TELUS Embarks on Series of RFPs: Q+A with Lisa Mack

Over the last two decades, TELUS has strategically grown from a regional telco to a global technology powerhouse, powered by purpose. The TELUS brand is now valued at $10.1 billion and is one of the most respected and trusted brands in Canada.

The company is proud of this legacy but is on a constant journey to innovate and drive continued growth of the brand and business.

As a result, TELUS is embarking on a transformational journey and launching a series of invite-only RFPs. The company has decided to evolve the agency model to address TELUS’ diverse needs across the marketing funnel and is seeking best-in-class agency partners to join them on this journey.

Editor of MNC, Emma Whiten, had the opportunity to sit down with Lisa Mack, Vice President of Brand Marketing at TELUS, and ask questions about this new process. Read Lisa's response and insights below:

Telus has announced a series of invite-only RFPs. How will the brand choose qualifying agencies to be invited?

We’re looking for dynamic, agile and visionary partners, who are aligned with our purpose and values, to join us in building a creative, best-in-class, future-forward model that leverages data, insights and expertise while cultivating a culture of relentless innovation, to continue elevating our world-leading brand and reputation.

We have been on this journey for some time, engaging a spectrum of stakeholders and senior leaders at TELUS who were actively engaged as we determined the current and future needs of our Marketing ecosystem. We conducted an extensive review of the landscape of potential partners to develop our shortlist of agencies to invite. By reviewing industry best practices and conducting a deep analysis of the challenges and opportunities of our existing model, we identified the foundational elements and criteria required to establish our future mode of operations.

What are the key elements driving the need for the new model?

The advertising, media and marketing landscape is vastly different than it used to be. The scale and scope of our business and campaigns, the ever-changing suite of tactics and technologies we employ, and the way we engage our partners have all changed dramatically since the creation of our current agency model.

Not only has the industry landscape evolved, but TELUS has grown from a Canadian telco into a global technology company. In the last few years alone, we have launched a new Agriculture and Consumer Good division, expanded TELUS Health with the acquisition of LifeWorks, to name a few, and we’ve continued to relentlessly infuse our Social Purpose throughout the entire organization.

It’s because of this evolution that we’re looking to reimagine and revolutionize how we operate, and the partnerships required, to meet the changing needs of our business head-on.

How will this next phase be more effective in driving further innovation for TELUS?

This next phase of our evolution will position us to remain at the forefront of marketing communications strategy and execution and drive further innovation and effectiveness across our teams as we strive to accelerate our business outcomes.

Working with best-in-class agency partners, together we will evolve how we work, addressing TELUS’ diverse needs across the marketing funnel. Our new model will include:

• Augmenting our roster of agencies to manage the unique campaign needs of each business unit’s tier 1 strategic and creative work,
• Extended Workbench partner to manage our tier 2 and 3 creative and production, and
• An integrated media strategy & planning partner with a specific focus on enabling digital media through an Extended Workbench model

In addition to finding best-in-class agency partners to address the latest campaign needs across the marketing funnel, we are also evolving our own internal Marketing Operations and continuing to focus on leading digital marketing transformation to ensure we’re optimizing how we work across our teams.

Through our new model, we will bring our teams and agencies closer together by leveraging internal centers of excellence, partnered with the reach, expertise and creativity of our external partners. This is a big and exciting process that will set our function up for continued success in accelerating efficiency and supporting increasingly strong business outcomes as TELUS continues to expand into new verticals and territories.

Are there any particular verticals that customers can expect moving forwards?

I can’t share those details at this point in the RFP process, but stay tuned!

What will define success for you/TELUS in 2023?

I think a successful client-agency partnership has two equally important sides to the coin - strong agency partners with aligned values paired with a solid operating model on the client side. That’s why we see this next evolution of our strategy as a true collaboration where both sides take an active role in bringing it to life - and ultimately driving success for the brand.

As we launch into this RFP, we’re looking for dynamic, agile and visionary partners, who are aligned with our purpose and values, to join us in building a creative, best-in-class, future-forward model that leverages data, insights and expertise while cultivating a culture of relentless innovation, to continue elevating our world-leading brand and reputation.

Inside TELUS’ marketing communications engine - we’re continuing to evolve and ensure we are bringing the best teams and structure to our partnerships. We are evolving our approach to Marketing Operations and continuing with a relentless focus on Digital Marketing Transformation in order to optimize how we work across our teams and with our partners.

With these foundational pieces in place, we will be able to best leverage our collective data, insights and expertise to not only drive further innovation and effectiveness but also continue to elevate our award-winning brand, unlocking unparalleled creativity and accelerating our business outcomes.

Thank you, Lisa Mack, for taking the time to answer our burning questions and share more about this exciting new project. Learn more by visiting https://www.telus.com/en/

Written by Emma Whiten, Editor of Marketing News Canada