When your company bills itself as a dating service for brands and specialist marketing agencies, you'd be silly not to take advantage of a good, old-fashioned Valentine's Day marketing opportunity, which is why we pulled out all the stops with a direct mail campaign, a video, and a speed dating event as part of our "Perfect Match" campaign.

With the leftover roses, red foil balloons, heart-shaped jelly beans, and glitter confetti still strewn about the office, we found ourselves lost in thought about the marketer and agency relationship dynamic, and how closely it mirrors traditional courtship.

Take, for example, the RFP process that agencies love to hate, and ask yourself how many times you've heard an agency executive express frustration with the back-and-forth of this delicate procedure. Then ask yourself how many times you've heard a single friend or family member express their frustration with the intricacies of dating in the digital age.

Want to learn more about the RFP process? We’ve got an entire guide and template breaking it down for you here.

Industry trends reveal that hyper-customization is the direction in which our products and services are being consumed. From Nanodegrees to personalized medicine to mobile service apps like Alfred and Soothe, it's no wonder people have become impatient and annoyed with the one-size-fits-all approach.

Singles find more success with niche sites like Christian Mingle or FarmersOnly.com, and why not? The magazine industry went nearly extinct when nothing but generalist rags like Family Circle were available to consumers. The industry survived (and thrived) with the introduction to new, diversified publications with customized content for like-minded readers.

As humanity continues to innovate their customized selection processes, the marketing world is stuck in the past, with agencies playing the traditionally male role, and marketers, the traditionally female role, in the proverbial dating game.

Of course, each situation is different, but it's usually the agencies that spend their money and time wooing marketers, trying to win their affections, and ultimately, putting a ring on it to seal the deal. This puts marketers in a position to take their time, weigh their options before making a decision, and to have their pick of the litter.

Setup exists as an alternative to the minutiae of agency selection, providing a more efficient, cost-effective way to meet vetted, specialist agencies with no strings attached.

We think marketers should have a choice in how they find their perfect match, and we hope that choice is to utilize our specialist marketing agency dating services.

We care about your relationship with your agencies. If you enjoyed this blog, you may also enjoy:

The Evolving Pitch Process - Why Brands Should Approach Agency Selection Differently

A How-to Guide to Writing the Perfect Marketing Brief

Why do Brands and Marketing Agencies Breakup?

The Complete Guide to Finding a Marketing Agency