Search Results for: pitch

Best Read Advertising Blog Posts

Peter · May 27, 2014 · 2 Comments

In the interest of sharing, here is a list of my best read / performing blog posts during the past few months. All of these posts are found via a search engine optimized blog; my email newsletter list (sign up for it below); Twitter; LinkedIn; Facebook; my Pinterest agency directory website; guest posts; Reddit and a test I did using Outbrain (nice traffic but not well targeted.)

The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation post went somewhat viral across social media with a special thanks to Facebook. I suspect that the story resonated with the Saatchi & Saatchi and M&C Saatchi universes because it discusses a looser pitch for Adidas I did with Maurice and Charles Saatchi. It is an entertaining, if sad story.

How To Name Your Agency is clearly a hot topic for new and existing agencies. The majority of the other posts address my main topic: agency new business. Thank you SEO Gods.

Next: I am interested in seeing how the brand new 34 Advertising Agency Search Consultants post does in the coming weeks.

The links are hot. Go on and visit some of my best read posts.

Title		Views
The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation – Ever		7,301
Hi.		5,239
How To Name Your Advertising Agency: Part One		3,782
Insights		2,926
How to Build A Winning Advertising Agency New Business Program		2,150
I Grow Advertising & Design Agencies		2,007
I can help.		1,665
It’s Me.		1,656
Home page / Archives		1,654
How To Position An Advertising Agency – Part I		1,117
How To Write An Ad Agency Business Plan		1,056
Talking As An Ad Agency Business Development Tool		965
#3240 (loading title)		894
13 Free Big Data Tools For Advertising Agency New Business		718
35 Ways To Start & Grow An Ad Agency		607
How To Name Your Advertising Agency: Part Two		596
How Small Advertising Agencies Can Win Big Clients		587
How To Position An Advertising Agency – Part II		496
Advertising Agencies: “Do Not Pitch”		422
Advertising Agency Business Development & Cold Calling		419
Which Social Media Strategy Is Best For Advertising Agency New Business?		417
Finally, A Fcking Ad Agency Blog Worth Reading		408

Can You Afford New Advertising Accounts?

Peter · May 25, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Can You Afford New Advertising Accounts?

Maybe Not.

A couple of years ago a Portland digital agency, once a high-flyer, closed its doors because of serious cash flow issues. Their last straw was the amount of cash they used to win and startup a large famous account — and how long it took to get any revenue from the client to offset the cost of pitching and on-boarding.

Before the first client payment ever hit the bank, the agency spent three months pitching; added staff to win the pitch; spent time negotiating a compensation and scope of work agreement while they started to develop the programming to support the client’s program and then added more staff to build the relationship — way before the agency could even get the first invoice out. The agency then had to wait over 90 days to get paid. Not smart.

7 Months – No Pay

So, at the end of the day, the agency was in the hole for about 7 months of costly work before they ever get some moolah. This time-lag does not work for small digital agencies.

Did the client care that the agency couldn’t afford to fund the client’s marketing before receiving the first payment? Of course not. According to an Advertising Age article on clients now extending their payment schedule to 120 days, they still don’t. Try this one on for size.

Mars Seeks 120 Day Payment Terms From Vendors

Mars isn’t alone in asking its agencies to extend a line of credit. According to Advertising Age, Procter & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Johnson & Johnson and Mondelez have also extended their payment terms. Will client’s recognize the pain they are inflicting? Don’t bet on it. Even the ANA can’t seem to get its members to behave.

In a report published late last year, the Association of National Advertisers stated that at least four in 10 marketers lengthened payment terms for at least some marketing services in the preceding year.

“Client-side marketers need to consider what is fair and how they would want to be treated,” the ANA report said. “If the payment terms they are suggesting to their suppliers would not be acceptable to them as suppliers, a re-think might be in order.”

What Can An Agency Do?

Yes, this is a tough one since most agencies are not remotely in the driver’s seat. Why?

Most agencies don’t offer services that are so unique that the client can’t go elsewhere.
If an agency already has the account, they are at the mercy of their beloved client.
They are so hungry for new business that they bend over and then lose a strong negotiating position.

But, If they know that the client wants to screw them before they commit to a pitch they can… yes, this one will be hard to believe: NOT pitch.

So, keep how long it will you to get paid in mind when you decide to pitch an account and when you build a one-sided relationship like the one that Mars wants to have with BBDO.

In this case, its seller beware.

Does You Agency Ask For The Order?

Peter · May 14, 2014 · 1 Comment

I had an advertising exec friend read the manuscript of my new book on pitching* — its still being edited. She mentioned that I should add that advertising agencies should ASK for the deal when they are closing their presentation.

Ask For The Order

You know, ask for the order. I know that most agencies do not. Interesting, right?

Think about it… they responded to an RFI / then an RFP and then worked their tail off creating a super fine presentation. They delivered their best, smiled and walked out of the room without asking for the account. Most of the time, an agency thinks that their effort alone is serious proof that they want the business. Well, they are right. Any savvy client would realize that the agency is serious.

But, why not add a bit of passion to the end and politely ask for the the account? Or, as Zig Ziglar, one of the leading sales gurus says… A.A.F.T.O. Always ask for the order.

Need more sales inspiration? Here is a SlideShare presentation by Viru Nigam, an MBA student that I bet has spent more time on Ziglar’s sales techniques than most of us smart, cool agency folk. Take a look. Oh, slide 9 is all A.A.F.T.O.

[slideshare id=33435810&doc=theartofselling-140412001838-phpapp02]

*Oh, my book’s title:

The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.

By the way, go below and sign up for my weekly newsletter. It is free and so refreshing.

Does Size Matter In Advertising?

Peter · May 11, 2014 · Leave a Comment

By now we’ve all yawned at the failure of the Omnicom / Publicis merger.

Here is how Bloomberg reported the snoozer and a link to an insightful interview on Bloomberg Television’s “The Pulse” with London Advertising’s CEO Michael Moszynski. Michael manages to offer a perspective that only the English could enunciate clearly — and he gets some great PR for his agency. And… manages to also squeeze in London’s One Brilliant Idea pitch – sweet:

“LONDON is an international advertising agency built for today. We create One Brilliant Idea that can work in any media, anywhere in the world.”

Not a bad PR days work.

So Does Size Matter?

No.

But, of course, many clients like it big. Microsoft as of last week thinks that having a mega-sized agency is a must have for a major brand that lives across the globe and, I assume, a cure all for past marketing ills. From Advertising Age:

Microsoft is moving its multibillion-dollar ad and media business, indicating a fresh-start approach under newly appointed CMO Chris Capossela.

The tech giant has selected Interpublic Group as agency of record for advertising and global deployment while Dentsu Argis will handle media planning, media buying and search advertising, the company said in a statement.

You want big?

Interpublic has 43,000 employees and dentsu 7,500. Does Microsoft, a notoriously lame, directionless marketer, need an agency resource with over 50,000 scattered strangers or does it need one really smart agency that can manage some global TLC? Smart being the operative word.

Sure Microsoft (and thier new CMO) thinks MSFT needs lots of dots on a map and I know that this perspective, in addition to ego, drove a search for a ~~large~~ humongus agency base. But, what Microsoft really needs more than a BIG agency is A BIG STRATEGIC IDEA to help create a big, sustainable, compelling brand proposition for all of their B2C and B2B brands? You know, a Master Brand position to start and then run with. Apple, a notoriously not lame or directionless company, never went mega agency. Nuf said.

And, at the moment I think that Google is creating some of the best tech advertising. Can you name their huge agency?

But, really does size matter? That’s why I want you to watch the Bloomberg video. Michael answers the question.

[Truth be told, I sold the idea of dots on the map when I ran business development at Saatchi. So, I get that approach. But, it feels so 1990’s.]

Advertising Websites Only Get 8 Seconds

Peter · April 18, 2014 · 1 Comment

Let’s start this post with an admission… I don’t have informational graphics on every page of my site (some, but not a lot.) But.. stay tuned cause I have ten cartoons coming from my friend Steve and his The Cartoon Agency that will support my new book’s discussion of the top ten pitch-killing mistakes that even super smart advertising agencies (that’s you amigos) make when they pitch.

8 Seconds, Only

One of the most important discussions I have with my advertising agency clients is about gauging the marketing power of their websites. I start the talk by telling them that I know that critiquing their website is like discussing their kid’s soccer moves. That said, the agencies are paying me to be honest, so I am.

I begin the review process by telling them that their visitors only give them 7 seconds of examination before they stay to learn more or move on. Agencies… you better hook ’em in 7 seconds. I just found out that I am wrong. According to the smart Neil Patel its 8 seconds (more on him later):

“How long do you think your attention span is? Maybe a minute or even two, right? Sadly, your attention span is 8 seconds. That’s one second shorter than that of a goldfish.”

What does that mean for your advertising agency websites? It means that you better pay lots of attention to attention deficit clients that may be looking at ten, twenty or more agency websites before they land on a few to contact. 8 seconds. Keep this in mind and make getting to a point an objective when you build or rebuild your websites. If you want to see how some agencies get this job done, or not, take a look at my set of San Francisco agencies and how they handle their 8 seconds.

Here is how Neil helps us visualize visualization by using his “This Is Your Brain On Visualization” infographic. There is a lot of information here for you and your clients.

Back To Niel Patel

I dig Neil because he provides great insights and is a serial self-promoter worth watching. His stuff works works. His Quicksprout website has a page rank of 5 and he has 1110,000+ Twitter Followers. From Neil’s bio:

Neil Patel is the co-founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics. He helps companies like Amazon, NBC, GM, HP and Viacom grow their revenue. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 online marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies in the world. He was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under the age of 35 by the United Nations.

Yeah, this is a bit crazy for a 29 year-old. But, he is surly working it. Check out his outrageously unrelenting promotions. Yes, a bit too many popups and forms for most advertising agency websites, but these is a lot of benchmark sales learning in there.

Last point. He walks his talk. See his visual bio.