Insights

6 Social Media Tools To Spy On Droga5 and Ogilvy

Peter · April 6, 2015 · 1 Comment

How To Use Social Media Tools To Spy On Droga5 and Ogilvy

I admit it. I put the powerful word ‘spy’ and the agencies Droga5 and Ogilvy in the headline to get your attention. Droga5 and Ogilvy are rather famous so the use of their names should get me some extra views from agencies that are interested in having a better understanding of these industry leaders.

I’ll use them as examples of how you can use some social media tools to spy on any agency competitor or even your perspective clients. I found these tools while building out my advice to my agency clients on how they can create a smarter, more effective blog strategy. An obvious point is coming.

Understanding what keywords, blog subjects, and Tweets are working for other agencies (and prospective clients) will help you write and market blog posts that will work harder to drive traffic back to your website.

To understand what will social media tactics will work for you, it is a good idea to look at what currently works for your competition. To get there, I use a couple of primarily free tools. Most of these tools have a more robust paid version. Dig in. [Read more…] about 6 Social Media Tools To Spy On Droga5 and Ogilvy

How To Aim Your Ad Agency Business Development Director

Peter · April 4, 2015 · Leave a Comment

The Ad Agency Business Development Director: How To Get Past Wishful Thinking

The awful “Death of a Salesman” image at the left means two things: The salesman is dying and his company’s sales program is probably heading towards a death spiral as well. Advertising agencies should not want to go in this direction. However, many agency sales programs are spiraling — or, are at best just static.

The way out is to have a very smart business development plan (crazy fact coming: most agencies do not have one) and, in many cases, a well-focused sales professional leading the way. Here is a path to get there.

First: The Business Development Plan

Start here.

You cannot win at new business if you do not have a business development plan. I’ve written about how to develop a business development plan here – “How to Build A Winning Advertising Agency New Business Program.” Warning… it is over 2,000 words. Another warning, as of today, it has been read over 6,350 times and there is a decent chance that one of your agency competitors has read it.

Next: The Business Development Director

I am asked a few times a month about how to establish and manage the role of the ad agency business development director. I was one (at Saatchi & Saatchi New York and London) and had them working for me at my own agency and two Internet start-ups.

Most agency leaders hope and pray that they will find the right sales leader and then sit back and watch the right leads role in. Sorry, it simply isn’t that easy. Sales management is hard work.

I wrote about biz dev director position and interviewed Brooks Gilley of 52LTD (a leading creative and agency staffing firm) here – “Is Your Advertising Agency Business Development Director Doomed?”

Doomed? Why was I so down… Well, most ad agency business development directors fail. Most!

They fail for a couple of key reasons.

Your agency does not have a business development plan.
If you have a plan, you do not make running it an agency priority (you’ll wait until you lose that large client to get to it.)
You do not have a sales-oriented sales compensation plan (see below.)

And, from my “doomed” blog post:

Yes, wouldn’t it be nice to have a business development director that brought in more business for your advertising agency than you can handle. But is your business development director doomed from the start?

He could be if you do not have agency objectives, a competitive agency brand positioning, something to sell beyond, “Hey we are a full-service / digital / social media agency”, a list of clients and categories you want to nail, an active up-to-date CRM system and you are not in a state of panic because you just lost your largest client and are freaked out.

Next: The Business Development Director Compensation Plan

The Business Development Director offer letter below – which is essentially a ‘sales map’ – was used by my Oregon advertising agency Citrus from 2002 through 2009. It worked, we had a solid business devopment program that helped us grow regionally and nationally. After selling the agency and becoming a new business consultant, I have shared the offer letter with my advertising agency and corporate clients. It is an excellent template that you can modify to meet your specific needs.

To win, a Business Development Director and the sales staff, for that matter, must be guided by a commission plan that creates a win-win scenario for the sales team and company. If the plan does not direct the sales person and align with your corporate sales objectives, the chances are mighty fine that your team will not find their way to the sales goals you are looking for.

This sounds obvious, right? However, most agencies do not have clear quantifiable objectives and incentives. Agencies are not alone. I recently discussed the role of sales with sales people from two major San Francisco SaaS software companies. I was surprised to find out that that these folks were a bit unsure of how their goals meshed with that of their company. Frankly, this has to be crystal clear. The offer letter is a great way to start to deliver this alignment from Day One… and it makes it very clear what SUCCESS means to your agency and… your sales team. Frankly, for many agencies this as critical a goal as it gets.

Here you go. Use it as a blueprint. Modify it to meet your agency’s goals, culture and our ever-changing ad, design and digital agency universe.

The Advertising Agency Business Development Director Agreement (A Sample For Your Agency) [Read more…] about How To Aim Your Ad Agency Business Development Director

Ad Agency New Business Conferences

Peter · April 3, 2015 · Leave a Comment

I am going to be speaking about ad agency new business, how to attract the attention of the right clients and how to win the pitch at a couple of ad agency new business conferences.

I’ll be in Miami in late April for AHAA’s annual conference. AHAA is the association of Hispanic ad agencies.

I’ll head north in May to speak to the membership of Canada’s ICA, the Institute of Advertising Agencies.

This Conference Is For You

I’ll be a speaker at Michael Gass’s Fuel Lines New Business Conference 2015 in Nashville in October. Michael has assembled a fine cast of speakers that will, without question, spark business building ideas and, more importantly, action plans.

Registration is now open and there is an early bird deal. As the website says, “Super Early Tickets are available for $650 until May 1st, a $300 savings!.’ from this link:

The conference website… Scroll down on that site to see the venue (very cool) and speakers.

Agenda

Inspiring insights, top-notch sessions from the best and brightest new business thought leaders with a laser focus on the NEW drivers of business development. It’s now more important to be found than to chase new business.

Who Should Attend

This premiere two-day conference will include everything needed to create new business success for advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

If you are charged with developing a new business program for your agency, this conference is for you.

For a more personal experience, the conference is limited to the first 200 registrants. This will allow for greater access to speakers, sponsors, partners, networking opportunities and a greater sense of community.

I hope to see you in the land of bourbon.

Fame and Advertising Agency Business Development

Peter · March 31, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Fame For Advertising Agency Business Development

I have an objective that I give to all of my advertising agency clients. I tell them that they need to include FAME as an agency marketing objective. My primary point is that in a universe of 4,000 agency brands in the USA and possibly dozens in their home town, standing out from the clutter is an essential goal. Sounds obvious, right? However, most agencies do not actually have FAME as an objective. Or, maybe more to the point, they don’t actually work hard to be famous.

I put David Ogilvy’s’s photo on the left because he just might be the most famous man in the history of advertising. He worked it. In addition to founding one of the world’s most well-known agencies, he wrote three seminal advertising books that propelled his FAME: “Confessions of an Advertising Man” (1963), “Blood, Brains and Beer” (1978), and “Ogilvy on Advertising” (1983). These books formed the platform for his agency’s thinking and awareness. This is an important point. I’ll come back to it.

What is Fame?

Google defines fame as, “the condition of being known or talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements.”

Known and talked about. Interesting, right? One of those easier said than done things. But, I can virtually guarantee you that if you do not make fame an agency objective, chances are you will not get there. [Read more…] about Fame and Advertising Agency Business Development

Is (Was) Advertising Cool? Yes, Said Mad Men

Peter · March 30, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Mad Men – RIP.

We are about to see the last episodes of Mad Men. What a ride – especially for advertising folks.

The very last days of the show and its era synced with the first days of my advertising career so I got to work with people like Don, Peggy, and Roger.

Stay with me on this one. Yes, it will sound a bit all-about-me. But, there is a point at the end.

I joined, Dancer Fitgerald Sample (DFS), the largest agency in New York, as an AAE on the General Mills account in 1980. So, just for the hell of it… what was that period like for for an ad guy newbie?:

I felt like a superstar. I got to work at New York’s largest ad agency. In those days, advertising had today’s Internet startup vibes.
It was a really cool way to earn a living. Imagine the alternatives.
I worked with really, really smart and talented people.
My bosses were named: Sheffield Halsey, Michael Jeary, Robert L. Ficks III, Marion D. (Skip) Sims and E. Freeman Bunn. They looked like the Mad Men guys. It was fun to be the ‘token Jew’ in the land of WASP’s.
DFS taught me about the value of strategy and consumer research.
The agency has serious clients like P&G, Toyota, Nabisco, Yoplait, Wrangler, HP and made great ads like Wendy’s ‘Where’s the beef?’
DFS was the ‘Agency Of The Year.’
I got go to work in the art deco Chrysler Building. A fucking brilliant way to start the day.
Our corporate culture was benevolent.
Our mantra was: ‘Ambitious Advertising’.
Our most senior clients valued powerful advertising.
We won 90% of our new business pitches. That’s how I learned to pitch.
I got to dress up in great suits and ties. Note: I grew up in Manhattan, so looking good was part of my ethos.
Everyone was good looking.
By my third year, I was flying around the world.
Yes, we drank and many snorted coke. It was, after all, the 1980’s.
In the late 1980’s we were bought by Saatchi & Saatchi.
The purchase allowed me to move to our London office – our creative epicenter – in 1990. There were English Dons, Peggys and Rogers over there too. They just drank much more red wine.

Fuck yeah.

That’s why I dig Mad Men.

It was both real (I witnessed their era) and the show did a decent job, well sort of, showing the ad-man lifestyle. We were very much about being very creative. Not…

…programmatic buying drones.

Which brings me to a final point. I’d love to see us bring back the sexy bits. I fear that pixels and apps are simply not as much fun as my favorite Northwest Airlines shoot which spanned Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Ah, 1980’s expense accounts (and the profits from the 15% commission.)

OK, last point.

I didn’t totally mean what I just said about the ‘good old days’. I believe that given the complexities of today’s analog and digital advertising world… today can be the most exciting time to be in marketing. Just don’t forget to stop, take a breath and have a drink and toast Matthew Weiner.

Advertising, digital, social still has the coolest people to down a beer with.