Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

branding

Is Your Advertising Agency Positioning “Normcore?”

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images normcoreThe June ’14 issue of WIRED reports that “normcore” is a jargon word to watch. Normcore is so vanilla that it reminds me of at least 50% of the advertising agencies. That’s all agencies. Here is WIRED’s definition.

Averageness as a personal style. The apotheosis of anti-fashion, being normcore entails blending in – wearing a baseball cap to the ballpark and a velvet suit to the disco – and always acting like you’re totally into whatever you happen to be doing.

Yo, Is Your Agency Normcore?

How are agencies normcore?

They sound alike. See my long post on advertising agency positioning.

They say the same things: consumer conversations; media agnostic (yes, some still say this); full-service; we are problem solvers; we are creative; we are nimble; we came from large agencies… and on.

They even like to have photos of their reception area on their website.

They serve beer from real-life kegs on Fridays.

I’ll help you free your agency from being normcore. I do it every day for agencies that know that the only way they will succeeded is to be abnormal-core.

From X Rated to 4 Skins

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Last week I got to deliver my first X Rated blog post.

This week I get to point you to one of my favorite (WTF?) brand names: 4 Skins Wine.  Hmmm. I don’t even know where to begin or should I just cut myself off?

I found this brand while doing some competitive agency research for a great Canadian agency client. Competitive research can be a bit boring but when you find such an exciting, attention generating, scrumptious sounding and mouth watering  brand name, you just have to tell the world. Here it is care of Halifax’s Spectacle Group. Enjoy!

4 Skins Our Work Spectacle Group

An Advertising Agency Website That Actually Brands

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Most, like most, advertising agency websites do not do a very good job of branding. Ooops, an understatement. They kinda look alike. or, at least fit into a standard set of design styles (peruse this visual agency directory.)

Lets face it, leading with client work, which makes a great deal of sense, doesn’t really brand an agency. Like its nice to know who did the Samsung work but branding? No. That’s why 72andSunny’s website could work for Goodby Silverstein & Partners and vice versa.

JWALK has an agency website that brands the agency within 2 seconds of your visit. Jay Walk… get it?

JWALK

I think that JWALK could do a better job of explaining what they do (see their About copy below.) But, there is no question that I am in JWALK land when I am on their website.

JWALK makes brands culturally relevant through storytelling with intent.

As an agency of creatives, designers, technologists, entrepreneurs, influencers and inventors, we understand what it takes to build businesses. Our job is to make your brand part of culture, loved by your consumers and envied by the competition.

The customer journey has evolved from the traditional awareness-to-purchase funnel to today’s fragmented shopping experience. Storytelling is the only common thread that binds the brand together, and drives consumer engagement.

(They do a better job within the limitations of their Twitter profile):

“@jawalk JWALK is an award winning agency that believes the only way to build a brand is through immersive storytelling.”

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

If I Were An Ad Agency Client – I’d Hire Lean Mean Fighting Machine

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I look at lots of ad agency websites. I put them in my agency directory / I look at them because agencies contact me to ask for my help (its amazing how fast you can suss out an agency’s value – like in 7 seconds) and I look at them as if I were a client seeking a new marketing partner.

Most agency websites fail. They are me-too, slow to deliver a message, overloaded, have no personality and don’t sell anything. They are, sadly, 20 years or so after the birth of the graphical browser, dull and oh so boring brochures. So, its so sweet when one comes across an agency  that gets it. And, of course, once again, its the English that have it all figured out.

In this case, its the, of course, lean website from London’s Lean Mean Fighting Machine. Spend time on this website: watch the videos, enjoy the attitude like how they position their blog (“Our Blog: By Employees That Are Forced To Write it”.)

Screen shot 2014-02-07 at 9.49.49 AM

 

Please. Make adjustments to your website. Be different, have fun. Oh, and think sales because, at the end of the very long day, your website should sell (and, if you can, look different that the guy down the street.)

Finally, a sense of humor will go a long way to pre sell. Most clients say that “chemistry” is how they choose an agency.