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Be The Smart Local Advertising Agency

Peter · April 23, 2022 · Leave a Comment

**How A Local Advertising Agency Can Own Its City**

I was the senior partner at Citrus, a full-service & very digital local advertising agency with offices in Portland and Bend Oregon, and San Francisco. In addition to having national clients like Nike and Harrah’s, we wanted to be a strong brand and resource in each of our local communities.

For Portland, we created the event series Meet The Makers, a small but powerful speaker series where we brought in execs from companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google. Our audience included current clients, prospects, the ad press, and, importantly, local influencers.

In San Francisco, we ran and distributed an agency-produced video series to break into that crowded agency market.

Your Local Advertising Agency Can Own Its City

I have worked with many smaller agencies that wanted to make some noise in their city. The primary objectives are awareness and high-quality branding. As in, how to be unignorable in one’s hometown or region to be famous for future clients and HR staffing needs. In this case, local could mean London or Boise.

Some Smart Ownership Ideas + A Really Big One

Advertising agencies are well-placed for city ownership. Agencies are creative, work at the local level (even if they have national clients as well), are community leaders, and know how to market themselves online as well as physically.

For example…

A city newsletter – On the simplest level, an agency can offer a city-oriented newsletter – a What’s Up / What’s Going On approach from the cool agency people. If done right, it will get read. YMMV but it could include an event schedule and even point to some great local stores and even point to local marketing programs – how that Italian restaurant markets itself on TikTok.
Speaking of TikTok, maybe your agency can ‘own’ the ‘your city’ TikTok channel. Or, be like Gary Vaynerchuck and use SMS. man, I get at least two messages from him a day.
Run an event(s) as citrus did. Or participate big time in an existing event. I don’t mean going to that Chamber meeting, not a bad idea, but more impactful high-interest events.
A cool idea (yes, if I say so myself) — Lease an empty storefront for a week and give away free marketing advice to local merchants, brands, and even wannabe entrepreneurs. Maybe team up with a local publication. Everyone wins.

Here’s one more very interesting – very community-building idea. I’ve got more but you’ll have to call me to hear about those ideas.

A Really Really! Smart Local Marketing Idea…

How I Discovered The Internet After Saatchi

Peter · September 9, 2021 · 2 Comments

I Discovered The Internet – Kinda True

This is my 800th blog post. So why not get personal? Here is my story about how I discovered the Internet and left advertising in 1995 to become an Internet start-up CEO. I think that it might be instructive to the people leaving the advertising industry today. Don’t take my word for it, people are leaving – read Avi Dan’s Forbes article, “People Are Fleeing The Ad Industry Because Of Burnout And Wanting To Work From Home.”

By the way, that is a picture of the explorer Robert Peary.

When I Discovered The Internet and The End Of My Advertising Agency Career

After my three years working at the Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide London office as European Director running business development and the J&J and Sara Lee Europe accounts, my family and I returned to Summit, New Jersey in the winter of 1994. Our welcome was a brutally iced in house. So iced that we had to hire some off-duty firemen to chop out the ice so we could use the front and back doors.

After leaving Charlotte Street, I now worked at the big black iconic (Darth Vader) Saatchi & Saatchi building on NYC’s Hudson Street. My large 18th-floor office had a wide-angle view and very cool furniture inherited from a recently exited executive creative director. Due to a failed New York office culture, talented colleagues were starting to exit the building.

My job was running Saatchi’s North American business development group. The job was nearly impossible as poor management had trashed Saatchi’s New York reputation and the global brand itself was in decline. The Saatchi brothers had finally overreached when they tried to buy a UK bank. These advertising guys’ “want to buy a bank” hubris was not warmly received by the public markets. Saatchi’s had gone from being the “world’s favorite” advertising agency to a company that no longer got the type of new business incoming and responses I had become accustomed to. Like, I wasn’t getting returned calls from prospective clients. This was a new experience. However, I was getting weekly calls from the trade press asking me for comments about people fleeing the New York office. Not the kind of trade media calls a business development director wants to receive.

I Discovered The Internet

While all of this office and career shit was going down, I had discovered the Internet and its insane growth curve. Yes, I discovered the Internet. Well, this happened because I returned to the USA from the Luddite UK and got the wake-up call.

I immediately fell in love with digital platforms like CD-ROMs, Netscape Navigator (the first commercial graphical browser launched in October 1994), and, of course, America Online and CompuServe. I was also seeing the exponential growth of Internet usage – as shown in the chart. How could this not be a gold rush? This was around the time that Jeff Bezos became enamored with the dramatic hockey puck growth of Internet uptake and you see where that got him. Side note, I had had my first early taste of digital when I briefly ran the Western Union Easylink email account a long time before I moved to the UK. Easylink was the first commercial email service – or as we called it, Instant Mail. Um, yes, a good idea but a bit early. Understatement.

In 1995, one did not have to be a genius to see that the digital universe would become a serious advertising platform. I tried to get Saatchi management interested but they were so consumed by the Saatchi death spiral that, like small children, I could not get them to focus on the new opportunity that was right in front of them. We could have been a contenda.

A Life Switch – “Get The Fuck Out Of Advertising”

Two things soon happened that would change my life.

First, thanks to my prescient friend Mike Donahue, who was the digital lead at the American Association of Advertising Agencies, I found out about Redgate Communications. The leading, and one of the few, digital ad agencies. [Read more…] about How I Discovered The Internet After Saatchi

A Jaguar Request For Advertising Proposal

Peter · June 29, 2021 · Leave a Comment

I Bet You’d Dig A Sweet Jaguar Request For Advertising Proposal

Imagine getting a request for a proposal from Jaguar. The car manufacturer. You’d feel mighty fine, right? Below is a segment from Mad Men in which Rodger Sterling gives pitching advice to his British partner Layne Price. Give it a look. First, here are a couple of my takeaways.

Look at the office. I started in offices like that. First I was in an AAE Qube (with walls, what a good idea), then I got my AE window office, then an Account Supervisor window office with a couch, and then the big Management Director office where we could also hold meetings at a table. Imagine that. NOTE: It was all way better than today’s (or yesterday’s) people sitting at long tables plus headphones.

Rodger talks about how to do a ‘chemistry’ meeting. Use your time together to get to learn about your prospect. Pay attention. “Smile, sit there, and let him talk.” “Don’t let him near the check” and “Find out everything about him before you get there.” Allow me to parse this out. Be friendly, listen, learn all about him (her) before you get there. In my parlance – there is no blind date in 2021.

A couple of stories. How to get or not to get a request for advertising proposal.

I once ran the $60 million Northwest Airlines account at Saatchi & Saatchi. When we lost that (we were fired by the new CMO at an award dinner while winning a Gold EFFIE). If you think you’ve met a bigger asshole, let me know. A couple of years later I was running global biz dev and had a get-to-know-you dinner in D.C. with the President of US Air and the New York Saatchi Chairman and President. My NYC guys talked about their golf game for two hours. Non-stop. I never had a chance to talk about airline industry issues. After yawing, the client guy left. Never heard from him again.

Early in my career, I got some advice from a smart Minneapolis agency leader. He would travel out of town to meet a business prospect. Invited him to dinner. Before they met, my guy would head to the restaurant, hand over his AMEX card and put down a 20% tip, told the restaurant to just charge the account… not to bring the bill over (made the guest go, “WTF” with a smile). Serve my guy a watered drink (see the video). Also when they walked into the restaurant to call my guy by his name and say “nice to see you again Mr. XXX.” Ok, yup, kinda corny. But for me a learning experience about managing an experience. Especially the part about the bill.

Need more info on how to win an account? Buy me dinner sometime. Or just… Buy my book.

Mad Men’ Rodger Sterling On: Request For Proposal From Jaguar

How To Be The Best Global Advertising Agency

Peter · October 22, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Want To Run A Global Advertising Agency Out Of Only One Office?

London Advertising, the crazily awarded global advertising agency (like being called the Agency Of The Year by The Drum year upon year) allowed its CEO Michael Moszynski to be interviewed by me right here on Advertising Stories. It helps that we worked together while having a few pints at Saatchi London in the way back. It also helps London Advertising that Michael’s Creative Director partner Alan Jarvie kicks butt as well.

Here are lessons on how to be distinctive; the value of the single-minded branded big idea; how to spend 25 years growing the massive Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (and making it one of, if not the, most revered hospitality brands); how London advertises itself and how it kicks global / multi-office behemoths like WPP via one focussed office in London. Mantra = much more effective advertising for less. Not a bad sales pitch.

Really, there is not much more that I can say other than listen up. There are multiple teachable moments for any digital or “full service” advertising agency in this podcast. Pass it on to your mates.

NOTES:

London Advertising

Michael Mosynski on LinkedIn

The Mandarin Oriental “I’m A Fan” Advertising Campaign

Hypnotism coming: Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to…

A nice thing for me… Feedspot has recognized Advertising Stories as being a top 15 advertising podcast.

A Bit Of Executive Creative Director History

Peter · September 13, 2020 · 2 Comments

If there is anything that I find a bit off-putting about the dynamic move to digital marketing it is the loss of the BIG IDEA. The love of the big ideas that have been generated by the “traditional” Executive Creative Director….. (“traditional” – yikes, what a shitty & pejorative descriptor).

Worse, that for some digi-geeks, the big idea has gone by way of the dinosaurs. Today we spend much of our time thinking about KPIs, PPC, SEO, SEM, DA, CTR, programmatic, Facebook drek, driving YouTube views, how to hype Instagram posts, and now TikTok (which is still thankfully mostly still about individual creator ideas and productions). OK, I am not going to go too far over the top here. In many cases, ideas still rule, well, some of the time. But, let’s face it, it all got a bit geekyly vs creativityly in the past 20 years.

When A Executive Creative Director Walked The Earth

Pat Peduto and I worked at Saatchi. He was an Executive Creative Director (and member of the Director’s Guild) and I was the senior account guy. We won creative and a few Gold EFFIES. That is the type of collaboration y’all want. We even discussed it right here at this podcast heard around the world: “A Lost $80 Million Advertising Agency Account That Rocked The Ad World.”

Side note, if you are thinking that I am also a dino, I invented Internet marketing in 1995.

So, finally, if you are wondering who this Pat guy is, imagine a rather successful Executive Creative Director. Here is his history – yes, he came after the dinosaurs. He was ECD on accounts like Burger King, Toyota, AT&T, Nabisco.

I will put his master list of accounts Pat has worked on a bit below.

Show Notes.

Pat’s book… Author of “I Wrote The Book On Advertising”

Member of the Directors Guild & commercial director.

Owner of the agency RocketScience Creative.

YO – Hypnotism coming: Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories.

A nice thing for me… Feedspot has recognized Advertising Stories as being a top 15 advertising podcast.

Ok, The List.

Pat’s clients… ABC Entertainment, Access Fund, A-Cute Derm, Act!vate, Adatom.com, agencyfinder.com, Alaska Distillery, ASM Fund, AT&T, Alka-Seltzer, Almond Joy, AVIS, Bayer Aspirin, Bally Total Fitness, BellSouth, Beneficial, Birds Eye, Burger King, Camel Filters, Canon, Century21, Chelsea Market, Ciroc, Citibank, Clairol Ultress, Club Med, Coca-Cola, Con Edison, Cox Interactive Media, Creative Artisan Brands, Crunch, Cuervo 1800, Delta, Diet Coke, Don Q Rum, Donnelley Directory, E-Z Wider, EasyLink–AT&T, EliasArts, Exxon, Florida Citrus, Frontier Brands, GE Rechargable Batteries, GM Credit Card, Gold Medal Flour, Grand Marnier, IBM–Latin America, Hamm’s Beer, Hanes Hoisery, Hardee’s, Healthy Home Environmental, Hellmann’s, Holiday Inn, homedelivery.com, Honey Graham Bears, ICI Americas, Interview Magazine, Investment Expo, JAL, JetUSA, Joker, Kellogg’s, Kodak films, Kodak Photo CD, Kodak 35mm Cameras, Krystal, Lamaze Publishing, LaMotta’s Tomatta Sauce, Lexus, L’Eggs Sheer Energy, Lipton, L’OREAL, Lucent, IRS, Life Savers, Lufthansa, Luxe Hotels, Manhattan Mortgage, Marriott, McDonald’s, MGD, Miller Beer, Mistic, Molson, Nabisco Cookies, National Car Rental, National Council for Adoption, Navan, New Jersey Online, New York Life, NewsWorks, Nomad Networks, Northcoast Consulting Group, NYC Office for Economic Development, Nikon Cameras, Northwest Airlines, Nucoa Margarine, Olympia Beer, PT-1, Palm Springs International Raceplex, PaineWebber, Parker Brothers, PheasantRun, Pizza Hut, Pleasant Company, Ponds, Portfolio School, Prodigy, Nuprin, Ragu, React.com, Ruffino, Rums of Puerto Rico, Rival Dog Food, SFATA, Sandella’s Cafe, Schick Electric, Skippy, Smirnoff, STP Motor Oil, Stella Show Mangement, Stockgroup.com, T42, TailWinds Distillery, Tampax, TIME, Talbot Hotel, Tommy Hilfiger, Toyota, US Army, US Postal Service, Unisys, United Craft Distillers, UrbanGlass, Virgin Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Winston, Wrangler, Wendy’s, Wheaties, Woolmark Co, Yoplait.