Quantum² : InfoStars : DDB's Dynamic Duo

DDB's Dynamic Duo

DDB Worldwide's Betsy Hoza and Laura DeGraff

How do Laura DeGraff and Betsy Hoza get the attention of the employees at DDB Worldwide? They throw a 1970s-themed "Info Inferno" in the Information Center every year, dressing up in 70s era clothes and serving such classics as Cheez Whiz, Rice Krispies Treats and Boone's Farm wine. It may not be the textbook method for marketing an information center, but it's a great way to get the attention of the advertising professionals, and every year it's a popular event.

Laura, the Director of Information Services, and Betsy, Information Specialist, attribute their success within DDB to their willingness to get out and meet with their users. "Part of the joy of working in a field of public service is the interaction with our patrons," Betsy commented. "You can't be antisocial; you have to make sure that the patrons see you and know who you are." Laura compares information services to a consultation with a doctor. "You have to talk with people, you have to know them and work with them. It's all a matter of figuring out what information they really need."

The Information Center is relatively small — just four employees in all — but they provide a full range of research services to DDB staff, both in the Chicago office and in other offices that don't have on-site libraries. In addition to online research and an extensive print collection, the Information Center maintains an indexed collection of images — a key resource for the creative teams. Laura and Betsy are also seen as an added value to DDB's clients; "we say to prospective clients, work with DDB and you get us as well." Work that the Information Center does directly for clients is billed out at the regular firm rate, although they don't pass through any online expenses.

Laura's biggest challenge is creating awareness of the Information Center among a constantly changing staff. "We're always working to maintain our position in the front of our patrons' minds, to make sure they think of us when they need information." In addition to the face-to-face marketing that Laura and Betsy do every day, they distribute a brochure prepared by the American Association of Advertising Agencies that describes how and why to use the Information Center, titled What Every Account Executive Should Know about Information Service.

To supplement the research services provided by the info pros, the Information Center uses Dialog's Intranet Toolkit to enable users to do searches from their desktops. This service is featured during new-hire orientations and Information Center open houses, and has been very well-received within DDB. Interestingly, it hasn't significantly affected the workload of the Information Center. "Some people are doing some searching for themselves," Laura said, "and maybe we've seen a slight decrease in the simple, generic questions. But they still come to us for the difficult research. What's interesting is that it has changed our users' perception of what libraries are. They have the idea that when we get information for them, it's all stuff that we just pull off the top of our heads — that it's almost innate knowledge that we have. Now that they can do some of their own searching, they realize that we don't know everything, but that we know how to find everything."