answer is simple; our business model is analogous to a 4 x 100-metre relay.

The 4 x 100-metre relay is a race composed of four runners who each sprint a 100-metre stretch of running track while relaying a baton from one runner to the next in a series of exchanges. The strategy of a good 4 x 100-metre relay team incorporates speed into the event, but that of a great team additionally incorporates careful skill in the handling of the baton within the designated exchange zones. It is this additional consideration that can make all the difference between just running a race and winning the race altogether. The exchange zones in the 4 x 100-metre relay often become the most crucial part of the race, as the key to the event is reliant on the amount of time the baton spends in those zones when it is being relayed from one runner to the next. The goal is to pass the baton as quickly as possible and to make the handover essentially seamless. Watch any professional 4 x 100-metre relay event and you’ll notice two things: 1) the baton receiver is always facing forward, making the exchange ‘non visual’ and 2) the communication between the two runners in an exchange zone is always minimal, usually featuring a single verbal code.

Strict correspondence and team chemistry are two of the most essential conditions of successfully completing the baton exchange without compromising on speed in an exchange zone. Runners are positioned along the track not only according to their individual strengths as a sprinter, but also in accordance with this intangible element of team chemistry for a seamless exchange. Intangibles such as these are what enable the team to function as a unit and develop the necessary confidence and trust in one another; they are what weigh heavily on determining whether or not a relay strategy is a successful one to win the team the race.

At FMI, having events, communications and digital services all under one roof enables our teams to hand over the metaphorical baton from one team to the next for successful project delivery without spending too much time in the exchange zones. Thanks to our close working relationship and team chemistry built over years of experience, marketing campaigns, strategy plans and incentive programmes are seamlessly handed over without compromising on speed or accuracy of project delivery. By taking an integrated approach to all of our work, FMI avoid some of the challenging situations that a business may face more often than not when working with multiple agencies: disjointed thinking between teams which leads to frustrations in working relationships, or even delays in project delivery due to miscommunications of the brief. With our team members accelerating at the same creative speed during the handover of a project, we can ensure that no batons are dropped, that there are no crashes in the exchange zone, and that our communication exchange is seamless.

FMI may not have a quick one-line answer for what we do as a business, but as an agency that prides itself on brand engagement solutions ranging across incentive programmes, digital communications, creative solutions and integrated marketing campaigns, this may not be such a bad thing.

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FMI have extensive experience in delivering projects across multiple services. Read about our industry-recognised brand ambassador programme for Sony Mobile and European-wide marketing solutions for LG.