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Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky On Remote Work

Peter · May 15, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky on Remote Work – A Very Smart Take For Advertising Agencies

I just listened to a Verge decoder interview with the rather brilliant Brian Chesky. Definitely worth a listen to hear his take on new Airbnb features and, most importantly to me and anyone in creative management, how he manages the remote work, office + work-from-home issue. Here are some key takeaways on how to think through remote work and who should or should not come into the office…

Go, Brian:

I generally think the future is flexibility. Here’s the calculation every CEO has to make: are you more productive having people physically in an office together and then constraining who you hire to a 30-mile or a 60-mile commuting radius to the office?

A lot of our software engineers or accountants, certain types of lawyers, we probably don’t need them physically in the office with everyone else. There’s certain creative functions or people on certain teams that we probably do want together physically quite a lot.

Now with regards to remote work, again, just to clarify something, we’re not purely remote, like we have really nice offices, and many people come to the office every day. We just don’t mandate people come to the office every day.

And then the question is, “Do we need them together 50 weeks a year?” And the answer for us is no.

A lot of young people are realizing they could go to another country for a month at a time or a few weeks at a time. When I was in my 20s, I never imagined living in another country for a month. But I actually do think you’re going to have a generation of people that are going to be much more mobile, that are going to potentially choose, at different points of their lives, to live in different parts of the world.

And by the way, last April, we put out our policy and said Airbnb employees can live and work anywhere. But I said, “I do not think the future is remote work. I think the future is flexible.” And I said, “We want to combine the best of Zoom with the best of being together.” We don’t want to recreate this world of Wall-E where everyone’s just staring at screens all day and no one has any interaction in the physical world.

So, but the answer, maybe the final answer to your question is this: the more organized you are, the more you can, the more flexible you can be with employees. So I always wondered, why do you need people in the office to know if they’re working? If you have everyone on a road map and you track everything every single week, then you don’t need people to be in an office to know they’re getting work done.

The value of being in the office might be human connection. The value of the office might be that if we live our lives in front of a screen, we’re going to be very lonely. The value might be that it’s hard to trust people when you never have face-to-face interaction. And the other problem with Zoom is you can’t have side, hallway conversations.

I Agree – Remote Work Is Here Forever

I also agree that flexibility is the key. I wrote extensively about this in my new book How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency. Its 27 chapters cover every aspect of how to run a kick-ass PROFITABLE advertising agency.

The Full decoder Interview Is Here

The Six Best Books On Branding

Peter · March 26, 2023 · 3 Comments

The Art Of Branding Delivered By The Six Best Books On Branding

Here is my list of the top six books on branding. But, first, some words from my soon-to-be-released new book on how to run a KICK-ASS advertising agency. One of the first subjects I tackle is the importance of branding, as in having a stand-out brand positioning that will make the agency unignorable.

It’s An Agency Positioning Jungle Out There

It’s an advertising, digital, design, branding, experiential, social, influencer, SEO, SEM, PR, e-commerce agency jungle out there. Imagine a client trying to find the right-fit agency resource to work with. I’ve been a client that bought agency services. It isn’t an easy decision.

There are a lot of options. When I do a Google search on “advertising agency,” I get 17.8 million results. When I search “digital agency,” I get 20.3 million. “Media agency” yields 11.6 million.

Want even more potentially head-spinning numbers? IBISWorld reported that there are 7,865 businesses in the digital advertising agency industry. Clutch’s database of advertising agencies lists 9,295 for New York, 2,552 for the UK, 272 for the United Arab Emirates, 1,095 in London, UK, and, get this, 105 in London, Ohio. Ohio!

Yikes.

Regardless of what number you find and how you search, there are a lot of marketing service options for a client to choose from.

The Path to Standing Out Is To Have A Kick-Ass Brand. Get Your Branding Right.

Branding ala brand positioning is a radically important element of marketing that involves creating a unique image and identity for a brand. This is how consumers/clients will think about you. In our highly competitive business universe, superior brand positioning can make all the difference between success and failure. Whether you are a marketer, entrepreneur, or business owner, understanding brand positioning is crucial for achieving long-term growth and profitability.

To help you master your brand positioning, I put together a list of the best books on the subject.

These books offer valuable insights and practical strategies for creating and maintaining a strong brand identity that resonates with your target audience. Each of these books will help to make your company, advertising agency, even you = unignorable.

“Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” by Al Ries and Jack Trout – This classic book is widely regarded as the definitive guide to brand positioning. It offers a comprehensive overview of the principles and strategies involved in creating a strong brand identity and differentiating your brand from competitors.

“Purple Cow” by Seth Godin. I tell all of my advertising agency clients that they have a choice in their business development program. Be unignorable or be ignored. Read Seth’s book… “The cult classic that revolutionized marketing by teaching businesses that you’re either remarkable or invisible.”

“Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller. This book provides a step-by-step guide for creating a compelling brand story that resonates with customers. It offers practical advice for developing a clear and concise message that communicates the unique value proposition of your brand.

“Brand Identity Breakthrough” by Gregory V. Diehl. This book offers a fresh perspective on brand positioning by focusing on the importance of authenticity and personal branding. It provides a framework for building a brand that reflects your core values and resonates with your target audience.

Sales Pitch Rejection

Peter · July 6, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Ah, Nothing Like Sales Pitch Rejection

Here is a quickie on the wonderful experience of sales pitch rejection (plus my advice – below) and a bit on the also wonderful post-sales pitch chirping sound, lately known as ghosting.

Thoughts On A Recent Sales Pitch Rejection. Me = Pissed Off. But, Twas A Learning Opportunity

The odds good are that your advertising or marketing agency or consultancy will often be rejected. A decent reason: the prospect is looking at more than one option and your batting average, even a good one, might only be 300% (note, a career-high like that would get you into the Baseball Hall of Fame). You mitigate the art of rejection by pitching the right prospects and the great fact that you are an expert in what the client is looking for. Ok, that said, you will still get rejected if you have an active business development program.

But, what you don’t want is a useless rejection that does not help you improve. Here is one example. And, tell me if I am too thin-skinned.

Note: 100% of my leads come as inbound inquiries. That means that the prospect probably heard about me from WOM or read about me (and read my insights) and made the decision to make contact.

This happened a couple of weeks ago with a New York agency. We scheduled a call, I gave them my pitch, discussed their needs in detail and they asked for a proposal. I sent it a day later and then kinda got a bit ghosted, as in they did not respond in a timely manner – here is a definition of ghosting:

Ghosting is a relatively new colloquial dating term that refers to abruptly cutting off contact with someone without giving that person any warning or explanation for doing so. Even when the person being ghosted reaches out to re-initiate contact or gain closure, they’re met with silence. (Source: Verywell Mind.)

Look, I know that people need to take their time. So, I do not get crazed if I do not get a yes or no quickly.

Follow Up Scenario

To keep the ball rolling, I did my 4-day post-proposal email follow-up and after a couple of more days got a reply from the CEO who told me that they had selected another consultancy because I did not share the agency’s “vision and values.” Now, I usually go, “well, OK.”

But the statement that I did not share VALUES kinda pissed me off. I mean, WTF does that personal to me message mean? What values did we talk about? I then sent this email: [Read more…] about Sales Pitch Rejection

Just Write An Advertising Book, Please

Peter · January 21, 2021 · Leave a Comment

That’s Right… Write An Advertising Book.

I want you to write an advertising book. For your personal brand and your agency’s branding. And to help y’all become unignorable. How so?

I have spoken at big conferences (as in how to write a book at Hubspot – plus remember to take off the lanyard thing), been interviewed on lots of podcasts, occasionally make it into an ADWEEK article. Why? Because I wrote this book. Books beget authority. Proof that you actually give a shit, know something, and can actually write.

That said, the biggest benefit…? The book has generated business leads that have resulted in thousands in business $ for my ad agency consultancy.

Between direct business, I also make moolah from Amazon – well, a tiny bit but it paid for the book itself. Here is an email I just got from Amazon.

This royalty payment notification is for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) sales recorded in the Kindle Store. Payment will be made to your bank account and should appear in your available balance within 2 to 5 business days after the Payment Date. Details of the payment will be available on the Payment Report.

More Books?

Yup. I also wrote “Boomercide: From Woodstock To Suicide” and two photo books, Potlandia and Jointlandia on the early days of the cannabis industry. That’s one of the photos of a 2013 product above. From the days before big business and package designers got involved.

And, I am updating my thinking about how to build the world’s best sales presentation & pitch by writing about the ‘good, bad, and ugly’ in the world of virtual meetings. Oh, and a book about how to be a great agency account manager.

Frankly, not enough advertising agencies write an advertising book. Even a digital agency deep into data can write a book. This does not have to be hard, or big, or long. Just look at what Austin Kleon did with the writing and design o “Steal Like An Artist.”

Need ideas for a book and how to use it for business development? Give me a shout.

How To Sell Your Business

Peter · September 25, 2020 · Leave a Comment

So You Want To Sell Your Business? Start The Process Early.

I have bought and sold a few advertising, digital, and design businesses. The process is stressful and rewarding. The keys to success are knowing why you are selling (and buying), spending time to build value, building a compelling, market-leading positioning, getting your financials in order, and hiring the right experts that will help you sell your business.

That’s why I interviewed Mark Holdreith of Media Advisory Partners. Mark and his team specialize in delivering M&A services for small and mid-sized marketing services and media companies.

From Media Advisory Partners:

MAP was founded in 2010 to provide financial advisory services to small and mid-size marketing services, media, and related companies. From the beginning, we have been committed to Advisory…providing the in-depth, end-to-end support and services required to meet your specific M&A needs.

I have two big pieces of advice; Start the process early. Read my free book, “How To Sell An Advertising Agency. And, How To Buy One.” There are a couple of links on this page to make that real easy.

Media Advisory Partners

YO – Hypnotism coming: Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember…

A nice thing for me… Feedspot has recognized Advertising Stories as being a top 15 advertising podcast.