Collaboration That Converts: What One IPREX Partnership Revealed About Winning and Growing Business Together
By Beth Thompson, SVP, Dir. of PR, Social & Agency Brand Communications, Gatesman (IPREX Business Development Committee Chair)
At its best, business development is not just about leads. It is about connection.
That idea was at the heart of the first business development committee roundtable in the Collab Lab series, where Frank Buscemi, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of MBE Group and Ellie Matthews, Director of MC2 shared how a cross-agency collaboration grew into a strong, trust-based client engagement. Their conversation offered a practical reminder that successful partnerships are built long before a client opportunity appears.
Watch the full webinar here or listen to it as a podcast here.
In this case, the foundation had been laid over time through conferences, conversations and relationship-building across the IPREX network. By the time a client needed support in Europe, there was already trust, familiarity and confidence in each other’s capabilities. That made it easy for MBE to bring MC2 into the work quickly and seamlessly, without a lengthy pitch process or complicated transition.
The partnership worked because both agencies approached the opportunity as one team. MBE brought deep client knowledge and a strong U.S. relationship, while MC2 brought regional expertise in the UK and Europe. Together, they prioritized continuity, transparency and a seamless client experience—clearly defining roles, leaning into each other’s strengths and respecting differences across markets.
The panel also offered an honest view of the challenges that can shape even the strongest partnerships. As both speakers noted, agencies can do everything right, but clients are still a critical part of the equation. Shifting priorities, personalities and internal changes can complicate the work. What mattered most in this case was that both agencies stayed transparent, shared concerns early and protected the partner relationship above all else.
From that experience, a few clear principles emerged around what makes agency collaboration successful:
Relationships come first: Strong partnerships are built over time through consistent connection, not in the moment of need.
Trust enables speed: When trust is already in place, teams can move quickly without heavy process or formal pitches.
Leave ego at the door:The best collaborations focus on the work and the client rather than credit, control or ownership.
Transparency prevents problems: Clear communication around roles, responsibilities and challenges keeps teams aligned and avoids friction.
Respect local and specialized expertise: Whether geographic or industry-based, strong partnerships rely on trusting each team to lead where they’re strongest.
Protect the partner relationship: Clients may change, but strong agency relationships create long-term opportunity and future collaboration.
The discussion also underscored a broader opportunity for IPREX. While relationships are the engine behind collaboration, agencies need better visibility into each other’s capabilities and experience. When opportunities move quickly, knowing who to call matters. That is part of what makes initiatives like the Collab Lab series so valuable—they help turn individual success stories into shared knowledge across the network.
More than anything, this first roundtable showed that meaningful collaboration is human. The best partnerships are not transactional. They are built intentionally, strengthened through trust and proven over time. If the goal of the series is to spark more connection and more collaboration across the network, this conversation was a strong place to start. We will be thinking of more opportunities for connectivity and collaboration in the near future. And stay tuned for the next IPREX Business Development Committee Collab Lab webinar.