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How To Lie: From TV to LinkedIn

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To Tell the Truth — Even Better… How To Lie

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The Set Up

What you are about to read is a mélange of life experiences. These include growing up in Manhattan, getting loaded in Puerto Vallarta, being an LSD expert, killing it on a TV show, a bit of HDHD, getting tossed out of college, finding “art,” and getting banned from LinkedIn.

Chapter 1

To tell you my very own truth, I’m a skilled liar. Not psychotic. Just good at factoid manipulation.

I can prove it. Stay tuned.

I grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, across the street from Central Park. When people I meet ask me where I’m from… I say Manhattan. After a few minutes of conversation, they say, “Oh, yeah, I get it.”

I went to McBurney School, a private high school in New York City. It was small – we had 61 students in our senior class. We wore blue blazers with McBurney emblems, gray wool pants, and striped ties. The school was on 63rd Street, sandwiched between Central Park and Lincoln Center. We had what I’d call a classical education. Despite being a smart guy in a smart school, I was not remotely interested in most of my classes, especially math. I was one of those kids who did not meet their “potential”. Frankly, school bored me. But I hung in.

One sunny fall afternoon, I was going to hang out with my good friend Jeff. After classes, he showed up in the school lobby to tell me that he couldn’t do the hangout because our headmaster had asked him to join a couple of other boys, uber math and science lovers, to go down to the TV production company Goodson-Todman Productions. Goodson-Todman was the leading game show company and ran hugely popular TV shows like Family Feud, The Price Is Right, and Concentration. Their office was on a high floor in Park Avenue’s iconic ultra-modern Seagram’s Building.

My classmates were going to audition for two guest slots on the popular afternoon panel show To Tell the Truth. I tagged along… the plan was to run around the city after they finished their audition.

Just in case you are not a baby boomer, To Tell the Truth was a staple of daytime TV from 1956 to 1978. The show was a fun game show where celebrity panelists tried to figure out which of three contestants was telling the truth about having a weird job or crazy experience. The other two were impostors who got to lie through their teeth.

Back to me. Here we are, three blazer-clad high school boys in the Seagram building on Park Avenue, sitting in a very snazzy reception area. Within a few minutes, a young production assistant came out and welcomed us. She asked if we were the boys from McBurney. My buddies stood up, and the woman asked why I was sitting. I told her that I was there as a friend. She said, hey, why not get interviewed too – you are already here. My buddies looked at me with surprise. I’m like, why the hell not?

The assistant took me into a small conference room and started with questions to get to know me. I happily told her that I truly loved math and science (LOL), and I demonstrated that I could put sentences together. Plus, I was telegenic with a workable and effective blush.

It was then that I found out that we were being interviewed for a To Tell The Truth episode about LSD, a drug just then making the rounds of my generation. One of us was going to be one of two non-truth impostor boys sitting beside a Midwest teenager who had won the National Science Award for reporting the effects of LSD on spiders – a 1948 experiment he had recently updated.

I’m like, LSD and arachnids. That’s cool… fits neatly into the zeitgeist. This was 1968, hippies were all over the TV news, and I had read a bit about two newly famous Harvard professors who had experimented with LSD and were becoming 1960s cultural icons.

A day after the interview, our headmaster asked me to come to his office, a rare event, and asked what the heck I was doing at the production company because he was rather surprised to hear that I had been selected to be on the show. I just smiled and shrugged.

I had a couple of phone conversations with the production assistant and was given a date for the show and a bit more detail on the science project. Guess what! The spiders wove crazy webs under the influence of LSD. Who knew?

An LSD Education…

I had two compelling incentives to be a brilliant faker on To Tell the Truth. One was simply my competitive nature. Like, why couldn’t I look and sound the part of a science nerd? This would sort of be my first “business pitch”. Pitching was something I would eventually master and write business books about. The other incentive was the cash prize for being believed that I was the real LSD science nerd.

Back to EDU.

After being selected, I went to the Donnell Research Library on West 53rd Street to study all about psychedelics and especially Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. My acid gurus were Harvard’s Timothy Leary, who became well-known for his mantra, “Turn on, tune in, drop out”, and Richard Alpert. Richard eventually became the global Buddhist guru Baba Ram Dass, now famous for his mantra, “Be Here Now.” Leary and Alpert were moral evangelists, even entrepreneurs in the emerging field of psychedelics that captured the attention of the post-war cohort. They had been so good at their job that they were kicked out of Harvard. My goal was to become an expert like them. FYI: Dozens of years later, I got “Be Here Now” tattooed on my right arm to help tame my monkey mind.

The Show.

A couple of weeks later, I found myself in Studio 54, yes, that one, for the tapping of the show. I was one of three teens facing Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, and Kitty Carlisle (famous people in 1968), plus the host, Bud Collier. The goal for the imposter boys was to stump the panel plus the audience, who also voted. Our maximum prize was $500, which would be shared.

What happened? [Read more…] about How To Lie: From TV to LinkedIn

Podcast Guest Proposal

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A Podcast Guest Proposal – The How To

podcast guest proposalI’ve been on over 100 podcasts as both a guest and interviewer. I love being a guest because I can “borrow” the host’s audience. I get eyeballs and links back to my website and LinkedIn profile.

To be a guest you need to have something to say, hopefully different. In my case I have a new book to promote. How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency. Yes, check it out.

Back to My Podcast Guest Proposal

Here it is. Note that it says who I am. Delivers a why interview Peter. Discusses my marketing energy that will help promote the podcast. And, provides some links to help the host figure out who I am.

Here you go… The Proposal

Peter Levitan – An Experienced Podcast Guest

Peter Levitan is a leading marketing industry consultant on the art and science of running advertising, digital and PR agencies. His client base is global.

Why Interview Peter. 

Peter’s History.

During 16 years at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide Peter ran business development across Europe and the USA, was EVP Management Director in London and New York and was GM of the Minneapolis office. His client base was Fortune 500.

He was CEO and a founder of two major Internet startups during the dotcom boom. Advance Publication’s New Jersey Online was an early leader in online news (it was named the best online newspaper by the Columbia Journalism Review).

Peter’s natural language intelligent bot company ActiveBuddy (and its famous SmarterChild) beat Siri, Alexa and AI. The company was sold to Microsoft in 2006. A recent TechCrunch article on SmarterChild.

From 2002 to 2012, he owned Citrus Advertising in Portland, Oregon. His clients included Nike, Harrah’s Casinos, Dr. Mareins, Legalzoom, Montana Lottery, the U.N., and multiple healthcare and financial services accounts. He sold the agency in 2012.

Peter has advised over 100+ advertising, marketing, design, and PR agencies on their business practices.

Accomplished Author, Thought-Leader, Speaker, Podcast Interviewee.

He has spoken at the 4A’s, the Association of National Advertisers, Newspaper Association of America, Radio Advertising Bureau, international and regional advertising orgs, HubSpot’s Inbound, and at marketing universities in Mumbai and Delhi.

Peter has appeared on dozens of podcasts. Including Mitch Joel’s “Six Pixels Of Separation”, “HubSpot”, “Ponderings From The Perch”, and “Agency Management Institute”.

Potential Podcast Promotion Energy.

Peter is an accomplished thought-leader with 850+ blog posts. He has over 5,000 Followers on LinkedIn and 4,000+ newsletter subs.

He knows how to promote podcasts.

He did 40 interviews for his Covid-era podcast “Advertising Stories”. He produced and hosted his first marketing agency podcast in 2006.

Potential Interview Topics. Really, Just Name it.

Peter can talk about today’s challenged agency world, inbound and account-based marketing, and sales; marketing agency management; buying and selling agencies (he did this 3 times); personal branding (underutilized); and digital entrepreneurship. He has written three books and two photography books on the early-stage cannabis industry – Jointlandia and Potlandia.

He also has a zillion funny and instructive stories.

Peter is a native New Yorker, has lived in eight cities and now lives as a digital nomad in San Miguel de Allende, which is considered Mexico’s coolest town.

Logical Links.

Website: https://peterlevitan.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterlevitan/

“Kick-Ass” book landing page.

Photography: https://peterlevitanphotography.com/

Want to talk or need more info on podcasting or how to write your own Podcast Guest Proposal? Give moi a shout. peter@peterlevitan.com

Improve Your Advertising Agency Brand

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The Power of Personal Chemistry and the Advertising Agency Brand

The advertising agency brandI’ve talked a lot about how a stand-out, unignorable advertising agency brand can make or break your agency’s ability to attract the attention of a new client. Plus, the personal side of an agency brand can determine if you can win or lose a pitch.

Yo People Power

There seems to be one aspect of pitching that keeps coming up over and over and rises to the top of almost everyone’s list. That is the idea that agencies ultimately win or lose based on interpersonal chemistry and corporate culture alignment. How do I know this? I’ve asked a dozen advertising agency consultants about what works and does not in a pitch since so many agencies sound and look alike.

People win pitches.

Manage Personal Chemistry

My fear with the chemistry thing is that it can appear to be something that is just nature vs. something that can be managed and created. There is a school of thought that says that you either gel with the prospect or you don’t. Sorry, Advertising agency Business Development Director, it’s all about a managed chemical reaction, and that’s why it is called chemistry.

Yikes. After preparing a smart, tight presentation, are we ultimately at the mercy and vagaries of some mysterious and unmanageable human thing? Pheromones, anyone?

I refuse to think that we don’t have any control. I don’t like the idea that after the long and expensive journey from an agency’s business development outreach to RFIs, RFPs, and then on to the final presentation, it all comes down to fate: the client either digs you, or they don’t. It just sounds way too passive.

So what can we do to build chemistry?

Let’s start with what not to do. Do not make any of the mistakes discussed in the early chapters of my The Levitan Pitch. book. Think of it this way: if you are twenty-something and you are going out to find your mate, you shower and dress accordingly. If you are a surfer, you wear Hurley’s. If you work on Wall Street, you wear Prada. Once you’ve defined your target prospect and aligned persona, you know that you need to do the obvious: make eye contact and act interested in the other person’s story. You will try to avoid any conversation-killing words. Even better, you will lean in and listen and make adjustments to your side of the conversation to demonstrate your interest. You won’t bore them with endless stories that are all about you. You will flatter them.

OK, you get it. Avoid the things that you can control. Yes, I believe we can.

But can we manufacture and/or control interpersonal chemistry to drive the advertising agency brand? Or, is it just up to some form of automatic business-related pheromones?

New business chemistry gets even more complicated when you introduce the idea that chemistry must be built between two groups in addition to individuals. Sure, some pitches are won because of an agency’s charismatic leader. However, in most cases, it is your team that is being evaluated. In order to develop chemistry between two separate groups (clients and agency presenters), the presenter group, as a whole, needs to demonstrate an understanding of the client group’s challenges, a commonality of purpose, matching emotional commitment (passion), empathy for shared problems, and a common language. Ultimately you will build rapport with the client group if they think that you are all in sync, as in on the same wavelength, especially in understanding their business issues. This is one of the reasons that you always need to remember that the pitch is much more about them, not you.

Two key words to keep on the top of your mind and manage are values, as in having and demonstrating shared values, and trust, as in building confidence in your agency’s integrity and reliability. Building trust is particularly important in service pitches where the client will be committing to a personal relationship. Trust is more easily given between two similar groups; groups that have already established commonalities. You are like me, therefore I understand you better and can trust you more easily.

Cultural alignment is also critical. Assuming that there isn’t a total disconnect between the client’s values and yours (this is something you should have figured out back at the RFP stage), cultural alignment can be managed. To get there, make sure ahead of any meeting that you read up on the client’s Mission and Vision Statements, review their brand values, and understand their corporate goals. If the client is a public company, read their annual report. It provides a comprehensive overview of the company’s business and financial condition and its dreams.

Find commonalities between the client and your agency, and subtly reinforce these in the meeting.

An Advertising Agency Brand Example – Be Delightful

As I mentioned earlier in the book learn everything about the client you want.

My ex-client Sara Lee’s Mission Statement states that they want: “To simply delight you… every day.” Surely your agency could find a very creative way to mirror the idea of “delight” in your pitch and even (very sparingly) use the word “delight” to reinforce rapport.

How To Public Relations Advice

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public relations adviceYa Want Some Sweet Public Relations Advice?

I write about company and personal branding in my Kick-Ass book (link below). Public relations plays a major role in getting your brand out there.

Here is a bit of my book’s perspective that transmits the thinking from the very smart PR firm – NATA. Check out their extensive thought leadership on their blog and in their podcast. Here is a good one: “147 – Public Relations – Nobody’s Waiting for Your Press Release.” So true!!!!

OK, let’s go.

Few “inbound” marketing platforms deliver the positive awareness of having your #advertisingagency mentioned in a Campaign Magazine or ADWEEK article, or in the case of your industry expertise – the category’s trade pubs.

So how does an agency or agency leader (or frankly any company) get into the right publication with the right brand-building copy?

Public Relations — PR Advice

The PR firm NATA offers this simple path to quickly get the attention of the busy (as in inundated) press by keeping the messaging straight and to the point. A few words can deliver a big message via being on-point and clutter-free. NATA’s advice:

  • If you run a company or have a job, you almost certainly have to write emails every day. Telling your story should be just as easy as your regular discussions with clients or suppliers.
  • We’ve developed a point-by-point technique at NATA PR that helps us get straight to the point when we’re talking to journalists or influencers. The purpose of this technique is to make information easy to read and maximize the chances of a journalist talking about you.

Practice this technique using these simple questions. Answer them and then remove the questions before sending your email:

What:

• Brand Z is launching a new vitamin C serum.

Why:

  • The vitamin C doesn’t become oxidized and retains all its properties that help reduce skin pigmentation.
  • It’s a completely new patent from company Z and they are the only ones in the world that have it.

When:

• It’ll be launched on X.

Where:

• On Z’s website and in reputable pharmacies.

Contact:

• Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Getting Sweet PR Sounds Simple… Right?

An issue is that PR wanna-get types don’t follow simple rules like these from NATA. Remember that your audience are busy pr professionals. Get to that great point fast.

Want more PR and marketing agency business-building advice? Buy this new marketing book.

 

Why Be A Thought Leader

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Thought Leadership Is Good

thought leadershipThe marketing term thought leadership has become a bit overused. Well, what marketing term is not a bit overused? I mean, do I really want to hear the word disruption again and again?

However, if we step back a bit and ask ourselves if we’d like to be perceived as an insightful, strategic, and problem-solving creative thinker—um… a thought leader—well, I’ll take the words thought leader.

Thought leadership takes time and brain power. Why bother?

Thought leaders deliver actionable…

•     Information

•     Insights

•     Strong opinions

•     Solutions to big problems

•     Inspiration

•     Creativity

•     Innovation

•     Even piece of mind

Since I started my marketing agency consultancy, I have produced more than 850 blog posts; videos using impressionists to talk me up (think Trump and Gandhi); have been a host and a guest on dozens of podcasts; and have spoken at conferences and produced white papers. I’ve recently launched a LinkedIn newsletter. Oh, this is it.

I wrote my book on pitching, The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. and my new book How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency to build my brand by offering business-building advice. These books generate interest and proof of expertise.

My thought leadership, which is 100% dedicated to advertising agency management and business development, works. Specialization works. People pay attention. My books drive leads.

The benefits of thought leadership are clear: It demonstrates expertise and authority.

  • It delivers compelling, relevant business-building information and insights. Value!
  • It excites
  • It generates peer-to-peer conversations and builds relationships over time
  • It generates marketing-qualified leads
  • It can be amplified and repurposed for efficiency. One thought can be modified and spread over a range of distribution platforms
  • Kick-ass problem-solving thought leadership is unignorable

I need to repeat this: Kick-ass thought leadership is unignorable.

The Unignorable Insight

Your expert positioning (yes, be an expert) will drive your thought leadership. The power word is authority. Market-building insights are created and delivered via your knowledge, experience, and creative approach to problem-solving. In this case, it is OK to be authoritarian.

Just to be clear, what is an insight? From the Planning Dirty Academy’s Julian Cole:

“Insight unlocks the way around a problem. It reveals a new path.”

Thought leaders reveal that new path. Just look at the people who are quickly building their own personal brands by becoming AI experts. Example: Sam Suzchan and his 122,000 LinkedIn followers.

I’m A Thought Leader Right Here.

thought leaderIn my brand new book… How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency