New Business

Coca-Cola And The Future of Advertising Agencies

Peter · March 10, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Today’s Wall Street Journal article, A New Marketing World Requires New Skills, gives us a sweet opportunity to get into the head of Joe Tripoldi, Coca-Cola’s Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer. Joe shares what he expects from his marketing organization as the world of marketing makes some dramatic and fast-paced shifts from old-fashioned brand-building to digital marketing.

This deep look also provides client-side direction for advertising and digital agencies to better understand where the world of marketing is headed. Not that any of this informations should be news. However, it is reinforcement for the way all agencies should be thinking in March, 2014. Thinking means designing agency services and hiring the right talent for the future. If Coke wants analytics, digital, social, mobile and gamification expertise — all clients will eventually want this and agencies need to plan accordingly.

“The biggest issue for CMOs today is the critical need to ‘re-skill’ their marketing organizations and build new capabilities in areas like big data/analytics, digital, social, mobile, gamification and design.

“This is not just about hiring a few subject-matter experts, but building a depth of knowledge leaders and practitioners in these critical new competencies. If they don’t, marketing organizations will be stuck with traditional 1980s and ’90s brand-building skills in a 21st-century world of an ‘always on’ consumer. The times, they are a-changing.

“You cannot slide over people in your current organization because they have loosely dabbled in these areas. You need to go to the millennial marketplace for ‘natives’ who have lived and breathed these disciplines for much of their lives. Individuals who have passion for connecting brands with people in new ways.

“The talent is out in the marketplace, you just have to be creative to source it in nontraditional ways through communities or networks. Then you have to understand that you may only retain these people for a short time, but the positive, disruptive impact and the knowledge they can impart on your organization is game changing.”

One Hour Advertising Agency

Peter · March 1, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Ah, an advertising agency with a promise and a distinctive message.

Sweden’s One Hour Agency makes a very simple promise to potential clients:

You give us one hour.
We generate quality ideas.

As ADWEEK says:

“If the meeting works from both sides, then we offer different kinds of packages depending on the brief,” says Larsen. The crew is currently working on a project for Swedish Public Radio.

OHA has a handy pie-chart that breaks down the first hour: 10 minutes each for greetings, evaluation and presentation, and 30 minutes for ideation. That’s pretty packed. Demands for bigger logos and “guaranteed viral” videos presumably require buying more time.

What works? It is a simple message, it is intriguing, it works because (OK, I am about to tell all of those advertisers out there a big secret), your marketing issues aren’t that difficult (well, at least for most clients – just try to sell Cadillacs to anyone under 55+) and most super savvy agency folks can probably suss out your issues and at least one smart idea in an hour. All One Hour Agency wants is for the advertising client to want to talk more. And, why not?

The one hour offer reminds me of my Corleone Offer. I know that I can talk with you and your agency leaders for 30 minutes and I will give you at least one business building new business program idea. I can do this because I am coming at understanding your advertising agency’s positioning and marketing from an outsider’s perspective. Coupled with my experience, we can get to some smart thinking fast.

This is why I know that One Hour Agency can do for you what they have done for Spotify:

‘Impressed about how many great ideas came out of a single hour session! There’s no threshold to work with you guys. I don’t think you need good luck, just keep on working the way you do’ – Joel Brosjo, Spotify

35 Ways To Start & Grow An Ad Agency

Peter · February 25, 2014 · Leave a Comment

How To Start & Grow An Ad Agency

I sat down recently and listed a few recommendations for how to start and grow an ad agency. By the time I finished, I got to 35 pieces of advice. I put 3 below. The other’s are in the mini-Eish-book “26 Ways To Grow Ad Agency Profits Business-building tips from over 30 years running ad agencies.”, which you can get by subscribing to this blog using the form at the bottom of this post. I like getting subscribers because it makes me feel loved and it will provide me a list of folks to alert about my new book on pitching which will be published this spring.

{ You will see that I have narrowed the list to 26 major points from 35. I can’t change the URL (the 35 number) without confusing Google.

These 3 Are From the Marketing Section

Stay very hungry and have a solid business development plan. Business development is a 365/24/7 priority that needs a solid plan, an active approach and constant senior management attention. Too many agencies wait until they lose a large client to reactivate their business development plan. Speaking of plans. Most agencies do not even have a business development plan. Crazy!

Business development plans need to have clear objectives, lists of must have and should have clients and marketing strategies to target and reach out to these potential clients. Reach out, start to make friends and stay in touch. One of my worst new business experiences was that despite my agency’s work for Nike’s national college and Major League Baseball programs and our sports marketing for University of California and Oregon State University, we were not invited to pitch Portland’s MLS team the Timbers because our lead sports account manager hadn’t kept in touch with her friend who was leading the pitch. By the time we heard that the account was available, we were too late.

Think niche. Even if you are a full-service agency, consider leading your new business program with a high-interest niche service or product. The concept of less is more works for agencies as well as advertising messages. Citrus used interest in “invisible QR codes” (that were developed by our client Digimarc) to get us into companies like Nestle and Kraft. We never would have gotten the first meeting with Fortune 500 prospects if we simply said that we were yet another me-too “full-service” shop. A niche-pitch will get you in the door. Once in, work your new business magic.

B2B makes money. Even if you love that sexy consumer work, think hard about working with more B2B clients. B2B is a less crowded playing field; B2B clients have on-going budgets; positive ROI drives incremental spending and smart B2B clients will make you more digitally savvy. I am continually surprised at how many agencies leave B2B work to so few.

Other sections include Planning, Attention to Detail, Client Management, Your People, Digital Chops, Marketing and A CEO Thought. This last section is about the fact that it can be lonely at the top.

Check it out. Don’t forget to get the rest of this document at the bottom of the post.

Merry (Belated) Christmas From Victors & Spoils

Peter · February 19, 2014 · Leave a Comment

I’m a bit late to the Christmas party but, just found this more-creative-than-the usual-boring agency-Christmas-thing. In this case, its a Christmas video from that agency that so many other agencies that don’t have a point of difference love to hate. Yes, Victors & Spoils has detractors. But, then again, anyone doing anything new gets dumped on by the old guard. Surprisingly, for a “creative” industry like advertising, “new” is scary.

Did Victors & Spoils crowd source the Photoshopping? While you are at it, watch the agency’s descriptive “about” video. It also works. More agencies need to use the power of video to sell, yes, sell, their agency to fickle website visitors.

The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation – Ever

Peter · February 18, 2014 · 5 Comments

A Very Sad Story… The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation – Ever

This is a story about the worst advertising agency presentation – ever (I know, I was in it.) It was bad.

This special experience, along with more stories, strong opinions, and brilliant advice (I’ve learned a lot over the years) is in my new book… How To Run A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency.

If you buy the 27-chapter book and read it, I guarantee that you will win more new business, run a tighter ship, and will make more money.

My First Advertising Agency Presentation

Back to the beginning: I won my first pitch in 1984. For the first email service.

I was an account executive at Dancer, Fitzgerald Sample, New York’s largest “Mad Men” era advertising agency (Saatchi & Saatchi bought Dancer in 1987.) The pitch was for Western Union’s $15 million EasyLink Service. EasyLink was the first commercial email service and launched the same year as the IBM PC – the times were changing fast. We won the pitch and I learned how a well-oiled presentation worked from a new business team that won nine out of ten pitches that year. After I began working on the business, I asked the senior client why we won. She stated three reasons: [Read more…] about The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation – Ever