Insights

Another Photo Side Of Vietnam: Apocalypse Now

Peter · December 4, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Saigon’s Apocalypse Now

My first couple of photos were tame. Kids having fun.

American buddies told me that I had to check out two clubs while in Saigon. One was Tuesday ‘ladies’ night at Lush (turn your sound on). My take… I could have been everyone’s dad, the sound was deafening (and I am not kidding), conversation was out of the question, strobes provided the only light, the Vietnamese and western women and men were all hot… you get the idea.

The other was Apocalypse Now. From Lonely Planet:

Others have come and gone, but ‘Apo’ has been around since the early days and remains one of the must-visit clubs. A sprawling place with a big dance floor and an outdoor courtyard for cooling off, it’s quite a circus, with a cast comprising travelers, expats, Vietnamese movers and shakers, plus the odd hooker (some odder than others). The music is thumping and it’s apocalyptically rowdy.

I went early hoping to snag some discrete photos. I made friends with a couple of the waiters, one dug my Fuji X100S (a great camera), that I was shooting in B&W and told me that I could bypass the no-photo rule for five minutes. Here are a couple of shots. Not yet processed but I’ll put them up now cause I am killing some time before heading back to Hanoi. By the way, I have been all over SE Asia and I highly recommend a trip to Vietnam. The people are wonderful.

The photo on the bottom is more like real life here than the club scene.

The Vietnamese Advertising Scene

Oh, yeah, this is a blog about advertising.

I visited a couple of advertising / social agencies in Saigon. Vietnam is a major growth market. I’ll be writing about my impressions soon.

Are You More About ‘Likes’ than Being ‘Liked’? PR Master Peter Shankman Lays It Out.

Peter · November 24, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Some Thoughts On Social Media and Real Life ‘Liked’ Vs. ‘Likes’ From PR Master Peter Shankman

I spoke at HubSpot’s enormous Inbound 2014 conference in September. This was without question the largest advertising conference I’ve attended. It consumed the entire Boston convention center. I was told that there were around 7,000 people attending. The draw was Hubspot’s leadership in inbound marketing and a fantastic list of speakers.

I had two favorite moments. One was a ‘comedy central’ (and insightful) monologue and the other was, yes, about me and how I wrote my new book from idea to published in just 6 months.

1 – An Interview With Peter Shankman – The Funniest Man In Marketing

PR master Peter Shankman was one of the most insightful speakers at Inbound 2014. Peter drove a large audience of marketers and advertising agency types into fits of hysteria during his 45-minute talk about being a smart (and nice) marketer. His staccato monologue was all stand-up and included only one slide. It was a rare PowerPoint-free and very funny experience. I hope that HubSpot puts the talk up on its website soon.

Peter discussed the marketing power of good customer service and how he built the online PR tool HARO and sold it 3 years after launch. Most businesses and, in the case of the marketing-oriented Inbound audience, advertising agencies dream of creating a service or product that can be sold. He did it.

Peter’s latest book, “Zombie Loyalists”, will be out in January. In the meantime, visit the book’s website.

Peter, tell me a bit about your Inbound talk.

It was a lot of fun. A smart marketing audience like that hears a lot of about social and metrics, scale and analytics, but to be able to talk to them a little bit about the basics of customer service and being nicer to your audience and how that actually generates more revenue than almost everything else combined is a lot of fun. I love being able to share that insight.

You’re saying that just being nice is a forgotten marketing tool?

Hanoi A Bit Younger – One Year Ahead Of College Graduation

Peter · November 22, 2014 · 1 Comment

One year ahead of college graduation. Kinda of a wild scene at a temple.

Yes, boys will be boys and…

I Am In Hanoi

Peter · November 19, 2014 · Leave a Comment

I am going to write more on this experience but here is one photo I took yesterday just to whet your appetite.

Why I Guest Post On Agency Post

Peter · November 13, 2014 · 2 Comments

Guest Post On Agency Post For Fun and Profit

A post on today’s Agency Post blog got me thinking about the value of guest posting for ad agency new business. In fact, I’ve written on this subject before.

Here: 2 New Levitan Guest Posts on Agency Post and Advertising Week

And, here: Thanks To HubSpot, Ad Contrarian & Advertising Week

Once again, my relationship with Agency Post nets me awareness via my posts to their large and growing audience. Here is a post from Agency Post that includes a quote and shoutout from them about me. This one is about why I think that advertising agencies should write books. Here’s the paragraph:

“Advertising agencies should seriously consider writing books for four reasons: the credibility factor, to stand out because their competition isn’t, the physical nature of books (yes, physical objects are a good thing), and agencies have all of the elements to make it happen –something to say, writers, art directors, and the digital marketing chops to drive awareness,” said Peter Levitan, the author of The Levitan Pitch who spoke at the 2014 INBOUND conference on how agencies can write a book in six months.

Check out the whole post. –> The Path to New Business? 20 Agencies That Have Published a Book

The post provides a sweet list of ad agency books.

Note that one of the best agency books is inadvertently missing from the list. I heartedly recommend that you read Mitch Joel’s Ctrl Alt Delete: Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends on It. Mitch is President of Canada’s ad agency Twist Image and one the all time leaders in leveraging social media for the agency’s awareness and thought leadership via his blog, podcast and books. This is one prolific dude.

OK, one more guest post: Here is my take on writing advertising agency books via an interview with Beau Fraser, president of the agency The Gate Worldwide. Should Your Advertising Agency Write A Book? (FYI: Beau’s book is mentioned in today’s Agency Post article.)

The New Business Bottom Line:

Agencies that put themselves out in the social universe drive agency awareness and targeted inbound traffic to their messaging.

My advice that I give to all of my agency clients is to write strategic blogs (blogs written for their target markets and not other agencies) / post on other blogs for awareness / post on Twitter / publish on LinkedIn / play with Facebook / consider Pinterest and Instagram (if you are up for that) / write books (or zines if you want to get out fast) / put your thoughts up on SlideShare / speak at conferences and use the world of social media tools to learn about your potential clients and what your agency competition is doing in the social space.

All it takes is a smart business development and social media plan and a bias for action. Oh, and my help to get this done in early 2015. How? Take me up on my Vito Corleone offer.