Search Results for: pitch

The Smartest Advertising Executive and Business Development Consultant

Peter · August 26, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Michael Keeshan was the smartest advertising executive in the room. I know, I worked with him when he was President and COO of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising New York and the Chief Strategic Officer of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide. If you are wondering, he was smart like an Einstein.

He also counseled major advertisers including AT&T and Novartis to pick their advertising agencies. His MagikBox search consultancy rocked.

Here is my interview with Michael about advertising agency business development and advertising agency search consultants and the pitch experience. Over his years in advertising, Michel worked on both sides of the agency/client table. As you will see, Michael was one of the smartest advertising executive dudes.

[buzzsprout episode=’5144923′ player=’true’]

This entertaining and informative interview covers how advertising, digital, PR agencies, you name it, should manage their business development process and pitches and presentations. I did this interview in 2006. Believe me… Michael’s cogent advice is even more relevant in today’s highly competitive advertising universe.

I have many other interviews with advertising agency search consultants in my book on presenting and pitching for new ad accounts. Just go here to win more pitches… There have been thousands of happy, richer readers.

Links To Other Super Smart Past Advertising and Marketing Interviews.

Cathy Taylor of ADWEEK. Hear about one of the great social media fails… C/O Chevrolet Tahoe. It was an early screw up that was very prophetic as we all moved on into more social media.

Rob Walch of Libsyn.

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.

Advertising Agency Interpersonal Chemistry

Peter · July 30, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Smile: Interpersonal Chemistry Is A Critical Factor In Winning New Advertising Accounts

I am updating a previous post about interpersonal chemistry. Why? Over and over and over again I hear that building and having interpersonal chemistry with an advertising agency new business prospect is the make or break element of a hopefully budding new business relationship. So, I’ll get to the point. How can you proactively build and grow advertising agency interpersonal chemistry?

Allow me to frame the conversation via a quote from the article “IInterpersonal Chemistry in Friendships and Romantic Relationships” care of Interpersona | An International Journal on Personal Relationships. To get things rolling, here is a primary quote about relationships:

Friendship Chemistry Reciprocal Candor

The most frequently mentioned quality of friendship chemistry was reciprocal candor, which referred to open and meaningful communication. Three subcategories emerged within this group including (in order of most to least common): Ease of interaction, sharing a deep connection, and predictability. As some male participants described, “Conversation just flows naturally” and “There are no awkward silences”; “Chemistry is when there is a spark or understanding that makes the relationship easy”; and “Chemistry in friends goes beyond just being an acquaintance. It’s like you are connected. Everything makes sense. Everything fits.”

Isn’t this what you want to happen in a new business meeting?

You Probably Look Like The Next Agency

Chances are good that you will be up against look-alike agencies. You all probably share similar attributes, skills, and histories. You might even be wearing the same Armani suit or Tory Burch shoes or, today, tee-shirt.

Because of this, the ultimate selection factor is often based on personal vibes. The client wants to feel comfortable with and inspired by the agency’s culture and people. They are looking for a dedicated partner who will care as much about their business as they do. They want a confident agency that looks, acts, and feels right.

I can’t stress the chemistry thing enough. Here is what Avidan Strategies’ 2012 survey of agency search consultants revealed:

“Practically every consultant, or 96% of the sample, pointed to “chemistry” as the key factor for winning. But what exactly is chemistry? Generally speaking, it is simpatico between the client and agency teams.”

So while you are thinking about how to express your agency’s core skills and style, remember that how you express who you are could be the make or break part of your pitch. I’ll talk more about chemistry later. But it is imperative that you keep personal chemistry in mind as you start to think through what this client really wants.

A Quickie On Online Video Meetings

As the author of a book on presentations and pitches, I have been asked about how to make an online video meeting work harder. I am going to write in detail about this but here are five key points.

Look into the camera.
Employ decent lighting and sound. That means use a pro constant light if you can and get that decent microphone. If you can, ditch the headphones. The big scary ones that make you look like Top Gun. Not a very interpersonal look.
Think hard about your background. Set the stage. No laundry bin, please. Or the barking dog.
Keep the meeting short. People space out after fifteen minutes. I know that this might be hard to control in a business meeting but discuss timing with the people you are presenting to ahead of the meeting. If people think you will talk and talk, they will tune you out.
Check your internet connection speed via a tool like Google Speed Check.

Is Your Advertising Agency Business Development Director Doomed?

Peter · June 29, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Yes, Your Advertising Agency Business Development Director Might Be Doomed. A 2020 Update.

The interview below was done in 2014. It remains 100% right on.

Some updated thinking. I am asked on a high-frequency basis by agency management, that means CEO types, if their advertising agency should have a business development director. Because of this question, I thought I’d update this evergreen interview with Brooks Gilley who knows what’s up.

My current thinking based on talking with many agencies is that, at best, only 50% of advertising agency business development directors succeed. I am about to do some haranguing. Why?

As is pointed out below, most advertising agencies have a low to a non-competitive brand position. The degree of positioning sameness – “we are a digital agency” or “we are creative thinkers” – and messaging sameness – as in no soul or a distinctive opinion or having the goal of being unignorable – is crazy. How could even a competent business director sell the 50% of agencies that cannot define a strong sales proposition? Or not have a well-considered target market?
A huge chunk of agencies (it has been reported that up to 75% of agencies) do not have a master business development plan, think of it as a sales plan. How is this possible? And, worse, who is supposed to write the plan? I do not think that a business development director alone can write this plan. It should be an agency self-preservation and growth project.
Many advertising agency leaders have little experience in writing a sales manager compensation plan. Here is a compensation plan you can use.
Too many agency leaders hand off the role of business development to the director. I owned my own agency and I devoted at least half of my time to business development. And, I provided daily support and thinking and budget.

Give me a shout if you want to discuss your agency and its specifics.

Back To The Interview About The Doomed Business Development Director.

To quote the Beach Boys… Wouldn’t It Be Nice. 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?

She or 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”. Or, not having a list of clients and categories you want to nail; an active up-to-date CRM system or you are now in a state of panic because you just lost your largest client.

I know that this is a tough job to fill and do. I managed my agency’s business development director at my own ad agency; for Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in New York and London and as CEO at two Internet start-ups. I have hired ten business development directors over the past twenty years. Some worked out and some, well, not so well. Again, this is one of, if not the toughest, agency jobs to position for success.

But, don’t take my word for it. Before you read on for an expert interview, you might also want to go to my blog post on how to pay an agency business development director.

An Expert Interview With Brooks Gilley On How To Hire A Business Development Director.

Brooks Gilley is the Founder and CEO of Portland’s 52 Limited. 52 LTD is a 15-year-old creative resource company that connects world-class talent with leading brands, marketing departments, design firms, advertising and digital agencies.

In addition to running one of the west coast’s leading creative talent agencies, Brooks ran the Portland Advertising Federation and worked at advertising agencies.

Peter: According to the RSW/US 2014 RSW/US Agency-Marketer Business Report, the tenure of agency business development directors was two years or less. ADWEEK reports that people in this position at large agencies last less than one year. Is this surprising to you?

Brooks: It’s not surprising at all, largely for the fact that agencies I have worked with on business development director searches come to us in a moment of panic, and that’s usually where the ask starts. It’s a role that is needed now but was probably needed at least twelve months before new business gains became an issue. Additionally, it’s not necessarily a strategic role that is esteemed at and supported within a ‘creative’ organization. [Read more…] about Is Your Advertising Agency Business Development Director Doomed?

How To Sell Your Advertising Agency

Peter · June 18, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Hmm, so, you want to know how to sell your advertising agency. Or, maybe buy one.

Selling isn’t, of course, a unique thought, especially these days. Here is some background and learning from the why and how I sold my advertising agency – Citrus. I had a plan and it worked.

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Jake Jorgovan on his Working Without Pants podcast about selling an advertising agency. You can listen to Selling Your Advertising Agency here. I thought that I was particularly smart that day. And open about why and how I sold my own advertising agency. Note, I have bought and sold three agencies and have counseled a few agencies about how they should do the same.

… Oh, Quickie update. My new 58-page ebook on how to sell your advertising agency is coming out in August. its a freebie. Email me if you want to know when it hits.

Go: How To Sell Your Advertising Agency.

First, a bit of my background so you know where I was coming from. Literally.

Jake

Peter, for anyone in the audience who doesn’t know who you are and what it is that you do, can you just give us a quick overview about who you are and your background?

Peter

Sure. Today I am a business development consultant for advertising agencies. That’s today.

I started life as a commercial advertising and editorial photographer in San Francisco, woke up one day and said, “I really don’t want to take photographs for other people.” I moved back to my hometown New York, started working at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, which was a very large Mad Men-type agency. Our client list was bizarre, everything from General Mills to Proctor & Gamble, to Toyota and Nabisco. That agency was bought by Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide.

I spent 16 years at Dancer and Saatchi. I worked in New York. I opened and ran the office in Minneapolis. I moved to London and worked across Europe. I ran business development in London and New York. When I came back to New York in ’94 I discovered the internet and went to work for the company that owns Conde Nast putting newspapers online. Did that for a few years, started another company called Active Buddy, which is similar in some ways to Siri as in understanding natural language. The platform was instant messaging. We were going to sell the company to Google, or Yahoo, or Microsoft. I would have had FU money. That didn’t happen, but I did get a good chunk when we sold the technology to Microsoft.

For some reason after the dot com bust, I woke up and said, “It’s time to move the family to Oregon,” and I bought an advertising agency out there called Ralston Group. We renamed it when we bought the design firm Citrus and added a couple of Nike AOR accounts. A few years later I woke up again and I said, “It’s time to sell the agency.” I could discuss the why and how’s in selling an agency if you want. I sold the agency. I now do three things in Mexico, one of which is to consult with advertising agencies around the world.

Why Did I Want To Sell My Agency?

Jake

Nice, that is an awesome and absolutely incredible story. And your headline on your website is very valid when I say, “I’m the most experienced advertising business development consultant.” As you clearly have got some years and track record in this and have done a ton of stuff with the big names. You’ve run your own agency. You’ve kind of been all around the field of things.

First of all, what was the why for you selling your agency? Why did you decide to do that versus continuing to run it like it is? Let’s start there because that a question I’m definitely curious about, and I know a lot of agency owners sometimes think about it.

Peter

Well, the why, I think it’s important to understand why you do anything. And at some point in the latter stages of owning the advertising agency, I ceased to have as much fun as I had had in the beginning. And a real catalyst for that was the 2007 – 2009 recession, which I think dramatically hurt the agency business in terms of profitability. Now let’s couple that with the growth of digital marketing where there are many, many new platforms to manage without commensurate billing, and I really lost a bit of love in the business when the business lost its level of profitability.

You have to remember that I started in the 15% commission days, and we were making bundles. I mean it was really a-go-go. There was a reason why there were mad men drinking wine and whiskey in their office and going out for long lunches and smoking cigarettes and cigars. And that really stopped in, let’s say the late 90s.

By 2009 I knew I had to reinvent my agency. I had done that a couple of times. I was going to reinvent it into a much smaller, much more hub, and spoke distributed agency staff model. And I just woke up one day and said, “You know, I just don’t want to do this again.”

How Did I Sell My Agency?

Instant Social Media Content For Your Brand And Advertising Agency

Peter · June 16, 2020 · Leave a Comment

I’ve updated this blog post about, well, I’ll repeat the title for you, and especially Google. Instant Social Media Content For Your Brand And Advertising Agency.

OK, I admit it, there is no totally instant social media content. But, there is fast. In fact, fast and good. In fact, there really is fast + good + cheap. Which, as you might suspect, will make a brand and any advertising agency very happy.

I have used a few different methods to accelerate the generation of my more than 700 blog posts. Try a few of these on for size.

TikTok

I am going to write about TikTok in detail in the very near future. TikTok which, given its size and growth, is the most underutilized advertising agency business development social media platform. Hmmm. Why?

Here is what I think. Some possible agency excuses not to use TikTok…

TikTok is too young.
Too international.
Too new. As in, why should I bother? Um, remember when you didn’t use Instagram?
None of my clients have asked about it.
Worse… I do not have a TikTok account.

Interviews

Interviewing an expert, or even a consumer in your client’s or client industry or target market can take as few as 5 minutes up to say 45. A 45-minute interview will deliver approximately 8,000 words that you could cut up into 4 2,000 word blog entries or whatever you like to do with social media content, ur, I mean highly valuable insights. My book on presenting and pitching has multi interviews that I also amplified into blog posts. You bought the book so you’ve read those interviews and will now win more pitches – right?

I was recently interviewed for the Working Without Pants podcast. After Selling Your Agency, was published, I sent it to Rev.com and now have an 8,000-word transcript I will soon edit down into bite-sized blog posts. One will be a foundational blog post on how and why to sell your agency.

Do Videos

Easy… just turn on your webcam (or iPhone) and talk. I mean, you are an advertising agency, right? You can do this and start to own some SEO juice on YouTube. Less easy, but easy enough ideas: Go on the street and do some interviews (social distance yourself, please) or do a webcam interview with a genius (remember you can turn that into copy via an audio transcription company like REV.com.)

Rip Off A Podcast

Here’s a post I created by responding to the Adage interview with Lindsay Slaby. I took the interview, sent it to rev.com for transcription, and commented on what Lindsay was saying. Easy, smart, and brilliant. All around. Here is the blog post that was created by borrowing some content from Ad Age, Ad Age Small Agency Conference Podcast.

Do Your Own Podcast

I have a new Advertising Stories podcast. I interview people. They talk to me. I, well do not steal, but I do get lots of smarts out of their mouths. Plus, the entire process is essentially free.