Smart Agencies

2016 Winners and Losers

Peter · December 22, 2016 · Leave a Comment

My 2016 Winners and Losers

Well, not just mine. Here is a video from L2 and its CEO Scott Galloway on his 2016 predictions. Galloway is one of the more entertaining folks out there and his take on what is working and not in marketing and the digital space is always worth a watch. He is well viewed so if you haven’t yet, you’d better because I suspect your smartest clients watch him. A key takeaway? Your agency needs to understand the world of messaging.

The massive world of messaging has been one of my big winners too. Especially messaging plus chatbots – a perfect new marketing space for agencies and their inherent skills. Here are a bunch of articles on the subject.

A Loser?

Advertising, PR, digital, content, experiential agencies that sit on their business development haunches and hope that their telephone or email chimes with incoming clients. No, just sitting on your ass and playing the ‘word-of-mouth-referal-game’ won’t win new clients. I wrote about the need for relentless sales ENERGY right here: Your Advertising Agency must Kick Ass in 2017.

A Winner — Vaynerchuck

But, but, wait, wait, there’s more. Below is one of this year’s smartest keynote addresses. In this case… from the effervescent Gary Vaynerchuck of online wine and Vayner Media fame. This talk (rant) is his 2016 Inbound keynote care of HubSpot. I love HubSpot. They publish my stuff. By the way, I tell all of my agency clients to guest post for broad awareness, message reach, and fame. Here are some of mine…. I walk my talk.

This keynote is long. Break it up into thirds and watch it hard. I don’t care who you are. You will get more than one inspiring moment. Gary walks the talk too. Vayner Media just might be the fastest growing agency today. Why? They do not sit on their ass waiting for the phone to ring.

More Advertising Agency Christmas

Peter · December 9, 2016 · 1 Comment

An Advertising Agency Christmas Video That…

…Is actually entertaining. In this case, no surprise, it’s from Toronto’s Zulo Alpha Kilo.

“The holidays are a time for forgiveness. And what better way to ask for forgiveness than with Dmitri the Apology Dog from Zulu Alpha Kilo.”

Hard to go wrong with a talking dog.

Christmas 2016 – First Advertising Agency Holiday “Card”

Peter · December 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

OK, Let the Advertising Agency Holiday Card Thing Start

When I ran my agency I avoided the oh-too-obvious XMAS client dance / gift/ celebration by waiting just a bit to send out engraved bottles of red wine that ushered in the New Year. Thought we’d get past the XMAS rushhhhhh and clutter.

Below is my first holiday thing. This is from a Wolff Olins email. Guess they are beating the clutter by being first.

Ad Agency Business Development Trick

Peter · November 21, 2016 · Leave a Comment

My Business Development Trick Interview

I have a business development trick I use when working with my ad agency clients. It’s my easiest and yet most beneficial trick. After some highly intelligent blabbing, I point “my” agencies to a set of benchmark agencies that are directly relevant to my customized business development plan recommendations. These benchmark agencies are perfect examples of how to fine-tune an agency positioning, how to enunciate the positioning, how to do thought leadership, how to be concise, how to actually run a ‘sales’ program that delivers new clients and how to build a website that gets read… as in, not quickly passed by.

One of those benchmark agencies has been London’s LONDON Advertising.

I’ll play the trick for you if you chat me up… and hire me. In the meantime, here is an interview I did with Michael Mosynski the CEO of LONDON Advertising that’s inside my book on winning more ad agency pitches… The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.

I suspect that there will be some ideas in here, Michael will help you create an agency story (note his simple sales pitch) that drives interest, how to beat mega agencies to win big accounts, how to build interpersonal chemistry and how to win the pitch. Oh, and how to create a simple agency website that sells the agency. Maybe one of the greatest tricks of all.

The LONDON Advertising Interview

Michael Mosynski is CEO of LONDON Advertising. He launched the agency seven years ago as a global agency built for today’s marketplace. The agency’s clients include Boots No7, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Ketel One, W&O Travel, and Wegwood.

Prior to starting LONDON, Michael was the CEO of M&C Saatchi Hong Kong, Middle East, and London’s IS. Prior to joining M&C Saatchi, he held a range of senior positions at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide. We worked together in London.

PL: LONDON Advertising is positioned as an international, yet very nimble one-office agency that that delivers “One Brilliant Idea that can work in any media, anywhere in the world.” Why does this positioning generate interest from multinational clients? [Read more…] about Ad Agency Business Development Trick

Is Your Ad Agency Special?

Peter · October 31, 2016 · Leave a Comment

The “Special” Ad Agency Wins

I’ve written about the need for creating ad agency differentiation if an agency wants to excite and win new clients…

(I know, I know, you know that I know that you know how important having an agency positioning that stands out is.)

But, most agencies do not seek a high degree of differentiation. They are not bold. Full stop. They are willing to be not different.

There are many reasons for this. One of the most expressed fears is that (and I know that this is going to sound insane)… is that agencies do not want to sound too different for fear of losing the opportunity to pitch LOTS of clients. The belief is that being a ‘general’ agency, even a general digital or PR agency, will beget more opportunities to pitch for a broad range of clients. These agencies are playing a losing numbers game. Having a clear, yes narrower, refined, brand positioning will win in the end.

Give clients an opportunity to view your agency as being special and unmistakenly desirable. Think different and look different.

My Unignorable Agency Presentation – 9 Paths To Special

I was recently asked by a large agency network to give a brief presentation on what are key ways to differentiate an agency. I came up with nine paths to being Unignorable: Positioning; Attitude; Ego Mania; Specialization; AHA!; Carpe Diem; Humor; Awards; Your Website.

Each one of these paths represents an opportunity to help your agency stand out from the other 3,999 agencies seeking the clients you deserve and… Be Different.

Hope yo enjoy the presentation and take away a couple of paths to specialness.