Advertising

The 88% Interest Message: Use Video Marketing

Peter · June 2, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Video Marketing Drives More Interest & Leads. Like 88% More Interest.

(Side note… Keep reading to find out why Gandhi is in the pic above…)

Here are a couple of paragraphs on how to build a great/powerful advertising agency website from my book. It is amazing how few agencies use video marketing to tell their own brand story.

It is a long detailed chapter, this is just a tidbit. I’ll get personal below.

Video, Please

Too few agencies include brand-building video on their website. If they do, there’s a high degree of chance that it will be a sizzle reel.

I prefer a video that helps deliver the agency’s USP. The digital agency HawkSEM opens with an animated video that clearly states the agency’s mantra and client benefits—in 10 seconds:

“We could start by talking and bragging about award this and featuring that, but who cares? We believe in results. At the end of the day delivering measurable marketing results, predictable revenue, and high ROI is what matters.”

Another approach is to put a real human in the video. Why not have an agency leader deliver the message, and while they’re at it, also deliver some agency soul? You can make a compelling video introduction. You are creative.

Videos engage, are more memorable, are better at brand recall than text and… increase buying intent.

Still with me? MarketingProfs reports that “the average user spends

88% more time on a website with video than a website without one.” How can one ignore this 88% finding?

Ok. I admit it. I haven’t used enough video enough.

I spent some time today looking at how to use Apple’s video apps. If I can do it, you can. And, yes, there are ways to make your videos better… from editing to including subtitles. Let me know and I can turn you onto some new AI tools and a smart video production company that is waaaaay affordable.

The video that Mahatma Gandhi made for me!

Check out even more thinking on advertising agency video marketing: HERE

Plus why haven’t you bought my Guide to Building A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency book?????? It is a paperback & eBook.

Six Books For The Savvy Creative Director

Peter · April 2, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Here is my list of the top six books for creative director brain stimulation. I could say more. But, why? Ok, let ChatGPT4 define (in a most boring fashion) what an advertising creative director does for a living:

An advertising creative director is a senior-level executive in an advertising agency or marketing department who is responsible for overseeing the development of the creative concepts and strategies for advertising campaigns. They lead a team of creatives, including copywriters, art directors, designers, and other professionals, to develop campaigns that effectively communicate the client’s message and achieve the desired results.

“Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon. I’ll keep this one simple. From Austin himself: “Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path.” Hey, just buy this brilliantly well-written and illustrated guide to how to use your head. Afraid to steal? Pablo Picasso on creativity, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

“It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be: The world’s best-selling book by Paul Arden.” I worked with Paul at Saatchi & Saatchi London. He was both brilliant and occasionally the most impossible-to-work-with creative director… ever. This is another just buy it. You can turn to any page and get your creative juices following big time. A quote: “Why do we strive for excellence when mediocrity is required?” One more just for you… “What do you do when your client won’t buy?”

“The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles” by Steven Pressfield. Over 25,000 people have given this book 4.5 or more stars on Amazon. Do I have to say more? One more from Steven. “Nobody Wants To Read Your Shit.”

“Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller. Yes, the word “story” has become a bit overused in the world of marketing. But… Miller’s book delivers a how-to guide for building out a brand story that delivers a brand’s core positioning and reason for existing in the first place. What is your story?

“Contagious” by Jonah Berger. Directly from the Contagious Amazon page: “The New York Times bestseller that explains why certain products and ideas become popular.” Getting an idea to stick ain’t easy. Here is a guidebook to help the creative director in you to get sticky.

“Popular Lies* About Graphic Design” by Craig Ward. Small. Easy to read (or not) you decide. A book built on lies. From Craig: “This is not a book full of facts. Nor is it a book full of advice. It is a book full of opinions, and confusion between those three is how a lot of these problems begin.”

A Banksy Creative Director: Bonus

And for serious inspiration, I Offer Banksy. Banksy You Are An Acceptable Level of Threat and if You Were Not You Would Know About it

Just to be clear here. This book is not aimed at Creative Directors that might be worried about how AI could end their careers.

Marketing Agency Influencers

Peter · September 16, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Where To Eat and Marketing Agency Influencers

This post is about amateur reviews, the power of influencers as noted by Adweek and marketing agency influencers, and reviews on websites like Agency Spotter.

Some history: I came back to Saatchi & Saatchi New York from our London office in 1994. In both offices I ran business development and ate out a lot. By the time I hit the New York office, Saatchi was on its last legs (as in a company run by Maurice and Charles Saatchi – who were soon “exited” – but founded M&C Saatchi which is arguably a savvier agency).

A thing that hit me when I returned from London in 1994 was this thing called the Internet. I ran around the agency trying to get someone to pay attention but since we were in a bit of a death spiral, I could not excite leadership about the growing digital universe.

While still at the agency I worked with our tech guru to make plans to launch a digital company funded by Digital Equipment. Around that time, I got a call from Tom Florio, the publisher of the New Yorker, who told me that the Newhouse family, the owners of Condé Nast magazines, the New Yorker, Random House and the third largest newspaper group, had this idea of launching online newspapers. I got the CEO job, a brilliant team, and said bye bye to Saatchi.

OK Now On To Reviews

Putting newspapers online in the 1990s was wild. We had carte blanche to invent the formula and the backing of billionaires. New Jersey Online was the combo of the Newark Star-Ledger (the largest paper in NJ), The Times of Trenton and The Jersey Journal. We had the news feeds from each paper, the best coverage of New York and New Jersey’s 7 professional sports teams, the first direct news feed from the Associated Press (a news first), a haiku film critic, Hoboken nightlife reviews, put zoomable cams on NJ beaches, and fab design. We also had what was one of the first set of social media forums – which drove our page views higher than The New York Times online

Ok, I Mean It. Now Onto Reviews.

Advertising Agency PR 1.0

Peter · February 20, 2022 · Leave a Comment

How To Drive Advertising Agency PR – As In Getting More Fame

Imagine that your advertising agency is so unique, so well positioned, so good at messaging, so unignorable that it stands so far out from the vast pack of other agencies that your agency gets press and praise from Advertising Age, ADWEEK, The Drum, Marketing Week, Fast Company, and Forbes. And the trade press that your future clients read.

Do it and you’ve hit the advertising agency PR jackpot. A jackpot that gets attention. This is way cool since, in New York alone, WINMO says that there are over 1,500 advertising agency options. And your agency is just one of them and needs to be found – not easy. PR helps getting found. I know, I know you know this. But… are you getting found?

Now imagine the New York wine market where the New York Daily News estimates that wine buyers have themselves over 1,500 wine store options to choose from. A similar marketing and advertising clutter problem to the agency world.

How Orange Wine Kicks It

I was in New York’s lower east side this month and stumbled upon the wine shop Orange Glou. A shop that is so unique, so well positioned, so unignorable that it stands out from the vast pack of other wine shops. In fact, so special that they have received praise from The New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, Punch, Money, and Fortune. Even local New York TV (see the video below.)

From The New York Times:

In November 2019, Doreen Winkler started selling orange wines by subscription. Its success led her to open a wine shop specializing in the wines, which are white wines given enough skin contact to add a ruddy blush to the color. Orange Glou, the shop, is opening Friday with 100 different wines from many regions priced from $19 to $99. She points out that these “exciting” orange wines tend to be low in alcohol and great with food. Her inventory also includes some pet-nat bubbles. She said her audience tends to skew younger, under 50, and she’s pleased that chefs are among her fans.

Why Wine And Advertising Agency PR?

Why point out the success of Doreen and Orange Glou? Because Doreen has accomplished what many advertising agencies seek. She has a specialized passion; is a recognized expert; knows how to market her product; gets national attention and is clearly an expert at knowing how to drive PR.

Orange Glou’s press page has some, understatement, cool publications that help drive Orange Glou awareness.

What Can An Advertising Agency Do To Drive Awareness?

Here is a quick list of actions that you could take to get that “free” PR action. No this isn’t easy. But if you try sometimes you will get what you need. [Read more…] about Advertising Agency PR 1.0

The Advertising Earth Is Flat

Peter · February 10, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Yes, The USA Advertising Earth Is Flat

From Scott Galloway’s newsletter, a chart about the “high intelligence” of Americans. OK, get this, many think that the earth is flat. That’s 1/6th of y’all. That’s 55 million Americans.

If any of these 55 million are your advertising/marketing targets, you’d better figure out a really cool and compelling message for them. A message based on, that reflects, how they process information.

David Ogilvy Knew That The Earth Is Flat. Um…

Here is the famous quote from Ogilvy on not underestimating the “consumer”.

“The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.”

So, What To Do? Matzo Anyone?

I like the information point of Ogilvy’s quote. And, this is where your agency’s creativity comes in. Can you craft the “information” message to cure, or even leverage, the idea that the earth is flat? Hey, why not go after the Streit’s Matzo account. I think that the ad copy could write itself.

Of course, you’d have to deal with the fact that 98% of matzo eaters know that the earth is round.

Oh, is the Metaverse round? From Ogilvy itself…