Insights

Yikes. Donald Trump Loves Me. The Videos.

October 19, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

I Admit It. I Am Not Sure That My Donald Trump ‘Loves Me’ Endorsements Are Good For Me. Ever. However.

Months ago The Donald made a couple of video endorsements for me. One about my business development consultancy… “Levitan’s The Best”. And, one about my Advertising Stories podcast. Here is the podcast list.

To put it mildly, The Donald is a bit divisive. However, he cannot be ignored, and therefore at the time, I thought what the heck, if he is going to do a couple of personal non-political videos, why not let him. I won’t get political either (plus I am an Independent). My goal was and is to be Unignorable. So, here is a bit of borrowed interest just for you.

Oh, Mahatma Gandhi also endorsed me as well. I had visited one of his homes in Mumbai last January. Does Mr. Gandhi help me find the center – for you? I mean, who was EVER liked by both Gandhi and Trump? You can see Gandhi’s pitch for me here on my Contact page.

Ta Da, Donald Trump For Levitan’s Expertise. #1.

Ta Da, Donald Trump For Levitan’s Podcasts. #2.

A New Business Plan For An Advertising Agency

October 15, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

An Advertising Agency Business Plan Thought Starter.

Ten years ago I was the owner and CEO of Citrus, a Portland and Bend Oregon advertising and digital agency. Just so you get the picture, our clients included AOR work for Nike; the Montana Lottery; Harrah’s; Providence Health & Services (5 states), and lots more. As you will see below, I knew that we needed to change our approach to the business. We needed a new advertising agency business plan. A radical shift from what was starting to look like a way too traditional advertising agency business model. My team and I looked at different approaches and ultimately, I determined that I (that means me) did not want to make the required revisions. At that point, I decided to craft the agency for sale. I wrote about how I sold the agency in my 57-page PDF, “How To Sell An Advertising Agency.” Links to it are on this page.

2020. Is It Time For You To Invent A New Business Plan?

I talk to lots of advertising agencies. Many are looking very hard at how to reinvent their agency. This is driven by ongoing factors like waves of recessions; clients asking for more and more for less money; lower profits; unhappy and overworked staff and, of course, the results of the pandemic. I talked yesterday with a New York agency buddy that is shutting down his office, asking his landlord for rent concessions, and will go full-time virtual. He is not alone. Again, in many cases, the need for a new business plan is being forced on agency leaders. Being forced is OK. Not changing is not OK.

Back to my past as one model for the future.

10/12/10: Twas Time For A New Business Plan

Before I sold my Portland agency, I spent some time thinking through what a new, an evolutionary, a smarter, competitive, and higher profit advertising agency business plan might look like. Simply put, how could we make more money? This is what I was thinking a few years ago.

I think that my thought process at that time might help you think hard about your agency’s business plan.

A bit of background. Citrus was a successful Northwest agency. We had offices in Portland and Bend, Oregon. Our clients included Nike (we were an AOR agency for major league baseball and college sports); Oregon State Football, Harrah’s Las Vegas; Wildhorse (a large Oregon casino); the Montana Lottery; LegalZoom; a couple of major west coast banks and Providence Health and Services (a multi-state hospital and healthcare company) and a range of leisure accounts.

Background

I bought the majority share of Oregon’s full-service advertising agency Ralston Group in 2002. I had just left being CEO of ActiveBuddy, a serious natural language company that proceeded Siri and Alexa. It was time for me to get out of New York and get some fresh air. Over the course of the next 8 years, we bought Portland’s Citrus, renamed the agency, and grew our account base across the USA.

However, by 2008, after the horrible recession, clients driving down profits, the increase of workload from digital and social media, the increasing cost of running a marketing company (ala healthcare costs), I decided that we had to either reinvent the agency or I’d move on.

The Birth Of “Portland”

Ok, what should we do? I needed to reinvent the agency via a new advertising agency business plan to be more competitive; leaner; more nimble; lower cost; and NEW. As in, new and improved to get the attention of more of the high-profit clients we wanted.

Here is the document, the 2010 think-piece that I used to help guide me. I hope you find it, um, maybe inspiring.

My 2010 Plan – A New Agency Model: Food-For-Thought For Your Agency

Citrus needs to change.

The agency industry (especially full-service agencies) knows it must explore new business models. The old 15% commission + 16.5% mark-up is so long gone. Plus, we know that finding a way for clients to pay up for “big ideas” is difficult.

Within this context, clients are confronted by fast-paced changes, are skittish and are understaffed. Media options have grown exponentially, clients are asking for program metrics, they need smart digital solutions, can’t figure out how to manage integration and do not fully understand social marketing. They still want big ideas but want all of this for less. All of this is compounded by the view that “agencies” are costly and inefficient. Many prospects don’t even want to take our calls.

To further compound the issues, a sea of agency industry sameness and lack of clear brand and service differentiation confronts us. It is very difficult for small full-service agencies to stand out from the crowd. Defining a unique and focused agency brand for a non-specialist agency isn’t easy.

Citrus shares these issues and at present does not have a clear and compelling brand story. We have our “Move” positioning but we need to express this beyond just words.

There must be a new way.

An idea…Move To Small + Smart.

In my mind, a Small + Smart Citrus is the smartest customized agency in the world.

LONDON Advertising Kicks Ass

September 26, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

The LONDON Advertising Case Study

I’ve written a couple of blog posts about the LONDON Advertising self-run and crafted advertising campaign. I’ll put those links below.

My bottom line is that in the cutthroat world of advertising and digital agency business development, a critical goal should be to want to stand out. To be what I call Unignorable. These guys are Unignorable. And famous.

But, before looking at my prior posts, here is the video case study. Yes, that is me inside.

Strange, But True. An Advertising Agency Actually Likes Advertising

The LONDON program is an “interesting” story because, well, most advertising agencies do not advertise themselves. Why? Well, first many advertising and digital agencies do not have a well-crafted business development program (beyond WOM and referrals). Second, I’ll guess here, they might not actually think that “traditional” advertising works. Hey, I’m just guessing here.

Here is what I do know… advertising does work; even after 30 years of the growth of digital marketing, The good old fashioned TV commercial and out-of-home ad/poster/now digital still grab attention and sell. I can say this because I have done it all. And, I admit it. I started to invent digital advertising in 1995.

Earlier LONDON Advertising Blog Posts

Is Your Advertising Agency Famous And Unignorable

Does Your Advertising Agency Advertise Itself?

Want A List of The best Advertising Podcasts? Sure You Do.

Top Advertising And Design Awards

September 14, 2020 By Peter 3 Comments

A Lovely List Of The Top Advertising Awards

And deep thoughts on why you should even bother doing the advertising award game.

TA DA — A New 2020 Advertising Award: The Side Show

The Side Show is an award for — well, here is what they say:

We’re here to celebrate the side projects of those in the advertising industry. Side projects showcase another angle of ourselves, a side some rarely get to see, and we believe that side should be rewarded. We look forward to seeing you show off your bold, your whimsical, your unexpected, and your original sides. (Also: There’s insanely impressive judges & cash prizes. We may have ‘side’ in our name but diversity is our main focus.)

Submissions are due by October 9th at 11:59 PM, PST and are open for everyone from student to c-suite, creatives and non-creatives alike. Late submissions will not be accepted.

I like this idea. It is fresh, is more inclusive, and should help us to see some of the better work done outside of, well, people’s main work thing.

Next: You might want to listen to or come back to this Advertising Stories podcast – How To Win More Webby Awards.

This interview is with Matt Faulk, yup the guy that runs the Webby Awards’ actual ad agency. Plus… Matt’s agency = Basic = just happens to win more Webby Awards than anyone.

OK, the advertising award list also includes a few of my views on advertising awards objectives and strategies. It is mindblowing how many advertising agencies do not know how to enter an award show — to win.

Note: This advertising awards list gets updated. Let me know if I am missing an award.

Advertising Awards Are Good… But, Maybe Start Here: Why Enter Award Shows? Do You Have A Strategy?

Winning the right advertising awards is good for business and agency and client morale. Just make sure you know why you are entering. Too many agencies don’t approach the award process with a plan or objectives beyond the search for ego fulfillment. This can make the whole effort a bit too C R A Z Y. But, you know that. Or, do you? Go here to hear an advertising award judge on his less than optimal experience reading agency entries.

I have a memory about the power of awards from my first day at Saatchi & Saatchi London way back in the 1990s. I walked through the creative floor and noticed a tall glass case randomly stuffed with lots of creative trophies. This haphazard display delivered two messages: 1) Saatchi wins lots of awards and 2) they don’t take these too seriously. Of course, the second point was bull shit. Saatchi was always about looking like a winner and the award case proved that point in a cheeky manner. It worked better than the usual and obvious shelf of awards that sit behind the ad agency receptionist’s head.

I have always had mixed feelings about advertising awards. On one hand, they are, like winning an Academy Award, i.e. ridiculous. No one ad, digital program or actor is the “best.” On the other hand (the one with the wallet), they are way expensive. As an agency owner, I often cringed when a creative director came to me with his hand out asking us to spend hundreds on award entries.

However money aside, advertising awards have some very big advantages for agencies, clients, and creative-class workers:

The awards celebrate creativity itself. Creative strategies, art, copy and the media platforms that deliver the work.

They help our most talented people get noticed.

They help smart well-designed agencies get noticed by occasionally confused clients who need second party confirmation when selecting an agency. To me, this is a very important point and one that makes writing those increasingly expensive entry checks worth the cost. Awards should be a big part of an agency’s business development program – not just an ego stroker.

To put all of this go-for-it into context, I wrote about the Portland agency Pollinate a few years back that has done very well (!) by hammering Advertising Age’s Small Agency awards show. The blog post, “How To Win The Ad Age Small Agency Award? Twice?” is a demonstration of the value of entering and winning an award that has meaning for prospective clients because it is delivered via an industry-leading publication. Check it out.

Last point before the list. Award judges have told me that around 30% of agencies do not know how to create an entry that is designed to win. Poor copy, poor strategy, even typos. Many agencies rush through the process at the very last minute. Do you? Do you have an annual award plan? Who is in charge?

My 13 Favorite Advertising & Marketing Awards

How To Sell A Business

September 4, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

Want To Know How To Sell A Business? Many Want To Do That Right Now.

I Wrote The Book: ‘How To Sell Your Advertising Agency. And, How To Buy One.” It Is Built For Anyone That Wants To Sell A Business.

I wrote the free, yes free, 57-page “How To Sell Your Advertising Agency” book so you will learn how to add significant value to your advertising, digital, and I mean it, whatever kind of company you have. Do you want the book? Just ask me or subscribe below or to the side. Yes, even free has its cost. But, hey, just do it.

How To Sell A Business & How To Buy One.

I bought and sold three advertising agencies. I also had two VC backed Internet startups. I get it. Here is a start for you – The Why and how of my buying an agency in 2002. The deal is to really know why you want to buy or sell and what you will do after the deal.

I will post about the other deals very soon.

Deal Number One – 2002. From New York To Oregon.

This deal had multiple objectives. I wanted to leverage my deep advertising and digital skills + buy a successful advertising agency + move out of the New York area to much greener, mellower pastures. The deal I was looking for would meet both business and personal needs.

I bought the Bend, Oregon advertising agency Ralston Group in 2002. At that time, I was living in New York and had left the position of CEO and founder of ActiveBuddy, a highflying Internet startup. We had raised over $30 million from VCs and individual investors and had patented natural language technology (earlier than SIRI) that we used to create the incredibly successful Instant Messenger Bot, SmarterChild. It ran on AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo. That was our “sample” Bot that had millions of followers because people liked to talk to a smart computer. The business goal was to create natural language Bots for brands and media. These Bots allowed people to talk directly with brands and information resources. Interestingly, our first paying technology customer was Warner Records’ hot band Radiohead. I could not have invented a cooler market entry.

Our company goal, like many other dotcom boom companies, was to sell the company to one of the majors. We in fact had deep negotiations with all when the dotcom dam burst. To make a long story very short, I did not get my “fuck you” money from a sale. Oh, don’t worry about me. I actually came out OK. Microsoft bought our technology.

After the dotcom bust debacle, I started to look for a company to buy. As an ex-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising executive, owning an advertising agency was one of my options. I found Oregon’s Ralston Group though a classified ad in the Wall Street Journal – how 2002. Advertising in the WSJ was a smart move by Ralston Group’s owner. Here are the four main reasons I bought the agency.

The Ralston Group was a very smart and creative agency. Kevin, who would be my partner after I bought out the majority owner, was one of the best Creative Directors I had ever seen. The agency staff was also top notch. Without question equal to the talent I had worked with at Saatchi London.

The agency had a strong client list in Oregon and Idaho. Big community banks; major healthcare companies (hospital groups and Blue Cross); Sunriver Resort and Idaho Power and more. These clients came with recurring revenues. I knew that the addition of my Saatchi and digital startup background would help us grow.

The owner, who was looking to get on with her life after building the agency, was realistic in respect to agency valuation and – important to say – was easy to work with.

The agency was in the soon to be very famous Bend, Oregon. The idea of my wife and me raising our children near a ski mountain, rivers, fly fishing, mountain bike trails and, yes, even great restaurants and brewpubs, solidified the deal. We gladly gave up the usual two-month wait for a table at New York’s hottest new restaurant for 6,000 feet of fresh air.

Years later, I still view this as a very good business and personal deal.

Stay Tuned For More Stories On How To Buy Or Sell A Business. Plus More Expert M&A Podcast Interviews.

The next story will be about how I bought a design company that got me Nike as a major client. And after that one, how I sold my agency – and got lost in Mexico.

Oh, more… Here is a link to my podcast interview with a major M&A expert. You’ll hear how to sell – the details about how to do it that is.