Insights

You Are A Digital Agency

Peter · June 29, 2022 · Leave a Comment

I have been a major fan of Google Trends as an insight tool for eons. It plays a big role in my list of Advertising Agency Resources. In fact, I just used Trends to help me decide (I’ve been here before) if my target market (you) are an advertising agency or a digital agency. So, are you a digital agency or an advertising agency?

In the olden days, you were called an advertising agency because you were a business that helps clients create advertising programs. This was an all-inclusive term. In fact, you are still an advertising agency. But, you also have to take into account what a client is looking for. So using Google Trends, I have to say that it might be time to call your agency (yes an anachronistic term itself) a ‘digital agency’.

Why You Are A Digital Agency

First of all, these days all marketing services agencies (full service, experiential, PR, retail, mobile, TikTok, even out-of-home, etc.) are digital agencies. And, yes, they are also advertising agencies. So, rather than using my gut feel for what to call your agency, I went to (Ta-Da) Google Trends to help me answer the question. If your litmus test is to be what most clients are looking for, well you might just be a digital agency. Here is a chart to help you see what I mean.

Numbers Matter – Like Three Times!

According to Google, in the most recent period, there were three times the number of searches on the term ‘digital agency’ as there were for ‘advertising agency’.

So, you decide what to call yourself.

Of course, if you are an experiential agency then you’ll need to leverage that term as well – if you want to be found by a client looking specifically for an experiential agency. The same goes for a TikTok agency. How might I play this out? XYC Agency is a digital agency that specializes in TikTok advertising. Just get your SEO and credentials right.

An Above+Beyond Advertising Agency

Peter · June 10, 2022 · Leave a Comment

London’s Above+Beyond Advertising Agency And…

I woke up, I admit it with a bit of a hangover, and saw that London’s Above+Beyond advertising agency hired Shez Lord has joined as creative director to work on the Subway account. Not big news for me but always good for an advertising agency to get press even if just a typical Media Post News type of article.

I used the article as a spark to wake up my brain and to get me to look at the Above+Beyond website.

Things I Like About The Above+Beyond Website. A couple of quick takeaways:

Good Above+Beyond:

I dig the agency’s name. Above+Beyond works on a few levels. Not the least of which is that the name makes me think that these guys will run through walls for a client. Serice, good agency service, is what keeps clients in-house and offers a good angle for pitching and sales. It would be interesting to see how the agency leverages this promise.

I dig the opening statement: Audience Age Creativity For Ambitious Brands. I admit that it took me a couple of seconds to process the term “Audience Age”. However, once I got my fuzzy brain to think, I liked that Above+Beyond recognizes the power of the audience these days and positions the agency dead center in this evolving universe… Oh, and I’ve had personal experience with “ambitious”. I started in the agency business at New York’s largest ad agency — Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (later bought by Saatchi) which had Ambitious Advertising as its ‘motto’.

I like that the agency defines its clients as being ambitious. Most agencies do not define the clients that they want.

The ‘work’ is smart. The Sh*t Just Got Serious client has a nice story about connecting your bum to trees.

A new brand to fight deforestation, one 100% recycled loo-roll at a time.

Serious Tissues was named to insinuate the serious issues our world faces with the devastating effects of climate change. A world where we’re chopping down 27,000 trees a day just to wipe our arses. Literally flushing away 10m trees each year. The proposition was simple and distinct; for every one recycled toilet roll bought from Serious Tissues – one tree is planted.

Nice client list.

A Better Above+Beyond:

I don’t dig that the agency only uses video for its cases. I’d like to get to know the agency leaders… why not a video with them in it? A short but sweet chemistry-building video? Like… tell me who you are. And, why I should hire you vs the other ‘creative’ shop down the street.

I really could use some explanation surrounding the idea of “Audience Age”. Help me want to use the agency in this new world where the consumer rules (even more everyday). Audience-related strategic insights please. Even short and very sweet audience as in consumer interviews. I said short.

Ok, one more. These guys could do a better job of enticing me to make contact. Most agencies do a sh*ty job when it comes to their contact page. Above+Beyond, how about some love? And a hug.

Look at my Contact page.

I have an offer (as in Don Corleone); make contacting me easy and even have a testimonial from a couple of my clients and even even a video testimonial from my boy Mahatma Gandhi. Yes, Gandhi. I got my friend Gandhi to do the video because I am ambitious – like Above+Beyond’s favorite clients.

4A’s On Advertising Agency Pitching

Peter · June 7, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Some Sage Words From The 4A’s On Advertising Agency Pitching

Here is an interview on advertising agency pitching I did with Tom Finneran, EVP, Agency Management Services at the 4A’s. It’s one of many expert interviews in my book on advertising agency pitching. It comes from the perspective of the 4A’s, its work with hundreds of agencies, and with the ANA – the Association of National Advertisers.

By the way, I am updating the book. Stay tuned. Oh, why update it? Well, let’s just use one newish thing that has revolutionized pitching (to put it mildly) — virtual pitching.

I thought I’d add this interview to my blog for a few reasons. Some to help you and one big one for me.

Your agency’s pitch batting average will increase if you have a solid, smart, consistent pitch system.
You will win more pitches if you put yourself in the client’s shoes.
You should be aware of the 4A’s and ANA agency search guidelines. If fact, share this with the clients you pitch. Here’s a link to an Ad Age article on the guidelines.
You’ll help me because I want you to buy the book. It’s not because I make a lot of bucks from sales (although sales are robust and it is nice to get money from Amazon.) No, I want you to buy the book because many agencies that read the book, see that I actually know what I am talking about, and turn into my consultancy’s business development clients. Duh coming: Books help make people and even agencies look and sound like experts.

On To The 4A’s Interview That Will Help You Win More Pitches

Warning. This is a long interview. Long as in over 3,000 words. Read it if you want to win more new business.

Tom Finneran: EVP, Agency Management Services – The 4A’s

Tom Finneran leads the 4A’s Agency Management Services team, which provides industry guidance, member consultation, and benchmark information in the areas of new business, agency compensation, agency management, and operations.

Tom’s career includes extensive ad agency and advertiser financial management experience. He was executive Vice president/CFO at Jordan McGrath Case & Partners and Arnold McGrath Worldwide, a unit of Havas. He was also Executive Vice President/COO at Grey’s promotional unit, J. Brown/LMC.

PL: While there’s no one-size-fits-all pitch process, do you think that clients are running more professional pitches today than in the past?

Tom: What we consistently hear is that reviews have become less professional and efficient than in the past. This is important because, to a degree clients have taken in-house some of the review practices that have traditionally been managed by industry consultants who were more adept at running professional pitches.

In terms of the efficiency of reviews, some of the things that are less efficient than they should be are cattle calls. You’ll have clients who are not experienced at doing reviews, and they’ll send information requests to far more agencies than should be included in the initial list.

Some of the other inefficient processes are what I would refer to as RFPs from hell. Here is one example. About a year and a half ago, one of our members called irate about an RFP that had 300 questions. And I said, “You’ve got to be exaggerating. It couldn’t possibly have been 300 questions.” So the person said, “Wait a minute. Let me look at this.” Then she commented, “Okay. You got me, I exaggerated. It’s 293 questions.” So this was an RFP that a client-sourcing group used. The RFP was geared to soliciting responses from ingredient suppliers, research and development firms, and contractors of all types. And woven into the 293 questions were a few marketing-related questions that were kind of like packed in there.

PL: So are you seeing these kinds of issues primarily with larger clients or also medium-sized to smaller clients?

Tom: These tended to be from marketers who did not have dedicated, knowledgeable marketing procurement folks. They were taking people who could source corrugated materials and chemical components and things of that nature.

PL: Is there an agency size factor? Is it affecting your large and small 4A’s members?

Tom: It affects members both small and large. [Read more…] about 4A’s On Advertising Agency Pitching

An Optimized Search Engine Blog Strategy

Peter · May 22, 2022 · Leave a Comment

I started blogging in the early 2000s. I really cranked it up after I sold my advertising agency and became an advertising agency business development consultant. Below is a list of my blog posts. The subject matter of these hundreds of blog posts reflects my dedication to having an optimized search engine blog strategy. It worked.

My Optimized Search Engine Blog Strategy.

I am going to keep this easy. I could ramble on but these are the core elements of my blog strategy.

Understand your objectives. Mine is to entice advertising agency leadership to contact me about helping them develop an unignorable business development program. This has worked for me every week.
Understand and meet the needs of your market. You are writing for them. Example: My evergreen list that is just for advertising execs… Top Advertising and Design Awards.
Use all available SEO tools to help you determine trending subject matter and keywords. There are a bunch of tools listed on my advertising agency resources list.
Study your direct competition. What are they writing about? What are their best keywords?
Be consistent. As you can see, I have written, on average, over one post per week. In 2013 alone (when I wanted to really drive Google love), I wrote 188 blog posts.
Have your very own voice. Write with gusto,
Amplify the reach/frequency of your blog posts: post em on LinkedIn; use them in your agency’s email newsletter; send them directly to clients and prospects (even try paper), and on…
Go mega amplification. I am going to use some of these very best Levitan blog posts to form the basis of my new book.

OK – Here You Go… Levitan’s 750 Plus Blog Post Archive

An Advertising Agency Survival Guide

Peter · May 16, 2022 · 3 Comments

The Advertising Agency Survival Guide. 2022 “Recession” Version.

I am republishing and updating my pandemic Advertising Agency Survival Guide blog post. It was originally written in 2020 when we all realized that we were heading into some Covidland hell. At that time, The Association of National Advertisers, the ANA, passed the article along to its membership. Why am I modifying the article for 2022? Because I think (not alone here) that we are heading to some form of recession. Recessions are not great for advertising agencies as marketing is one of the first line items that clients cut from their budgets.

Note: While we are not sure if a recession is heading our way, we do know that company valuations are down and that is not a good thing for marketing budgets. The odds on their being that full-blown recession … This from Bloomberg.

The probability of a recession over the next 12 months is now 30%, the highest since 2020, according to the latest Bloomberg monthly survey of economists. That’s up slightly from 27.5% in April and double the odds economists predicted just three months ago.

This from ADWEEK on Sir Martin Sorrell:

S4 Capital issued its 2021 Annual Report this week and company executive chairman Martin Sorrell in his letter to shareholders strenuously sought to manage growth expectations given recent huge reversals on the macroeconomic front.

Sorrell said that events and circumstances have developed to create a “perfect storm” that will dampen the “strong bounce-back previously expected this year and over the horizon in 2023 the clouds look even darker.”

Sorrell noted that GDP forecasts have recently been cut by the IMF and others to 3.6% from 5% just six months ago. “Less robust economic growth is important as it’s one of the drivers of S4 Capital’s growth,” Sorrell cautioned.

At S4 Capital, Sorrell added, “we’ll trim our sails accordingly and won’t be blown off course. But navigation will as ever, be challenging.”

Tough Question. Will Your Advertising Agency Survive This New Recession?

Here is my educated take on how advertising agencies will survive the big dip and how they will make lifeforce happen. It is my take on an Advertising Agency Survival Guide.

Having gone through the 2007 – 2008 recession as an agency owner, I saw approximately one-third of advertising agencies shrivel. My current survival advice is based on my having navigated financial storms as well as recent deep conversations with small and medium-sized agencies. I did not choose to rush out these thoughts. I actually thought about my thoughts. LOL.

Plus, this article is not short and sweet. You will actually have to read all of it. OK, it is sweet.

Two Quick & Very Important Points.

How long will the shit-storm last? I am talking about the inevitable/impending reduction in client spending.

Like you, I have no clue when any semblance of normality will return. I have to assume it will. Plan accordingly.

Chamath Palihapitiya is one of my most respected “advisors”. He has said that companies should be able to adjust and make new plans to survive 36 months. 36! Yes.

He says, think like this is a form of depression. Whoa. Yikes. Are you ready?

This is what I do know… If you want to be in the top 1/3, you can’t lose all or even some marketing energy or brand awareness. Why make your voyage back to the land of happy clients too uphill?

You will get my marketing recommendations below. But first, the big question.

Will Your Advertising Agency Fail?

Here is what an advertising agency principle should be doing right now. I admit that this is generalized given the diversity of the types of advertising agencies. But generalized does not mean its not an effective how-to for virtually any agency.

First – Two Definitions

“Advertising Agency”: This is my universal term for most types of communications marketing firms.
“The Good Client”: A client is a company that has consistently used any form of advertising or digital marketing. In your case, it is a client that meets your target criteria (you have that, right) and you think would want to hire you.

OK, Advertising Agency… What Are You Going To Do About it?

I am going to be tough here. At least 30% of advertising agencies will fail or falter in the next twelve to eighteen months.

This post provides my take on how to survive. For the winners, how to set yourself up for growth.

6 Advertising Agency Pain Points – I Know You Know This. But, It Is Worth Restating.

Your current and future clients are starting to freak out. This goes from their business perspective (increases in consumer debt, lower spending by their B2C or B2B customers, that supply chain pain) and their own worries about their life savings.
Some current clients have already reduced or canceled advertising and project spend.
Growing agency profitability has been getting more difficult.
You could be too slow in managing your costs.
Agencies, too many, are already poorly positioned, do not stand out, and worse, are unbelievably ignorable.
Many prospective clients “probably” do not want to hear from you. Well, they might if you have the right messaging.

Advertising Agency Survival Guide Strategies

I know what I am talking about. I’ve won and lost. My advertising agency survived the 2007-2008 recession. My $30 million VC funded ActiveBuddy digital business did not survive the 2001 dot-com bust. Don’t feel bad for me, Microsoft eventually bought our technology.