Peter Levitan & Co.
The New Business of Advertising
…Is actually entertaining. In this case, no surprise, it’s from Toronto’s Zulo Alpha Kilo.
“The holidays are a time for forgiveness. And what better way to ask for forgiveness than with Dmitri the Apology Dog from Zulu Alpha Kilo.”
Hard to go wrong with a talking dog.
When I ran my agency I avoided the oh-too-obvious XMAS client dance / gift/ celebration by waiting just a bit to send out engraved bottles of red wine that ushered in the New Year. Thought we’d get past the XMAS rushhhhhh and clutter.
Below is my first holiday thing. This is from a Wolff Olins email. Guess they are beating the clutter by being first.
I’ve written about the need for creating ad agency differentiation if an agency wants to excite and win new clients…
(I know, I know, you know that I know that you know how important having an agency positioning that stands out is.)
There are many reasons for this. One of the most expressed fears is that (and I know that this is going to sound insane)… is that agencies do not want to sound too different for fear of losing the opportunity to pitch LOTS of clients. The belief is that being a ‘general’ agency, even a general digital or PR agency, will beget more opportunities to pitch for a broad range of clients. These agencies are playing a losing numbers game. Having a clear, yes narrower, refined, brand positioning will win in the end.
Give clients an opportunity to view your agency as being special and unmistakenly desirable. Think different and look different.
I was recently asked by a large agency network to give a brief presentation on what are key ways to differentiate an agency. I came up with nine paths to being Unignorable: Positioning; Attitude; Ego Mania; Specialization; AHA!; Carpe Diem; Humor; Awards; Your Website.
Each one of these paths represents an opportunity to help your agency stand out from the other 3,999 agencies seeking the clients you deserve and… Be Different.
Hope yo enjoy the presentation and take away a couple of paths to specialness.
It took me awhile to fully understand the value of winning an advertising agency award in the in the context of business development. Yes, I know, I should have figured this out a lot earlier. Especially, when you consider that I ran business development at Saatchi & Saatchi in the days when they won everything and later, when I ran my own agency.
While it is fun for the agency staff to win awards (well, the right awards), the true value in winning those shiny objects is in helping clients recognize your brilliance. To put it mildly, clients – as in your prospective clients – are not experts at selecting agencies and this fact is exacerbated by the fact that many agencies, once they make the final cut, kinda look and sound alike. In this environment, awards represent extremely valuable third-party endorsement.
EFFIES prove your strategic chops. Clios and ADDY’s prove creativity. In the media space, MediaPost just announced their Agency of the Year awards. Considering how critical media planning is in today’s fractured media environment, media awards can be leveraged to prove your agency’s media prowess.
Ok, so you want to incorporate award-winning into your business development plan. Good idea. I know that some of the major agencies approach awards with a very strategic business development perspective. This is a big subject. For now, here are the basics that should help you enter the right award categories.
The Who: What clients do you want to excite? What are their interests, needs, and fears? What do they value – pure creativity, strategy, agency fame (as in hiring an agency because they look real cool)?
The What: There is a big difference between winning a creative award (subjective) and a strategy award (ROI). Some clients need proof that you are creative and some need to know that you know how to deliver on the client’s objectives.
The Where: Sure, winning a Clio is nice. But, most agencies are simply not going to win the big ones. This isn’t because they don’t deserve to. It is because these awards are really set up to honor the bigger agencies – with big award budgets. That’s just how it is – award shows are not about the awards, they are profit centers for the award entities. So, I suggest that some of the better local awards can make a great deal of sense. In this case, base these on where you clients are going to come from. A great example of a powerful local award program is The Rosey Awards from the Portland Ad Fed. In this case, your agency has a good chance to beat Portland’s Wieden & Kennedy powerhouse.
Last point. Be very strategic about how you enter. Study past award shows to see if you can figure out how and why other agencies have won. Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, my first agency, figured out a smart system for EFFIE entries. We studied winning agency applications. Our system helped us become a major winner.
MediaPost is accepting submissions for its annual ‘Agency of the Year’ awards. If you would like to nominate an organization, please contact joe@mediapost.com by the end of October. We recognize the following categories:
Media Agency, Digital Agency, Social Agency, Search Agency, Programmatic Agency, Mobile Agency, Creative Agency, Holding Company, Client, Supplier, Executive.
I have been focused on the idea that interpersonal chemistry is one of the most important decision-making criteria that a client uses when selecting an advertising agency. I also think KNOW that chemistry can be massaged and managed. In fact, if you want to win, you better work on releasing those special business pheromones.
I recently advised an advertising agency on their approach to a pitch that included how to run an interpersonal ‘chemistry’ new business meeting. The agency is one of seven agencies in a pitch for a very large east coast client.
The client asked for a ‘let’s get to know each other’ chemistry meeting because they know that by the time they had narrowed their list from the four thousand agencies out there (yikes) to seven, that much of their decision criteria on which agency to move forward with would come down to likeability and an understanding that the agency had the intelligence to help efficiently grow the client’s business.
The client needed this meeting because…
Ok, ok, all agencies are not the same. But, I can guarantee you that probably five of the seven agencies are so similar in approach, client base, case histories, skill sets, office furniture, etc. that the client realized that the interpersonal chemistry element was ultimately going to be a critical decision-making factor.
While my agency client and I discussed a range of pitch issues and opportunities, we settled on two must-have’s to make the meeting work in their favor.
First, we discussed how to plan and manage the meeting. If an agency cannot run a smart meeting – especially the chemistry meeting, then the client will immediately begin to think that you cannot run a smart agency client relationship. I am a very strong proponent of the art of meeting management. I suggest that you read this post on how to manage a meeting. Your clients will love you for it. Hmmm, maybe even some of your future clients as well.
Since this was a chemistry meeting – a ‘get to know each other’ meeting – I informed agency management that the best way for the agency to demonstrate that they were a good fit for the client was to… act like they already had the account. [Read more…] about Two Advertising Agency & Client Chemistry Strategies