Peter Levitan & Co.
The New Business of Advertising
Can it be surprising that celebrity endorsements can, and often, go South? Do we really know what our newest highly-paid celebrity endorser (FILL IN THE BLANK) does in his or her spare time? How do you vet this stuff?
ADWEAK Gets to the point once again… Imagine being in this room…
I grew up on the upper west side of Manhattan. Central Park was my backyard. After going to high school across the street from Lincoln Center, I went to college in Boston and San Francisco. I returned to NYC to go into advertising and spent my formative advertising years at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample and Saatchi.
In the early 90’s we shut down the agency at 1 PM. This was rather easy as we were in the pre-24/7-Internet days. We weren’t as ‘on-call’ as we are today when its all-on-all-the-time. When we left the office, we left. And, our clients knew it. And, because it was the olden days before they really squeezed the hell out of our margins, my clients didn’t seem to mind.
Thinking about half-day Fridays reminded me of the incredibly stressful mad dash to get out on the Long Island Expressway before 1:30 to try to beat the rush hour traffic to the Hamptons where I had a house. Every summer weekend started with the MEGA stress of getting out of town and ended with the stress of trying to get back in.
So, here’s to my NYC buddies. Me… I’ll take Portland Oregon. And, yes I have a guest room if you ever want to really take it easy.
I missed this video. You shouldn’t… cause her campaign needs a bit of (understatement coming) humor… as do we.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGPFLY7Zm80
Who Would Invest In Your Advertising Agency?
You are not alone. The vast majority of agencies are not worthy of investment. Would you invest in your competitors? Probably not.
OK, that’s them. What about you? Let’s solve this because a low-value agency to a prospective investor or buyer is a low-value agency to a prospective client. You are not alone if you are a me-too low-value agency. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory of the 2015 ad agency business model. The way out is to be different. Think you can’t do that?
Way back in 2013, I wrote about Bend, Oregon’s specialist ‘advertising agency’ G5. I wanted to show you, Ms. Agency CEO, that there are advertising agency business models that actually…:
Attract high-margin clients. These are clients that do not need to be mega pitched and really want to love your expertise.
Are more efficient than your project-based approach
Are trully category specific. This is G5’s laser-sharp pitch: “G5 simplifies digital marketing by delivering best-in-class sites, search, and social for Apartments, Self Storage, and Senior Living properties.”
Are unique in a world of me-too agencies.
Leverage the power of digital marketing tech to help client’s grow the agency’s bottom line.
And… increase agency valuations. You do want to sell someday, right?
Way back in 2013 you had to take my word for it. Not anymore. I was right. This kind of agency attracts clients and investment.
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And, yes, this post is kinda random. I’m just hanging out at my desk wondering if I want to work today. We are day something like 60 for mostly rain-free Portland Oregon. Crazy summer out here! It helps that we are America’s beer capital.
A friend turned me on to this video from YouTube Advertisers: Go Behind The Scenes with David Droga and Emily Anderson. Nice idea to get us thinking about how YouTube advertising isn’t same old same old TV. But, you know that so it’s unfortunate that this video tidbit doesn’t deliver any decent info or inspiration (sorry, David but TV pre-YouTube wasn’t a cul-de-sac for real creative folks. My late 80’s Saatchi teams won sweet awards for two broadcast clients that went way beyond your reference to Formula 1. Pleaaaase… the good old days were actually good and demanded the type of thinking you do today. Thinking big not start in 2005 when YouTube was born.)
But, the video did introduce me to Ogilvy’s Emily Anderson, which makes it all worth while. Watch the video and then read on.
Droga we know. Anderson? So, I dug in a bit and found a Creative Director who could have a super dream job of creating high-budget long-form content. And, the work and energy is damn good. Check out her CV website below.
After the work and personal energy, the thing I most dug is her URL: www.littleenglishgenius.com/ The English are much more cheeky than we are. They are also not afraid to promote themselves. If you are a genius, tell your clients. Droga and Anderson do that. Trump does that. Just like the American electorate, clients are a bit short of time and need to have YOU tell them that you are a genius. Just tell them that – they want to hear it. Yes, I am a genius too.
It’s summer so go visit Emily’s Montauk. Note, you won’t have to screw around with combat L.I.E. traffic to get there.