Insights

What Is Communications Arts Magazine?

Peter · November 2, 2023 · Leave a Comment

HUH! What Is Communications Arts Magazine?

A small SEM advertising company in Chicago just asked me — “What Is Communications Arts Magazine?”

I’m like, HUH! This has been the creative bible for decades. OK, an answer…

I will answer in two ways. Here is what Communications Arts Magazine says about itself:

Communication Arts is the largest international trade journal of visual communication. Founded in 1959 by Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard, the magazine’s coverage includes graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration, typography and interactive media.

Most recent issue: November/December 2023 — Advertising Annual | 64 — Features the award-winning projects from our 64th Annual Advertising Competition, plus in-depth profiles of Brooklyn-based design firm &Walsh and Toronto-based photographer Mathew Guido and articles on advertising. This is one issue that all creative professionals won’t want to miss!

Buy it. Do yourself a favor.

And, Ta Da… I am In It. My new advertising agency book is in their recommended reading section. Page 13.

Quickie side note. Communications Arts Magazine is mentioned in my brilliant article on advertising awards (the most viewed page on my website right now.) Winning the right awards (by using a strategic approach to award selection and entry application) gets your agency attention and helps clients make decisions to call you because a trusted third-party loves you. Clients need help in making agency selection decision.

Buy the magazine. It is the best creative advertising magazine. Period. That’s why it is called Communications Arts magazine. They mean it.

After my looooong advertising career road, I just had my book, How to Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency – highlighted in the magazine. Very cool.

Ten Important Questions For Your Advertising Agency

Peter · October 31, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Ten Questions Every Advertising and Digital Agency Has to Answerer to Lead the Market

**But First… Some Pain. The Why I Wrote: Ten Important Questions For Your Advertising Agency**

There is a high degree of fear, doubt, and uncertainty in the Advertising Industry. According to the 2023 RSW/US New Business Report:

“This year (2023), 58% of agencies report obtaining new business has been harder, or a lot harder, compared to the previous year.”

“38% of agencies said the number of opportunities for new business decreased this year, versus 26% last year.”

As an ex-agency owner and the Director of Global Business Development at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide, I know these facts are insane and worrying.

Frankly, only kick-ass agencies will survive.

Here Are Ten Questions (and Thoughts) That Will Kick-Start Your Agency’s Success.

These are food for thought. This is where I start with my advertising agency consultation clients.

Do You Update Your Business Plan? How hard do you look at and possibly adjust your business plan? How will you generate maximum revenues and profits moving forward? Do you adjust? Do you understand your Total Addressable Market (TAM)? I have a one-page business plan guide in my book, “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency.”
Have You Defined Your advertising agency positioning? This is a tough and hard look at your primary brand proposition. Stand out. be clear. Be compelling. Be an expert. Expert agencies win more clients and get bought faster.
Do You Have a Competitive ++ Sales Oriented Website? This is one of the first places that anyone sees your agency. How do you rank vs. your competition? What do you say (fast!) that will get a prospect to pay attention and want to dig in? In many cases, you only have around five seconds to make me pay attention, decide you are right for me, and stick around vs. the other 3,999 advertising, digital, etc. agency websites. Your website is a sales tool. Sell!
Is Your Business Development Plan A Winner? How have you managed your plan over the past year? My blog has 850+ blog posts discussing how to market your agency. Plus, I’ve written two advertising agency “guide” books just for you on this rather critical
Have You Perfected Account-Based Marketing? You do this, right? If so, how? I am blown away by the number of new, smart, easy-to-use AI-based marketing tools designed to energize and streamline your marketing. Ask me about them.
Are You a Thought Leader? Are you an active and efficient thinker, blogger, LinkedIn guru, or podcaster? How do you look on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok? Are you perceived as a category thought leader? What do your analytics tell you?
What Is Your ‘findable’ quotient: Can I find your advertising agency if I search for you or your expertise? You should be everywhere I might search for you. Your competition will probably be there.
How Is the Client List? Does your client list look powerful to an outsider? Do you know how to position your client list for business development? Do one or two clients account for too high a percentage of your revenues? If so, go out and get new clients. And love the one you are with.
Got Intellectual property? Do you have any IP? Something that will differentiate and add sustainable value to your agency? You can do this. I know how to make this happen by hyping your current client-facing systems and licensing white-label tools.
Do You Manage Your Creative Vibe? How does your creativity stack up, and how do you prove it? I am talking about the vibe of your creative ideas, use of media, and just plain methodology to help clients stand out.

One More BIG One. Man Bites Dog.

Is your agency, as in, for example, #digitalagency Unignorable? If you are, um, ignorable, you will not win. It is that simple. I concentrate on how to make agencies UNIGNORABLE.

Dog bites man, isn’t unignorable. Man bites dog is. What is your breakout message?

Here It Comes – An Unignorable Offer

Take me up on my free Godfather offer. This is an offer you can’t—or rather, shouldn’t—refuse.

Need a starting point? Let’s talk for 15 minutes—just 0.25 on the timesheet— to discuss your agency’s issues & opportunities and how I will help you build a more powerful advertising agency business development program. You will leave the call with at least one powerful business development idea. I guarantee it.

Here is my calendar: www.calendly.com/peterlevitan

Using ChatGPT And Grammarly For Blogging

Peter · October 23, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Yes, I Am Using ChatGPT And Grammarly For Blogging

I wanted to see how ChatGPT and Grammarly would work for me to have them help write a summary of my book, “The Levitan Pitch: Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.” The bottom line is that ChatGPT and Grammarly for blogging — works.

A simple process: I prompted ChatGPT-4 to summarize the book and then loaded it into Grammarly to check for any lingo improvements and to detect any ‘plagiarism.’ I then rewrote elements for clarity and to use my own voice and style, and here you go.

By the way, buy this best seller (aren’t all books best sellers LOL???). In this case its true. OK, onto ChatGPT and Grammarly for blogging.

“The Levitan Pitch: Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.” by Peter Levitan is a guide for advertising agencies of all types to understand and refine the art of pitching to clients. While I can’t reproduce the entire book, I can provide a high-level summary of its key points and takeaways:

Importance of Pitching: Levitan stresses that the pitch is the moment of truth for agencies. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work and is the point where the agency can make or break a potential business opportunity. He also stress that agencies DO NOT pitch everything. have a strategy and a set of criteria for who to go after.
Understanding the Client: Before making a pitch, it’s crucial to understand the client’s business, their needs, their customers, and their industry landscape. This deep understanding will enable you to tailor your pitch to be more effective and resonate with the client. Please, do the research. Determine the client’s pain points and make sure you understand their FUD – fears, uncertainties and doubts.
Differentiation: With many agencies vying for the same client, differentiation is key. Levitan suggests that agencies find their unique selling proposition (USP) and communicate it effectively to stand out from the competition. Be unignorable!!!!
Pitch Team Selection: Only some are great pitchers, and that’s okay. Selecting a pitch team based on strengths, presentation skills, and compatibility with the client’s team is essential. Plus, train your pitchers all year long. Not the day before.
Preparation and Practice: The best pitches are not impromptu; they are the result of thorough preparation and practice. This ensures that the presentation goes smoothly and that all potential questions or concerns from the client can be addressed. Practice. Please.
Engagement and Storytelling: The way information is presented can make a huge difference. Engaging the client through storytelling, providing relevant examples, and drawing them into a vision of a successful partnership can be very effective.
Handling Objections: It’s not uncommon for clients to have reservations or objections. Levitan provides strategies for addressing these concerns gracefully and turning potential weaknesses into strengths.
Closing the Deal: The final steps in a pitch are crucial. Levitan offers techniques for sealing the deal and ensuring that the client feels confident in their decision to work with your agency.
Post-Pitch Analysis: After the pitch, it’s beneficial to analyze what went well and what could have been done better. This reflection will lead to continuous improvement and more successful pitches in the future. I always made a deal with the clients i pitched… they had to give me post pitch feedback.
Real-world Examples: Throughout the book, Levitan draws from his vast experience in the advertising world, providing real-world examples, anecdotes, and case studies to illustrate his points.
In essence, “The Levitan Pitch” is a comprehensive guide for agencies to refine their pitching process, from understanding the client’s needs to effectively closing the deal. Levitan’s insights, drawn from decades of experience, offer valuable advice for both new and seasoned agencies looking to win more business.

So, do you agree???? Was my using ChatGPT and Grammarly for blogging a good idea?

Oh, have you bought my new book yet? — “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency”

Grow Advertising Agency Business Development

Peter · October 22, 2023 · Leave a Comment

A Faster Way To Grow Advertising Agency Business Development

Your marketing agency must have a need for speed. According to RSW/US’s 2023 advertising agency business development report, you better learn how to stand out fast if you want to grow and should not ignore Peter Levitan’s kick-ass advertising agency business development actions.

This year (2023) 58% of agencies report obtaining new business has been harder, or a lot harder, compared to the previous year. As seen in our graph, that’s creeping closer to 2020 levels at 67%, when we faced lockdowns, budget freezes, and overall extreme uncertainty.

The Way Forward Is… Leveraging FUD To Grab Attention

Think Purple Cow. Think Seth Godin. Think about being unignorable. Don’t be shy. I advise all of my advertising agency business development clients that they need to capture the attention of their future clients. Leverage business pain points and even FUD – Fear + Uncertainty + Doubt. A way to do that is to do some easy to do custom research. Call me to find out how.

For Now… Here Is My Take On Godin’s Super 2003 Best Seller “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable” and, YUP…. Grow Advertising Agency Business Development Success

“Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable” by Seth Godin presented a groundbreaking perspective on modern marketing. Here’s a brief summary of the book’s key points:

The Purple Cow Analogy: In a field of brown cows (think about your 4,000 competitors), a purple cow stands out. Similarly, in a market flooded with products and services, being “remarkable” (like a purple cow) is the only way to truly stand out.
The Old Marketing Paradigm is Broken: Advertising methods (like TV commercials – today even SEO) are becoming less effective due to over-saturation. People are good at ignoring ordinary products and boring ads.
The New P’s of Marketing: Godin suggested a revised set of P’s for marketing: Purple Cow, Permission, Peer Pressure, Paranoia, Persistence, Placebo, Personalization, People like us, and Perceived Value.
Safety is Risky: Playing it safe and creating average products and messaging for average people is a risky strategy. It’s better to take calculated risks to create something truly unique and remarkable.
Target the Innovators and Early Adopters: Rather than trying to market to everyone, focus on the audience segment that’s most likely to try new things and spread the word – i.e., the clients you want.
Word of Mouth is Powerful: Remarkable products and services get talked about. Creating something worth talking about can lead to exponential growth via word of mouth.
Create and Spread Ideas: The goal should be to create ideas that spread. If an idea spreads, it’s because people like it, believe in it, and share it. your custom research will help.
Be Genuine: Consumers and client types can detect inauthenticity. It’s essential to genuinely be remarkable and not just create a facade.
Embrace Criticism: Remarkable ideas often get criticized. Instead of fearing criticism, see it as evidence that you’re breaking norms and standing out.
The Lifecycle of a Purple Cow: Once a service and a product becomes popular and mainstream, it loses its “remarkableness.” Brands need to keep innovating to stay relevant and remarkable.

In essence, GO: “Purple Cow” Buy it now! …Challenges businesses to stop focusing solely on standard B2B marketing. In a cluttered marketplace, only the remarkable advertising, digital, etc. agencies stand out, get talked about, and succeed in the long run.

Oh, Yeah: BUY My Books. Stand Out. They Will Tell You: How To Grow Advertising Agency Business Development

Smart Advertising Agency Lead Generation

Peter · October 14, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Unignorable Marketing Program Delivers A Smart Advertising Agency Lead Generation System

This is a thought starter for how to deliver on and support the promise that your advertising agency can make a client, its services, or its products unignorable. Deliver an unignorable message to develop a smart advertising agency lead generation system.

To prove your point and demonstrate your unignorable belief system your advertising agency will need to think about how to express its own marketing messaging in an unignorable way. Your advertising agency will need to tailor its promise based on its own skills and history.

You have to walk the talk.

Now, consider this…

“My brain is full.”

It is common knowledge that we are bombarded by 24/7 news, social media content, incoming alerts, messaging and emails, digital notifications, and multiple forms of advertising every day. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people and brands and sales messages want our attention.

“My brain forgets”

Even worse than message bombardment is the fact that we can hardly even remember the messages that we want to remember. Neuroscientists tell us that, at best, 90% of what we hear and see will be forgotten. These scientists have even invented the Forgetting Curve chart to help us to visualize how much does not sink in.

Marketing clients understand the high cost of this cognitive problem and are looking for marketing techniques, systems, platforms, and efficient solutions that help deliver sales messages that get noticed and are memorable. These clients are looking for marketing communications agencies that can offer marketing that cannot be ignored.

I call it getting to being Unignorable.

Unignorable delivers smart advertising agency lead generation.

What is the definition of Unignorable? The online dictionary Merriam–Webster defines “Unignorable” as being – unable to be ignored: not ignorable.

According to me, the opposite of being Unignorable is to be ignored. Being ignored is a marketing disaster. A waste of everyone’s time and money.

Your Advertising Agency’s Must-Do Approach to Delivering Unignorable Marketing.

OK. How to express your advertising agency’s solution to current and future clients? [Read more…] about Smart Advertising Agency Lead Generation