Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

Insights

Me-Too Boring Ad Agencies and The Harlem Shake

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AdAge writes,

A staggering 60 agencies –and counting– have already put their own spin on the Internet phenomenon, according to a Tumblr that’s been set up just to collect examples, called “Harlem Shake Agency.”  So far there have been videos by shops including TBWA Paris, Grey Moscow, DDBBarcelona and M&C Saatchi Johannesburg — evidence, clearly, that the meme has gone international.

No, sorry… its about the paucity of advertising originality. OK, its fun. But, this is an industry where agencies should be talking up real creativity not me-too creativity. 60 agencies doing the same thing… and promoting it???

From the ever entertaining Ad Contrarian,

Slaves To Trendiness

Take a look through any agency website and you’re sure to read about how innovative they are. They do things differently. They have a unique perspective.Spend time at these agencies, on the other hand, and you’re sure to find out how absurdly derivative and slavishly trendy they are.According to AdAge no fewer than 60 agencies have so far posted videos of their staff doing the Harlem Shake.Not only are agency cretins posting Harlem Shake videos, but so are advertising “educational” institutions like the Miami Ad School and the VCU Brandcenter. If that’s not enough for you, so have Pepsi, A&W, Chili’s, Google, and Facebook.

I guess one of the positive things about the web is that the life cycle of these memes is so short that by the time these dimwits have posted these monstrosities they are already past their sell-by.

 

Smart Email Marketing For Ad Agency New Business

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Two emails hit my desk this morning and they both “sell” the idea that good old-fashioned email marketing still works.

The first was an email from MarketingSherpa promoting their new “2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Report.” My key takeaway is that email marketing continues to have a high ROI for both business and consumer marketing when used to reach and convert a business’s house list. As we all get lost in the social media weeds, we need to remember that email not only works but also can be easily tracked and analyzed. I love reading the real-time stats from an effective email campaign. Who opened the email, who read it, who clicked on and so forth. Here is one of the core charts from the report showing the relative strength of email. Frankly, this isn’t surprising but it should reinforce our decision to use email.

Email Marketing Rates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other email I received was from Portland’s HMH Advertising (with an east coast office in Charlotte, NC.) The email promotes a new campaign for its Montana Lottery client.

HMH deftly uses email marketing to promote one big agency idea. It is a great example of Keep It Simple Stupid. In fact, they call the email series One Idea. It is a simple, direct, informative monthly sales tool sent to the agency’s existing and prospective clients.

HMH Email One Idea

This email acts as an announcement of new work, strategic thinking and acts as an example of how the agency knows how to leverage the power of email.

The email clicks through to a dedicated campaign website that shows the TV commercial and the integration of other media including digital, radio, outdoor and a promotional video of the $1 million winner. A man of many words.

 

Digital or Traditional Ad Agency: Choose One?

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I don’t think I need to add many words to what the these two charts from eMarketer tell us. It’s sort of pick one for your digital or advertising agency’s future.

OK, maybe you don’t have to freak out and choose one direction today but imagine what your agency could look like in 3 years if you sit still.

I’d bet on mobile and would get started ASAP. This space is young and it isn’t too late. It sure dosen’t look like many agencies have mobile figured out yet.

eMarketer marketing strategies 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eMarketer marketing strategies increase 2013

Advertising Agency New Business: Instagram

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My earlier post, “From Traditional To Digital To Integrated To Social To Instagram”, on the advertising blog AdPulp took a look at the New York agency The Mobile Media Lab. As I noted in the post, this agency describes themselves as… “The Mobile Media Lab is a creative agency that produces customized visual experiences with brands and their audiences on Instagram and other social media channels.”

Here is an agency that isn’t worried about finding a niche and owning it. They are not trying to be everything to everybody. Their visual marketing specialty has netted them some famous clients including Evian, Puma, Samsung and W Hotels. Accounts most agencies would love to have. Accounts that a “full-service” Boston agency might have some trouble winning.

Clearly, Mobile Media Lab successfully tapped into a growing marketing area where big-name clients want expertise.

instagram

When I’ve discussed the visual marketing specialty with agency colleagues, they expressed concerns about The Mobile Media Lab’s narrow focus and limitation of tools like Instagram. I have a different perspective. Yes, visual marketing is a tightly focused approach. But, the use of Instagram and Pinterest is skyrocketing and why couldn’t even a large “full-service” agency build a micro-group around niche visual marketing to get new business interest? Just like The Mobile Media lab, another agency just might get the attention of brands that would have never given them a look. Visual marketing is something that can be pitched and should generate interest from sophisticated clients.

Is there any reason that you couldn’t take a niche play to quickly become an expert in a new marketing category? Advertising agency niche markting could be your ticket into the national marketing arena. I’ll soon write about some of the other niches that can be exploited.