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A List Of The Best Advertising Podcasts

Peter · January 28, 2021 · 1 Comment

The average podcast listener listens to about 5 to 6 hours of podcasts per week. Since there are zillions of podcasts and episodes, one wonders how to get enough ear and brain time to find the most useful. To help y’all a bit, here’s a manageable, I stress manageable, list of the best advertising podcasts. I have to admit that this is a shifting list and, not every show from every advertising podcast is wonderful.

Help: If you think I should add to the list, please send me your besties = peter@peterlevitan.com

Also, stay tuned for my thinking on why an advertising agency should NOT podcast.

My list of the best advertising podcasts includes a good starter episode, a single episode that I think will be worth your time.

Advertising Magazine Podcasts

Campaign Podcast

Host: Omar Oakes (As usual, the British sound smart)

Welcome to the Campaign podcast, our weekly look at the biggest stories and trends in the world of advertising, marketing, media and technology, as well as our latest videos.

Good Start: Campaign’s most listened to podcasts of 2020

Adweek’s Yeah, That’s Probably An Ad

Multiple Hosts. My favorite is Doug Zanger.

Good Start: What’s next? Adweek’s 2021 Outlook for Media, Marketing and Tech

AdAge Ad Lib Podcast

Multiple Hosts

Good Start: The State Of The CMO

Australia / Asia / India

Not seeing much podcast activity at the advertising pub level in Australia / Asia and India. Am I missing something. Or, do have these guys figured out that ad podcasting is not worth the effort?

Digital Marketing Podcasts

Marketing School

Hosts: Neil Patel and Eric Sui

Good Start: Just start.

These smart guys do an episode a day. The shows last approximately 4 minutes. They bam into and out of single subjects including SEO, new stuff like Clubhouse, and email marketing. I wake up to them. I’d say that 1/2 of their podcasts teach me something digital.

Social Media Marketing

Host: Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner

Good Start: LinkedIn Ad Retargeting

Michael has been a primary guide in the digital marketing universe for eons. He interviews the best.

The Social Media Marketing podcast—a top marketing podcast—is a weekly 45-minute show hosted by our founder, Michael Seltzer. With millions of downloads each year, this show has been helping marketers for more than eight years.

Smart Marketing Guys

six pixels of separation

Host: Mitch Joel

Good Start: Ann Janzer on how to write your own non-fiction book.

2nd Good Start: The Relevance of Marketing Agencies With Peter Levitan [Read more…] about A List Of The Best Advertising Podcasts

Just Write An Advertising Book, Please

Peter · January 21, 2021 · Leave a Comment

That’s Right… Write An Advertising Book.

I want you to write an advertising book. For your personal brand and your agency’s branding. And to help y’all become unignorable. How so?

I have spoken at big conferences (as in how to write a book at Hubspot – plus remember to take off the lanyard thing), been interviewed on lots of podcasts, occasionally make it into an ADWEEK article. Why? Because I wrote this book. Books beget authority. Proof that you actually give a shit, know something, and can actually write.

That said, the biggest benefit…? The book has generated business leads that have resulted in thousands in business $ for my ad agency consultancy.

Between direct business, I also make moolah from Amazon – well, a tiny bit but it paid for the book itself. Here is an email I just got from Amazon.

This royalty payment notification is for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) sales recorded in the Kindle Store. Payment will be made to your bank account and should appear in your available balance within 2 to 5 business days after the Payment Date. Details of the payment will be available on the Payment Report.

More Books?

Yup. I also wrote “Boomercide: From Woodstock To Suicide” and two photo books, Potlandia and Jointlandia on the early days of the cannabis industry. That’s one of the photos of a 2013 product above. From the days before big business and package designers got involved.

And, I am updating my thinking about how to build the world’s best sales presentation & pitch by writing about the ‘good, bad, and ugly’ in the world of virtual meetings. Oh, and a book about how to be a great agency account manager.

Frankly, not enough advertising agencies write an advertising book. Even a digital agency deep into data can write a book. This does not have to be hard, or big, or long. Just look at what Austin Kleon did with the writing and design o “Steal Like An Artist.”

Need ideas for a book and how to use it for business development? Give me a shout.

A Funny Advertising Agency Lawyer Story

Peter · January 19, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Yes, The Often Dreaded Three Words “Advertising Agency Lawyer” Can Be Funny

I was speaking with an advertising agency client this morning and she told me that they just got off a call with their advertising agency lawyer and it appears that the agency, for competitive reasons, has to rename one of their in-house developed tech applications. It is an important app for their clients and it also represents real smart intellectual property for the agency. OK, this stuff happens. Plus, it reminded me of a funny conversation I had about trademark infringement.

Citrus Vs. Citrus + The Advertising Agency Lawyer

About fifteen years ago my Ralston360 Portland advertising agency bought the graphic design firm Citrus. We liked their name so much we took it as our own. Citrus the advertising agency was born.

I sold Citrus the agency in 2014. A couple of weeks after the deal closed, a close where the name Citrus was dissolved, I am sitting in my room at L.A.’s The Standard Hotel and I check my voice mail. An unknown lawyer says that I have to call him immediately about a serious company issue. So, I give him a call. [Read more…] about A Funny Advertising Agency Lawyer Story

Minimalist Business Development Plan

Peter · December 25, 2020 · 1 Comment

How To Build Your Minimalist Business Development Plan

When I write what I call a minimalist business development plan for an advertising, digital agency client I split the plan’s deliverables into two documents. One is a comprehensive 360-degree look at my client’s business objectives, current market position, brand positioning and attributes, target market pain-points, existing biz dev plan, and a range of tailored inbound and outbound, i.e. account-based marketing approaches.

After we review the master plan document, I create a more simplified two-phase plan that is designed so that it actually gets implemented. I say actually gets implemented because many, too many, marketing communications companies do not run the business development plan they have. I have seen this at mega agencies and two-person shops. My two-phase plan, yes a minimalist business development plan, is designed to focus on a small set of marketing programs, to be highly efficient, and to be built on a clear process.

My minimalist business development mantra is KISS (keep it simple stupid) + focus on a small number of core marketing programs + be efficient + make sure that whatever you say (an agency’s positioning, sales proposition, and marketing messages) is UNIGORABLE.

OK, one more. Agency management must be dedicated to running the business development program. 24/7. Dedication to agency growth must come from the top.

8 Smart Elements Of A Minimalist Business Development Program

The Advertising Agency Website Walrus Style

Peter · December 3, 2020 · 1 Comment

An EY Podcast Just Asked Me “What Is Missing From The Advertising Industry Today.” I Said Creativity. Ya Know, Ideas That Grab Attention And Move People. I See This Missing Link Also Running Rampant In The Advertising Agency Website Ocean. Then I Found Walrus.

I am feeling ranty these days. And, have this particular rant that I often repeat to my agency clients… GET UNIGNORABLE. The amount of sameness in the world of the advertising agency website world is numbing. This is a bad thing since prospective clients do most of their agency selection before they ever pick up the phone.

Welcome To The Walrus Advertising Agency Website.

Since New York’s award-winning agency (important awards) walks the creative talk and is in fact unignorable… I’ll just go fast here.

So, what works for Walrus?

What you first read when you look them up – as in their Google snippet = “World famous creative shop located in Union Square New York City. Where clients go to get rich, ideas go to get famous, and bivalves go to get devoured.” Different + benefit-driven and what other agency mentions clams?
The Home Page has a talking Walrus. Cute. It works as a branding element and a very fast way to get you to ask, WTF?
Need more info? The social-style information links on the bottom of the page take you to the Walrus Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Medium accounts, and an email thingy. Walrus does not need the endless number of website pages to tell you who they are.
Walrus is all about the work. Human, funny and, oh so not data-crazed, yadda yadda sameness… the advertising you see for brands that most other agencies world kill for is smart. Did I say funny? Like Walrus’ ads get a viewer to stop and watch, listen absorb. These ‘ads’ will also get the attention of the right clients. It’s kinda good for agencies to know what type of clients they want.

The Unignorable Walrus Thing.

The Walrus vibe is cool and interesting and, repeating myself, gets the attention of the right client. I am thinking that this means a client looking for strategic / creative brains.

I am not alone in preaching that advertising, digital PR, you name it agencies, need to get a bit specialist to make it in 2021. I talk about ad agency positionings here. I also say that trying to be known as a ‘creative’ agency isn’t easy. Creativity is very subjective. That said, the right client for Walrus will find them and will dig the creativity and want some of that. It is called mating. Mating requires a bit of unignorability.

OK, OK, I Know You Want To Know How Walrus’ Mate.

I had to find out. So, I went to How Stuff Works. Here you go…

The remaining females congregate on the ice pack and prepare to be entertained by the males in the water. One or two males generally perform for each congregation of roughly 23 females — presenting a series of vocalizations both above and below water. Here, the males’ pharyngeal muscles (near the throat) come in handy both as flotation devices and as amplifiers. The males simply inflate the pouches to remain upright in the water and begin to serenade.

If you woulld like to see another unignorable advertising agency website (from 2011), check out how BooneOakly used YouTube.

Oh, did this work? 1,372,449 views so far.