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How To Build An In House Agency

Peter · September 18, 2020 · Leave a Comment

The market vibration is that there is a growing use of the in house agency. To be more specific, this is an in house “advertising agency” since what is brought inside are one or more of what I’ll call “advertising services” that include strategy development; digital marketing; PR; ‘traditional advertising”; media planning, and buying and, most common, high-volume and fast-paced content development.

There are many reasons for a company to bring some or all marketing services inside by creating an in house agency. That said, there is no one size fits all and it ain’t easy folks.

The rather experienced Steven Morvay, he’s held senior positions as both an agency president at Saatchi & Saatchi Direct and senior marketing positions at Borders and HBO, gets both sides of the in house agency equation. Take a listen. This is a smart discussion. Yes, I said that.

The In House Agency – The Why Do It?

I am going to go deeper into the growth of the in house agency and its efficacy and issues. But for now, here is a revealing chart from the Association Of National Advertisers and eMarketer about the primary benefits of creating the in house agency. Yes, it is often mucho about saving some bucks.

…..

Show Notes.

Steven Morvay on LinkedIn.

YO – Hypnotism coming.

Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe.

A nice thing for me… Feedspot has recognized Advertising Stories as being a top 15 advertising podcast.

Free Ten Point Advertising Agency Assessment

Peter · August 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Here Is Freebie Just For You: My Ten Point Advertising Agency Assessment

How is your advertising, digital, social media, PR agency doing? When I owned my Portland advertising & digital agency it was hard for me to tell how I stacked up vs. other agencies. As my friend Jon of Portland’s The Good, a conversion rate optimization consultancy, said on our recent podcast interview,

“It is hard to read the label from inside the jar.”

So, to help you, I am offering, for a limited time (true) a ten point advertising agency assessment. FYI, when I owned my own agency, I took all of the advice I could get. Even when I ran business development at Saatchi & Saatchi, I wanted third-party opinions and advice.

So, Why Offer An Advertising Agency Assessment – For Free?

If you work at an agency or in marketing, you know that making a high-value offer is usually a productive lead generation marketing tool. As part of my own marketing (side note, I practice what I preach) I am running a google PPC campaign that targets advertising agency leadership. Here is my ad agency leader offer landing page (it should at least be instructive as a look as my marketing). As I have often pointed out… this is a Corleone offer. It should not be refused. If you run an agency, go for it.

The offer is driving some incoming interest for my services at a time that many advertising agencies should be reevaluating their agency business and marketing plans. Right?

Levitan’s Ten Point Advertising Agency Assessment & Check-Up

This advertising agency assessment is based on my forever years of experience running major accounts and business development at Saatchi & Saatchi; CEO of two Internet start-ups; my own advertising agency and this business development consultancy. I have worked with dozens of agencies. I have seen what they look like from outside the jar.

Here are the ten points I will assess just for you:

Your business plan: How hard do you look at and possibly adjust your business plan? How will you generate maximum revenues and profits in our strange 2020? Do you make adjustments? Do you understand your Total Addressable Market (TAM)?
Your advertising agency positioning: This is a tough and hard look at your primary brand proposition. You can read about my general perspective on the value of a kick-ass positioning on this website.
Your 8-second website: This is probably one of the first ways that anyone sees your agency. How do your ranks vs. your competition? What do you say that will get me to pay attention in my 8-second look-see. In many cases, you only have around eight seconds to make me look at you and stick around vs. the other 3,999 advertising, digital, etc. agency websites that are screaming for attention. Here is my blog post about the Best Advertising Agency Websites.
Your business development plan and activity: How have you managed your plan over the past year? My whole blog of close to 800 blog posts discusses how you should market your agency.
Your outbound, account-based marketing: I’ll just ask you… you do this right? If, so, how?
Your social media activity and authority: Are you an active blogger, thought leader, podcaster? How do you look on LinkedIn; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; and ae you a category leader? What do your stats tell you?
Your client list: How does your client list look to an outsider? Do one or two clients account for too high a percentage of your revenues? Do you know how to position your client list for business development?
Your 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 – efficiently.
Your ‘findable’ quotient: Can I find your advertising agency if I do a search for you? You should be everywhere I might search for you (your competition will probably be there)Yes, I have written about this.
Your creative vibe: Yes, clients have brought their marketing inhouse. It is easy. For example, just get some social media type folks to do the work. But, but, most inhouse client resources suck at being creative thinkers and doers. How does your creativity stack up and how do you prove it?

That’s It, Folks

If you need my educated third-party, very honest, no bull shit assessment… go for it. This is a limited time offer. Give me a shout.

OK, One More. Have you listened to the smart and entertaining Advertising Stories podcast?

The Smartest African American Advertising Agency

Peter · August 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment

The Real Power Of African American Advertising

Wil Shelton runs L.A.’s Wil Power Integrated Marketing, a major force in African American advertising and marketing. Here is just one not-ordinary thing that they do:

“Wil Power Integrated Marketing is positioned in more than 40 urban markets nationwide with well-established business relationships with over 100,000 African American salons and barbershop nationwide and the ability to reach over 100 million consumers annually.”

How many advertising agencies have a unique idea as powerful or as unignorable as that?

WOW!

I was blown away when I heard about the Wil Power Integrated Marketing approach to marketing to the African American community. While all agencies, Wil Power included, fuss over their digital programs, few get “out on the street” to meet people and talk to them where they hang out. Wil Power gets it and has harnessed the power of America’s salons and barbershops – where millions of people meet to discuss their lives and what they do, eat, drink watch, and buy.

From an advertising agency business development perspective, Wil Power offers its national Fortune 500, entertainment, streaming, and telecom clients a solution that is totally unique — it is based on Wil Shelton’s perspective and hard work that get him and his clients inside over 100,000 salons and barbershops.

Yes, there is more. Have you listened to Wil on how to solve the problem of racism in advertising and marketing? In particular, the low numbers in African American senior advertising and marketing positions? Go ahead, take a listen — “Kamala Harris And Advertising…”

Links To Wil Shelton And His African American Advertising & Marketing Solutions…

Wil Power Integrated Marketing

Wil Shelton on LinkedIn

Hypnotism coming: Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories.

A nice thing for me… Feedspot has recognized Advertising Stories as being a top 15 advertising podcast.

Kamala Harris And Advertising. Not.

Peter · August 13, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Kamala Harris And Advertising. Could Kamala Get A Senior Job At An Ad Agency? Probably Not.

I pose the question about Kamala Harris and advertising as a thought-starter that leads to my discussion about the rather poor numbers of African-Americans in senior marketing and advertising roles. WOW, what an understatement.

I recently interviewed Wil Shelton, the CEO/Founder of L.A.’s Wil Power Integrated Marketing agency. Wil Power is a unique independent African-American market expert agency. The power of Wil Power comes from its work at “Harnessing the power of word of mouth in the African American market through Urban Beauty Salon and Barbershop marketing.”

In this interview, I asked Wil for his thoughts on what I consider the appalling state of African-American representation within leadership at the four major advertising agency networks (2 percent) and the CMO ranks at the Association of National Advertisers (3 percent.) That’s why I ask the question, could Kamala Harris get a job in advertising? Do the words Kamala Harris and advertising sound like a deal in 2020? Not in today’s advertising and marketing worlds.

Note that the marketing communications agencies Wieden+Kennedy with its Workforce Data and San Diego’s Basic are working to increase diversity and inclusion. My guess is that these two agencies, when asked if Kamala Harris and advertising could work together would be a YES. Would WPP say yes? That’s your guess.

This is inclusive “career” copy from a notice on Basic’s President Matt Faulk’s LinkedIn page. Basic is looking for some new people. I bet that Kamala Harris and advertising would work at Basic:

As we look to further develop a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, we’re currently looking for Creative Directors, Design Directors, Senior Designers, and Producers (all levels) to come join our team.

The Full Transcript Of The Wil Shelton Interview. And Why Kamala Harris And Advertising Might Not Have Been.

The interview was modified for clarity and brevity. This Interview Was Held Before Ms. Harris’ Appointment.

Peter: Hello, Advertising Stories people. Today I am talking with Wil Shelton, that’s with one L, and he is the CEO of the marketing agency, Wil Power Integrated Marketing. Again, with one L.

This conversation is about diversity, the lack thereof, and hopefully the opportunity of driving more diversity and inclusion in marketing and advertising. This must be a conversation you have often Wil, is that right?

Wil: Yeah, I do have it often. At this time, in this era that we’re in, yes.

Peter: Let’s just jump into that for a second. When you say this time, we have an increased consciousness of the lack of diversity, the problems of endemic… You fill in the next word. Do you think that the world that we’re living in now, the awareness of the really big idea of Black Lives Matter, do you think that will have a positive effect on the growth and expansion of diversity within the marketing and advertising communities? [Read more…] about Kamala Harris And Advertising. Not.

How To Grow Your Advertising Agency

Peter · August 10, 2020 · Leave a Comment

I Know, I Know. You Want To Grow Your Advertising Agency.

Here is an entertaining interview with Joe Koufman, CEO and Founder of Setup, an Atlanta-based agency and client “matchmaking” consultancy. Here is what Setup says they do to help y’all to grow your advertising agency. Man, I’d like to see more agencies be able to tell their story this fast. Very succinct.

“Setup™ (marketing matchmakers) ignites relationships between brands and marketing agencies. Marketers often require help from experts, but can’t always find them.”

Joe, a biz dev expert, and I discuss the core principles that deliver a strong sales pipeline and on to building wonderful marketing and advertising agency and client relationships. Ah, love!

Getting there includes having the right agency positioning (as one of my M&A specialists told me last week – this means telling the client exactly what you do and can do for them before they form their own opinion); understanding if the prospective client has a capacity or a capability challenge; having an information system; knowing how to do the best-targeted outreach; the critical importance of managing and building interpersonal chemistry; and the, yes, closing the deal. As an agency owner and consultant, Joe’s perspective and advice is right on.

Joe also talks a bit about having been on the scene of a few agency sales and mergers. As he says, some are great, some so-so and one was a kind of a failure.

Selling and buying a company isn’t that easy. OK, not that hard if you read my book, How To Sell Your Advertising Agency. (I had to get this in there.)

Here are links to Joe and Setup.

Joe Koufman.

Setup.