Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

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How Advertising Agencies Publish On LinkedIn

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I’ve begun to test LinkedIn’s new content publishing platform. It allows all of us (the platform is currently rolling out) to publish long posts on LinkedIn — just like Mark Cuban. Importantly, your posts will be seen outside your own network. This is the big benefit. Here is LinkedIn’s announcement.

“Starting today, LinkedIn is opening up our publishing platform to our members, giving them a powerful new way to build their professional brand. When a member publishes a post on LinkedIn, their original content becomes part of their professional profile, is shared with their trusted network and has the ability to reach the largest group of professionals ever assembled. Now members have the ability to follow other members that are not in their network and build their own group of followers. Members can continue to share their expertise by posting photos, images, videos and their original presentations on SlideShare”

I posted two very short posts last week to see how the system works. The posts were simply repurposed content from this blog — easy! I can’t say that I am overwhelmed at the numbers but I like that I could track my stats immediately and that I amassed, well here are the stats as of yesterday (they are up another 12 as of this morning):

abc

My goal is to continue to test the publishing platform and to see how longer posts about broader subjects perform. I am sure that the art of headline writing will make a big difference.

Take away: even small agencies can now broadcast their brilliance to the entire Linkedin network.

Presentation Toolkit Must Have

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Here is an oh so simple presentation tool that will cost you all of $30 or less. Keep this with your laptop to projector cable in a handy presentation toolkit and don’t leave home without either of these.

41m21qlrvuL._AA160_If you are going to present off of a laptop and don’t want to be tethered to the machine – you know, having to walk back to or reach across the table to advance the slides or play the video – then get yourself a wireless remote clicker thing. You will look way smoother.

Sounds obvious? Then cool. You have one? Even cooler. Now, all you have to do is to remember to bring it to the presentation.

Your New Advertising Agency Business Plan

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I admit it. I am a bit buzzed. The Formula 1 season just started its first race in sunny Melbourne (it will be crazy and unpredictable this year, by the way.) I had a glass or two of Malbec and then I saw these numbers that show the shift from desktop to mobile advertising from the nice folks at eMarketer. These numbers are dramatic:

Desktop Search to Decline 1.4 Billion as Google Users Shift to Mobile eMarketerOverall desktop ad spending is set to decline in 2014 while mobile grows 83.0%. Not surprising. You knew what is going on, right?

So, why should I be jumping on the desktop to mobile bandwagon? Why? Because advertising agencies, primarily the medium to small, have not yet figured out how to leverage this shift. Well, folks, it is time. Your advertising business plan better take into account what is happening.

Here are my three primary take aways that I think advertising agencies (and digital shops as well. OK, video production companies too) need to incorporate into their business plan…

  1. Video is way hot and WE know how to do this.
  2. Video is hot.
  3. Mobile is the future.

Now, you’d think that a lot of agencies are putting “We know mobile” on their home pages. They are not. Which means they don’t get it yet and that is good for you. Need a crash course in mobile marketing? If you live in Portland go to Mobile Portland  events. If not, find your local mobile developer community and make friends.

 

How To Sell Your Advertising Agency

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I talk with advertising and digital agencies every week that want to “sell in five or fewer years.” We discuss how they can begin to position themselves for a future sale. Well, one way isn’t to be “full-service” or another “social media guru.” These generalist brand positions are not going to get the attention of a WPP or even the larger shop down the street.

One of the paths to SOLD! is to find a niche to own. A niche that a larger company might want. At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, a technology niche is what the bigger boys are looking for. Portland’s not yet three year-old tech niche-owning Vizify (“Vizify turns your social media data into interactive infographics, videos, and more”) just got bought by Yahoo!

Vizify found a data visualization niche and worked it.

I know. They aren’t an advertising agency. But… so what. There is still a lesson here for you ad guys.

What is Yahoo! gonna do with Vizify? Who the hell knows. (OK, it might have been a talent acquisition since Vizify is shutting down.)

As Selena Larson on readwrite writes… “Yahoo is shutting down innovative apps and services right and left as it snaps up startups—to no clear purpose.” So, go figure. But, the guys that sold the company are smiling.

Vizify has been acquired by Yahoo

One Hour Advertising Agency

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Ah, an advertising agency with a promise and a distinctive message.

Sweden’s One Hour Agency makes a very simple promise to potential clients:

You give us one hour.
We generate quality ideas.

As ADWEEK says:

“If the meeting works from both sides, then we offer different kinds of packages depending on the brief,” says Larsen. The crew is currently working on a project for Swedish Public Radio.

OHA has a handy pie-chart that breaks down the first hour: 10 minutes each for greetings, evaluation and presentation, and 30 minutes for ideation. That’s pretty packed. Demands for bigger logos and “guaranteed viral” videos presumably require buying more time.

One Hour AgencyWhat works? It is a simple message, it is intriguing, it works because (OK, I am about to tell all of those advertisers out there a big secret), your marketing issues aren’t that difficult (well, at least for most clients – just try to sell Cadillacs to anyone under 55+) and most super savvy agency folks can probably suss out your issues and at least one smart idea in an hour. All One Hour Agency wants is for the advertising client to want to talk more. And, why not?

The one hour offer reminds me of my Corleone Offer. I know that I can talk with you and your agency leaders for 30 minutes and I will give you at least one business building new business program idea. I can do this because I am coming at understanding  your advertising agency’s positioning and marketing from an outsider’s perspective. Coupled with my experience, we can get to some smart thinking fast.

This is why I know that One Hour Agency can do for you what they have done for Spotify:

‘Impressed about how many great ideas came out of a single hour session! There’s no threshold to work with you guys. I don’t think you need good luck, just keep on working the way you do’ – Joel Brosjo, Spotify