Branding

Why Be A Thought Leader

Peter · June 21, 2023 · Leave a Comment

The 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.

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

Add Humor to Your Advertising Agency Marketing

Peter · June 7, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Why Are Advertising Agencies So Boring? But, Not ADWEAK.

I wrote about the humorous ADWEAK in my book (yes, me promoting again, and why not?) My key point is that the #advertisingagency universe is so boring. Seldom do we see an agency use humor to grow awareness and get past sameness. My main point: Add Humor to Your Advertising Agency Marketing.

How Many Advertising Agencies Does It Take To Screw In A Lightbulb?

Once upon a time, I thought that it would be “different and unignorable” to have my agency’s website open with a video of a stand-up comedian riffing on the advertising industry and our wonderful agency.

Why would I consider using a comedian to introduce the agency? I am a believer in the power of humor to arrest attention and open up the mind. Plus, this angle gives the agency a personality in a generally personality-free zone. And I guarantee a comedian will keep a visitor on the home page for longer than 10 seconds.

Oh, to answer the question of how many “How many advertising agencies does it take to screw in a light bulb?” — “Oh well that all depends… what’s your budget?” OK, not a killer riff. But, you get the idea.

Yeah, I have an opinion. However, I’m not alone. From the Harvard Business Review:

The workplace needs laughter. According to research from institutions as serious as Wharton, MIT, and London Business School, every chuckle or guffaw brings with it a host of business benefits. Laughter relieves stress and boredom, boosts engagement and well-being, and spurs not only creativity and collaboration but also analytic precision and productivity.

Go ahead and take this humor-first idea… please.

A unique example of leading with humor is the creative / production studio ADWEAK. The agency drives interest—for example, it has 100,000 Twitter followers—via its unique look at agency and client life. They nail the idea of delivering truth via humor.

BREAKING: Agency Just Listing Anything They Can Think of on Capabilities Slide for New Business Pitch

BREAKING: Agency Staffers Still Have No Idea What Recently Hired “Thought Leader” Actually Does

BREAKING: VLMY&R Considers Adding Another Couple Letters to Name

The ADWEAKwebsite has few words but delivers this compelling key message:

We’re good, we’re smart, we’re fast and we’re not A-holes.

Now To PROVE That I Put My Money Where My Mouth Is. I Leverage ADWEAK’s Humor.

I am now “advertising / promoting” my book on ADWEAK’s LinkedIn and Twitter posts. Here is their reach… Twitter (99k followers) and LinkedIn (28K followers). See the image at the top to see how they are promoting me.

Does your agency use advertising for itself? Are you funny? If you have gotten this far, read and act on the next sentence. Thanks.

Here is a link to How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency. BUY it now – (lots of caps today).

The Most Important Marketing Question

Peter · May 20, 2023 · Leave a Comment

An Important Marketing Question For Advertising Agency Leaders

To help you set your mind in a groove for future marketing planning (as in agency positioning, business development, and even business development) ask yourself:

If you were a client, would you hire you vs. your competition?

Honest answers include:

If yes, great.
No, oops, better start to rethink your agency’s master business model and/or biz dev marketing. I
If you don’t know. Yikes.

OK. One More Marketing Question.

If you wanted to sell your agency, would you buy you?

Both of these questions (and way more) are addressed with detailed thinking and data in my new book…