Personal Branding

I Stole From Gary Vaynerchuk And Mahatma Gandhi

June 7, 2020 By Peter 2 Comments

I stole from Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Burden, Derek Sivers, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Let me explain. I “stole” a few of the design elements of this new Peter Levitan website. Some of the core elements are from the Gary Vaynerchuk home page. Stealing, art that is, is OK. Picasso said I could do it.

And, don’t tell the Judges at award ceremonies that most of the great advertising ideas were “borrowed”. No, I am not being pissy. Ideas regenerate. Keep reading.

What I Stole From Gary Vaynerchuk. Go To My Home Page.

If you look at the Gary Vaynerchuk website next to mine, you will see similarities. Each website leads with a chest-beating video (always a good thing) and then a clear benefit statement (even better). Both websites are very clean and direct. Thank you, Gary.

Why steal from Gary Vaynerchuk? He is a dude that gets personal brand marketing right. Need more?

What I Stole From Chris Burden? Go To My Home Page.

Chris Burden was a genius performance, sculpture, and installation artist. He is very well known in the art world for instillations like the rows of lampposts outside of L.A.’s LACMA museum and got his first taste of major-league art fame when he was shot in the arm in his “Shoot” performance video. Shot by accident by the way.

I stole the idea for my lead video from Chris’s 1970s TV commercial. Just so you know, I am not the only person to have stolen Burden’s idea. To state the obvious, the video is all about name association: Van Gogh and Burden. Droga and Levitan. Look at Chris’s video interview – the idea I stole is at the 4:50 mark. How did I do?

What I Stole From Derek Sivers. See My About Page.

I have been wrestling with how to tell the story of my 30-year advertising; digital; internet startup; and advertising agency business consultation career. It could take a long time. Too long.

I finally figured out how to do it from Derek Siver’s website. Derek is the founder of CD Baby. This is what Esquire said:

“Derek Sivers is changing the way music is bought and sold. A musicians’ savior. One of the last music-business folk heroes.”

Derek covers his extensive and very cool career with his home page help-the-reader bio subheads: Me In Ten Seconds?; Me in Ten Minutes? What I Am Doing Now? Concise, fast, easy to absorb. I needed this degree of simplicity, so I stole his idea.

What I Stole From Mahatma Gandhi. See My Contact Page.

Do I have to say this? Sure, why not.

“Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India. As such, he came to be considered the father of his country. Gandhi is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest to achieve political and social progress.”

I spent the month of January 2020 in India. I visited Gandhi’s home in Mumbai. I picked up on his vibe and wanted to have him do a testimonial. Of course, it has been over 40 years since his assassination. So, I found a modern-day Gandhi to deliver the testimonial.

You can see what I mean when you scroll down my Contact page.

By the way, I also stole from Donald Trump – he is at the bottom of my home page. I admit it, I am a bit less proud of that theft.

Ok, OK… I Also Stole From Austin Kleon.

In this case, Austin’s best-selling book “Steal Like An Artist” – buy it at the great Powell’s Books. He told me to steal. As Austin points out…

Picasso said, “Art Is Theft.”

I hope you enjoy your own art of stealing.

Gary Vaynerchuk Is Full Of Shit

April 8, 2020 By Peter 1 Comment

Gary Vaynerchuk Is Full Of Shit. Too Harsh?

Before I get to the meat, as in the why of the “Gary Vaynerchuk Is Full Of Shit” blog post (the original, below) I want to point out that this post has received 6,369 views as of today. Clearly, the keyword Gary Vaynerchuk travels. Understatement. Saying ‘shit’ probably does not hurt either.

Plus, for all of you SEO geeks, Animalz told me to update this post.

Let me start with the word ‘shit’.

Here’s a story from my first days in Oregon after I purchased Citrus, my advertising agency. I am a born and bred New Yorker. “Fuck” is in our daily vocabulary. As someone who has lived around the world, I’ve modified the use of ‘fuck’ because some cultures are not as upfront as us. After I moved to Portland I found myself in an early AM meeting and I hear myself saying ‘fuck’. Being a highly sensitive type, I turn to the woman next to me and ask, “Oh, sorry, is it OK to say Fuck in a Portland meeting?” She says, “It’s OK to say it – but only twice.” I love Portland! That was one of my intros to the culture of Oregon.

OK back to Gary Vaynerchuk is full of shit.

Am I being too harsh? No. A while back I wrote on Linkedin about Gary’s take on traditional advertising. He did two minutes of dumping on the world of advertising which ran on an Ad Age Digital Crash Course segment. To maybe to make it easier for you, here’s the copy from the post from Linkedin…

I just watched the Gary Vaynerchuk episode of the Ad Age Digital Crash Course.

My take: Gary is full of shit. (OK, mostly).

First a moment of background. When I lived in New Jersey I was a happy customer of his huge wine shop and as an early digital media adopter, I was well aware of his significant social media foresight and skills. Gary was early and right. And, in a world of ad agency growth issues, he has managed to build a 500 person agency. Bravo.

Here’s the ‘shit’ part. In the video, Gary pontificates in ‘Gary Speak’ about how sales and marketing are not aligned i.e. agencies don’t care about selling products (only about winning awards); that emotion does not sell (tell that to “Think Different”); that ‘traditional’ advertising is inefficient (like much of digital isn’t); that creatives might want to consider shooting 10 spots for $300K each vs. one for $3 million (what world is he living in?) and that maybe we should think about testing advertising before we run it (hmm… that’s a new one).

I love self-promotion. And I get railing at the old ways of doing business to further one’s cause. But, please, cut the way too obvious crap and don’t be insulting.

Look, I get self-promotion. But, please, do not be so insulting (even if you are a little bit right.)

But, But.

I actually like Gary and his Garyvee persona. I have super respect for his personal branding and VERY high energy. And, I dig that he has been well ahead of the curve re new technologies and marketing platforms like Instagram and now TikTok. Frankly, way too ahead of many advertising agencies.

And… I’ve said nice things about Gary in the past. Old school advertising CEO.

Side note: Gary will also star in one of my new videos.

Now This: My 2020 Advertising Agency Survival Guide

Here is another well-viewed post… The Advertising Agency Survival Guide

What I Learned At Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising

March 27, 2020 By Peter 3 Comments

What I Learned At Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising – It Is Relevant Today

I got educated at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising. I applied my learning to a career that spanned GM of the Minneapolis office, to London and Europe, to two Internet startups, my own agency, and now my advertising agency consultancy.

I learned about the power of strategy, kick-ass creative, being ballsy and going for it. This is what an agency principal and her agency must use today.

First A Bit On Dancer Fitzgerald Sample

I started my advertising career at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample as an AAE on the large General Mills account. Dancer was known as DFS. It was New York’s largest advertising agency and lived in the glorious Chrysler Building. Its clients also included P&G, Toyota, HP, Wrangler, RJR, Nabisco and other biggies.

During my tenure, it was named Agency Of The Year and had a new business pitch winning streak that hit baseball Hall of Fame numbers… .900+. The agency was also known for delivering highly effective advertising including Wendy’s “Where’s The Beef?” and the advertising that launched Toyota and sustained its growth.

The agency spent a great deal of time and money nurturing its account executives with a weekly training program that pumped out the best AE’s in the industry. DFS taught me how to write brand-building strategies, run a profitable account and how to deliver exceptional account service. It also taught me how to work within an empowering, yet nurturing a culture where everyone loved their job. This last point was driven home every month when we celebrated employees who had worked at the agency for 10, 20 and even 30 years.

I was about to learn even more. [Read more…] about What I Learned At Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising

A New Advertising Book?

September 12, 2019 By Peter Leave a Comment

Should I Write Another Advertising Book?

Should you write your advertising (agency) book?

I’ve written and produced four books since I sold my Portland advertising agency in 2012. I am now thinking of “writing” a new advertising book based on a tight edit of the best thinking I’ve delivered on this blog. I currently have well over 300,000 words here. The blog posts have been viewed over 340,000 times.

I’ll discuss why to bother turning the blog into an advertising book a bit later in this post.

Some History. Books I’ve Written.

These include:

Boomercide: From Woodstock to Suicide. This was my training wheels book on the, dare I say it, interesting subject of using suicide as a financial planning tool. When I sold my agency, my accountant said there are two things we can control: how much money you have and how much you spend. However, there is another major factor we cannot control: how long your money has to last. I went, um, why can’t I control the length of my life. Buy Boomercide here.

The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. I have read every book on pitching and presenting. This is without question the best book on this subject. Join thousands of other agency leaders and buy this book here. Or, pitch against the agencies that read my tome, and, dare I say it, possibly lose.

Potlandia and Jointlandia are two photo books I researched and shot about the early days of the burgeoning legal cannabis market. I shot these because I am an in investor in Portland’s cannabis industry and was fascinated by the early attempts (almost hippie-like attempts) at product and retail branding in what is now a billion-dollar marketplace. You can see these books right here. While you are at it, take a look at my other photographs. I am currently traveling around the world to photograph people on every continent.

Why Write A Business Book?

I think that there are four reasons to write a business book – an advertising book by me, a consultant, or your agency. [Read more…] about A New Advertising Book?