CASE STUDY
Experience, Expertise and Trust
Cella’s Creative Operations Assessment Builds the Foundation for Quest Diagnostics’ In-house Agency Expansion
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Problem: Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, was ready to expand their internal creative agency. The agency needed to build a business case to identify their strengths and the necessary components to capture that business. They relied on the expertise of Cella’s consulting team to help them create a strategic plan to develop their agency’s business.
The Solution: Cella’s consultants conducted a Creative Operations Assessment to capture the mission, vision and value proposition of Quest’s in-house agency. The assessment presented the client with a strategy to expand their offer and manage the ebb and flow of their ongoing business demands. The framework of Cella’s model enabled the client to be agile and strategically respond to their stakeholders’ business needs.
The Results: In the past two years, more of Quest’s internal stakeholders are bringing their business to their internal agency, and Cella’s hand-selected creative talent makes up 60-70 percent of the team placed within their thriving in-house agency team. Over time, the relationship between Quest and Cella has grown, cultivating a strong sense of trust, and our comprehensive recommendations have become the lodestar for the agency’s annual planning for 2024.
The Problem
Cella’s client, Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, was ready to pivot and expand their internal creative agency. The director of the agency connected with Cella’s team of experts to discuss expanding the reach of the agency within the Quest Diagnostics organization. The original agency started small, launching in 2017. The leadership knew they were capable of supporting more needs for their internal stakeholders at Quest. However, several of them were leveraging third-party agencies instead of the internal resources.
The in-house agency’s leadership had confidence that their team could provide full creative capabilities for their company, but they needed to build a business case to showcase their strengths plus the necessary resources that were needed to capture that business. They capitalized on the expertise Cella’s consulting team brought to the table to help them reach that goal and develop their agency’s business.
The Solution
Cella’s consulting group immediately set a Creative Operations Assessment process in motion. Our team carefully reviewed their organizational and service structures, roles and responsibilities, pay scales, and their funding model with a focus on cost control and cost avoidance. Our consultants provided a comprehensive report to Quest Diagnostics that made the business case they were looking for and established expectations for the agency’s services, efficiencies, project scope, volume and type, along with channel evaluation and planning for future state workflows. After a comprehensive review of the findings, the agency was equipped with strategies that helped them address immediate needs and make long-range plans that helped them successfully expand their business with internal stakeholders and provide cost savings for Quest at the same time.
Cella’s solution helped them manage the ebb and flow of their peak seasons and business demands. With a well-defined, flexible staffing mix, the agency team features a blend of contractors – some full-time and some part-time – as well as former Cella contractors who were converted to permanent staff positions. Cella assembled a team of creatives including a PowerPoint deck designer, copywriters, a production designer, a digital designer and a project manager to keep the workflows going smoothly. By taking time to understand the client’s needs, Cella’s model put them into the position of being agile and able to strategically respond to their stakeholders’ business needs.
The Results
The short answer? The relationship and the plan have worked 100 percent seamlessly. More internal stakeholders are bringing their business to Quest’s in-house agency, avoiding outsourcing – and the accompanying marked-up price points. Two years have passed since Quest Diagnostics tapped Cella to undertake a Creative Operations Assessment of the agency and provide the expertise that helped them refine and expand their offer to internal stakeholders. Today, Cella’s hand-selected team represents 60-70 percent of the talent placed within their thriving team.
Over time, the relationship between Quest and Cella has grown, cultivating a strong sense of trust. Our subject matter experts have provided guidance that is consistently on target. Because our recommendations are based on reliable data and benchmarking, Cella’s recommendations and resources have become the lodestar for the agency’s annual planning for 2024. Cella’s expertise has given the agency’s leadership confidence that their future proofing plans are solid. They have also taken advantage of Cella’s extensive thought leadership resources and training events, advocating for them among colleagues and peers of other organizations.
Conclusion
What we do is built on trust. Cella’s team carefully considered what was important to Quest Diagnostics, and we demonstrated that our analysis is accurate and provides actionable solutions that work. This strategic engagement enabled everyone involved in Quest’s in-house agency to thrive – from the agency leadership to the newest members of the team – and they’re not done yet.
One unexpected area of delight for everyone involved is that this client relationship has expanded to include different members of Cella’s team. No matter what new questions or emerging needs arise, Cella has proven to be the only talent services and managed solutions company Quest trusts. We’ll always be ready with the right solutions for any challenges that arise and strategy for every opportunity that sprouts up.
We love it when a relationship grows.
