Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

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The Kinks On U.S. Tax Day

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Lets see, I bet that only about 75% of my blog readers know this Kinks song. Am I being muy generoso? None the less… today, April 15, is tax day here in the United States of America.

Therefore a wonderful song from the British Invasion…

The tax man’s taken all my dough,
And left me in my stately home,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLs09J_x6-c

And I can’t sail my yacht,
He’s taken everything I’ve got,
All I’ve got’s this sunny afternoon.

Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.
I got a big fat mama trying to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime

My girlfriend’s run off with my car,
And gone back to her ma and pa,
Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty.
Now I’m sitting here,
Sipping at my ice cool beer,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

Help me, help me, help me sail away,
Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay.
‘Cause I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime

Ah, save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.
I got a big fat mama trying to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime

My take on paying taxes is that it is better to HAVE to pay them than to not make money. Oh, and have a good accountant.

Your New Advertising Agency Business Plan

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I admit it. I am a bit buzzed. The Formula 1 season just started its first race in sunny Melbourne (it will be crazy and unpredictable this year, by the way.) I had a glass or two of Malbec and then I saw these numbers that show the shift from desktop to mobile advertising from the nice folks at eMarketer. These numbers are dramatic:

Desktop Search to Decline 1.4 Billion as Google Users Shift to Mobile eMarketerOverall desktop ad spending is set to decline in 2014 while mobile grows 83.0%. Not surprising. You knew what is going on, right?

So, why should I be jumping on the desktop to mobile bandwagon? Why? Because advertising agencies, primarily the medium to small, have not yet figured out how to leverage this shift. Well, folks, it is time. Your advertising business plan better take into account what is happening.

Here are my three primary take aways that I think advertising agencies (and digital shops as well. OK, video production companies too) need to incorporate into their business plan…

  1. Video is way hot and WE know how to do this.
  2. Video is hot.
  3. Mobile is the future.

Now, you’d think that a lot of agencies are putting “We know mobile” on their home pages. They are not. Which means they don’t get it yet and that is good for you. Need a crash course in mobile marketing? If you live in Portland go to Mobile Portland  events. If not, find your local mobile developer community and make friends.