Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

Smart Agencies

Gen X, Millennials And Gen Y: Will They Work In Advertising?

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“Are Advertising Agencies Cool Enough For Millennials?”  is a Talent Zoo interview I just did with with Michael Donahue of the 4A’s. The interview discusses the millennial generation and how advertising agencies are going about wooing and keeping this younger generation of Mad Men.

The interview got me thinking about the definition of Millennials, Gen X and Gen Y.

These are demographic terms that we seem to toss about but may not actually be clear about. So, to be clear(er)…

Gen X are the post-Baby Boomers born between 1965 and 1984. Gen Y and Millennials are essentially the same group and they were born between 1981 and 2000. These are the kids, you know the soccer playing, hip-hop listening, Brooklyn, Austin and Portland-bound, kids of the Boomers.

Untitled1And for a lighter perspective, here is how BuzzFeed views the subject:

“22 Signs You’re Stuck Between Gen X And Millennials — You’re not Gen X, but you’re not Gen Y either. Here’s what it’s like being caught in between two generations.”

BooneOakley – Best Advertising Agency Website Ever?

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This BooneOakley YouTube site just might STILL! be the best (as in creative story telling that captures a client’s attention) advertising agency website ever. Remember how groundbreaking their use of YouTube was in 2009. The video has over 1.3 million views. How many views has your site had since 2009?

Oh, yes, they also have one of those look-alike agency websites. So, go figure. Well, not too much figuring is needed…. there are mucho clients that seem to like the same old same old.

BooneOakley

How To Name Your Advertising Agency: Part Two

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8 pitfalls to watch for when naming your baby BabyCenterThis is Part Two of the two part series on how advertising agencies name themselves. Other than the gyrations that agencies constantly go through with how to design and redesign their website; what and how they name themselves is one of their most important branding decisions. Part One is right here.

Just a reminder… I worked for three ad agencies. Two were “founder” agencies: Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (remember “Where’s the beef?”) and Saatchi & Saatchi (which bought Dancer) and the other was my very own Portland agency with its “current usage” name: Citrus. Or, as one of our creative directors thought was critical to our success, citrus, with a lower case “c.’

The Naming Process

Yes, there is a process to naming. I believe that selecting a name should be one of the most important elements of your new advertising agency’s marketing plan (a new name also works for agency’s that need a facelift and repositioning.) And, importantly, this process deserves your team’s best thinking and the time to ensure that you have selected the most powerful name possible. Most of us thought hard about what name to give our kids or the letters on our vanity license plates. Your company deserves this as well.

Objectives & Positioning.

You cannot begin to name your brand without establishing a clear brand positioning and business objectives which in the case of ad agencies sometimes just means sounding cool. In San Francisco alone, agency names span Muh-Tay-Zik Hof-fer’s self-love (OK, maybe its just name-play) to Argonaut’s promise of brand voyage (I assume) to Engine Company 1 (yes, you guessed it) to Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners and Goodby Silverstein & Partners’ authenticity (for old times sake) to BarrettSF and its hope for BarrettNY — I suspect. [Read more…] about How To Name Your Advertising Agency: Part Two

Advertising Agency Business Development Seminar @ Portland Ad Fed

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Agencies love their friends, their Rolodex’s (yes, we still use this word) and claim that they win more business from referrals than any other new business method. 3 reasons why:

  1. Friends are friends and friends have friends.
  2. Friends should recommend you.
  3. Current and past clients should recommend you. See “The One Number You Should Grow” from the Harvard Business Review.

But, there is a point when you run out of friends with friends and then its time to actually do some real business development. That’s why Rebecca Armstrong, Principal and Managing Director at NORTH; Ryan Buchannan, CEO eRoi and Peter Levitan, CEO Peter Levitan & Co. — oh, that’s me are speaking on how to grow your friends, contacts and prospect lists.

It is: An Advertising Agency Business Development Seminar – “New Business Is More Than A Big Rolodex”

Date: November 21.

Place: Portland, Oregon

Info from The Portland Advertising Federation (yes, new website coming soon….)

Need some language:

The more prospective clients you get to know, the more new business you will win. It’s that simple. Or, is it? New business is a presentation and hands-on workshop designed to help advertising agency management and employees create enlightened new business programs that will get more meetings and build relationships with the right prospects.

We will work together to examine and discuss a range of business development techniques used by successful agencies. We’ll explore list building and how to create and deliver compelling client insights that will grab the attention of the client-side decision makers you want to meet with – well before they put out that RFP. This seminar is for all agency employees because new business should be an agency-wide goal.

Advertising Clients & Deadlines

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Client deadlines.

Ok, some are real. Like when my clients including Northwest Airlines (remember them before Delta ate them?) had to get a low fare retail ad in tomorrow’s newspaper (remember them?) Or when Nike needed to get an ad that included last minute winning college teams into the on the press Bowl Champion Series (BCS) game day magazine. But, often, the deadlines were, at best, a bit more shall we say, loose.

Now, I like deadlines. It forces all of us in advertising to get the job done. But, sometimes deadlines also force us to deliver work that isn’t what we’d call our best. You know, your best idea will come in tomorrow’s shower. Or the image could use even more photoshoping. Or, maybe that logo could be even smaller. In these cases, deadlines can be debilitating.

Here’s a post on deadlines from my friends at James and Matthew + Company, an agency in Massachusetts. Matt writes about doing the RIGHT thing, an often tough thing, by telling a client with a deadline that the agency just needs a bit more time.  Here is the outcome from James’s blog post.

Regarding my fears above, here was the result:

We all got so inspired by my unwillingness to compromise that what we came up with was lightyears ahead of what we had originally developed.

My client was able to come around to understanding and I think I might have gained a little more respect in them knowing that I will not compromise on the work I produce for them. The project is on the right track and everyone is behind it with a new sense of vigor.

My take away… being true to excellence and taking a little bit more time to get things right is a good thing and the good clients will get this and love you even more. But, don’t tell retailers that you’ll get them that perfect ad the day after Black Friday.