Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

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The Idiocy Of Ad Agency Christmas Giving

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Yes, Most Ad Agency Christmas Giving Is Ineffectual

OK. It’s 2023 and what a wonderful year it has been. yMucho agency leaders are thinking… huh, shouldn’t we do something cool for our clients? Like, deliver a bit of ad agency Christmas giving. But, um, no, do not do that. So in honor of my magical anti-gifting thought and advice, I offer MY annual Christmas gift rant (or better yet, a strategic approach to giving).

It is that time of year again.

It is the time that many an ad agency decides that it is a great time of year to add to the upcoming ad agency (and universal) Christmas giving clutter. OY – Am I being Grinch-like? You bet.

Does your ad agency send out Christmas cards or gifts or online trinkets (or other creative ideas) to clients — even prospects? I call this practice stupid silly. Strong words? Sure. but, why am I saying this?

Look, I have nothing against season’s greetings. But, after working at a couple of mega agencies (including my own) and watching dozens/hundreds of agencies send out very “creative” Christmas (Chanukah, Kwanza, etc.) cards and gifts during the late-December season, I have to say this is very ill-timed even highly-inefficient outreach.

Silly gifting is wasteful in three critical ways: [Read more…] about The Idiocy Of Ad Agency Christmas Giving

The Advertising Earth Is Flat

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Yes, The USA Advertising Earth Is Flat

The advertising earth is flatFrom Scott Galloway’s newsletter, a chart about the “high intelligence” of Americans. OK, get this, many think that the earth is flat. That’s 1/6th of y’all. That’s 55 million Americans.

If any of these 55 million are your advertising/marketing targets, you’d better figure out a really cool and compelling message for them. A message based on, that reflects, how they process information.

David Ogilvy Knew That The Earth Is Flat. Um…

Here is the famous quote from Ogilvy on not underestimating the “consumer”.

“The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.”

So, What To Do? Matzo Anyone?

I like the information point of Ogilvy’s quote. And, this is where your agency’s creativity comes in. Can you craft the “information” message to cure, or even leverage, the idea that the earth is flat? Hey, why not go after the Streit’s Matzo account. I think that the ad copy could write itself.

Of course, you’d have to deal with the fact that 98% of matzo eaters know that the earth is round.

Oh, is the Metaverse round? From Ogilvy itself… 

 

 

The Best Advertising Agency Creative Brief

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advertising agency creative brief The Best Advertising Agency Creative Brief – I Think (Well, I Know)

I started my advertising agency career at New York’s Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, one of the original Mad Men agencies. Other than having an absurdly rich AOR client list (Toyota, P&G, General Mills, Nabisco, Wrangler, HP, and on) we were known for our ‘best’ advertising agency Creative Brief. This brief worked so well that it was adopted by the 4A’s as the gold standard.

That was then. Does this agency Creative Brief still work to guide brilliant advertising? I think so.

The Best Advertising Agency Creative Brief For A B2B Podcast

I applied the Creative Brief format to one way I think that an advertising agency or any B2B marketing org could build and run a standout podcast. By the way, think that it is easy to stand out in the world of podcasts? Check out these numbers from PodcastInsights.

Also, a common question is “how many podcasts are there?” and most of the data out there is outdated, but we have an accurate method for determining the number of shows – and it’s currently over 2,000,000.

There are also over 48 million episodes as of April 2021.

I wrote this Creative brief for one of my agency clients a few months ago. Therefore, it might seem a bit outdated, or better yet, prescient. Go ahead and use the idea. The idea will work for many industries.

I highlighted the core CB sections / questions in red.

A Sample Podcast Creative Brief

CREATIVE BRIEF: Giant Gorilla Agency Product/Service: The Marketing Journey Podcast

January _1_2021

Background

London’s Giant Gorilla agency specializes in hospitality industry marketing.

It has been successful in building a large client base across a range of industry subcategories. Giant Gorilla is known for its strategic approach, data expertise, high ROI programs, and for its business insights and social media channels.

It is time to move this energy into podcasting.

What is the objective of the project?

Create and produce a daily, unignorable podcast for the hospitality industry.

The Marketing School podcast from Neil Patel and Eric Siu, is an example of a daily listen. Each show averages 5 minutes and includes a commercial.

Who are we talking to?

Listenership will include food and beverages, lodging and recreation industry corporate marketers, business owners, and related press.

What do they currently think?

The hospitality industry took a major hit in 2020. We expect a slow but steady revival in 2021. Current trends point to growing domestic travel and then a resumption of international air travel by the third quarter of 2021.

The industry is ripe for the consumption of marketing information related to category growth.

What do we want them to think and what action do we want them to take?

We want the industry to view Giant Gorilla as the leading advertising and digital marketing voice and marketing communications agency in the hospitality industry. The essence of hospitality has changed, and Giant Gorilla is uniquely positioned to be a leading voice in industry marketing.

What is the message that will move this target audience to action?

Giant Gorilla’s The Marketing Journey hospitality podcast delivers business-building information, insights, and brief interviews – every day.

“Give us eight minutes every morning and we will help you accelerate your growth.”

Program Elements – The Show

The five-minute The Marketing Journey Show will be published every weekday at 8 AM EST.

Giant Gorilla’s COO Nancy Greene and Creative Director Jill Davis will host The Marketing Journey. Nancy will use her past broadcast experience to lead the discussions. Friendly, intelligent banter will rule.

From time to time, the show will bring in Giant Gorilla’s leading thinkers (like CTO Sandy Goddof on TikTok and travel), current clients and guests from the industry.

For production efficiency will gang record five shows every Tuesday afternoon unless there is late-breaking industry news.

The production team is TBD.

What are the support points?

Timely topics will include news about the business of hospitality: industry trends, Covid related issues, what’s hot in marketing, new business models, and a range of discussions on the constant evolution of hospitality marketing, with a concentration on digital marketing.

Great Guests = Traction & Unignorability.

We have already booked interviews with the CMO of InterContinental Hotels; Shake Shack owner Danny Meyer, a very successful Airbnb host, and the CTO of Hotels.com.

What is the brand’s character?

The Marketing Journey is super smart, knowledgeable, and curious – all with a touch of humor.

What is mandatory?

Each show will be broadcast on all of the major podcast platforms and will be supported by individual show landing pages.

Each show will promote Giant Gorilla’s hospitality industry expertise. See The Marketing Journey marketing plan for detailed information.

Oh, Oh… Does Your Agency Need An Action Plan To Get To Being UNIGNORABLE?

Give me a shout to get you there faster. Bottom line? I am like every other advertising agency business development consultant. OK, not. Name one that ran biz dev at Saatchi, owned his own agency, and started two Internet companies? I am more strategic, smarter, and more action-oriented. Also, funnier.

How To Be The Best Global Advertising Agency

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Want To Run A Global Advertising Agency Out Of Only One Office?

London Advertising, the crazily awarded global advertising agency (like being called the Agency Of The Year by The Drum year upon year) allowed its CEO Michael Moszynski to be interviewed by me right here on Advertising Stories. It helps that we worked together while having a few pints at Saatchi London in the way back. It also helps London Advertising that Michael’s Creative Director partner Alan Jarvie kicks butt as well.

Here are lessons on how to be distinctive; the value of the single-minded branded big idea; how to spend 25 years growing the massive Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (and making it one of, if not the, most revered hospitality brands); how London advertises itself and how it kicks global / multi-office behemoths like WPP via one focussed office in London. Mantra = much more effective advertising for less. Not a bad sales pitch.

Really, there is not much more that I can say other than listen up. There are multiple teachable moments for any digital or “full service” advertising agency in this podcast. Pass it on to your mates.

NOTES:

London Advertising

Michael Mosynski on LinkedIn

The Mandarin Oriental “I’m A Fan” Advertising Campaign

Hypnotism coming: Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to subscribe to Advertising Stories. Remember to…

A nice thing for me… Feedspot has recognized Advertising Stories as being a top 15 advertising podcast.

Thai TV Commercial Offers Some Feel Good During Covid-19

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Take Three Minutes To Feel Good

I don’t have much to say to add to this commercial. Just watch it.

But I do want to point out that my very socially conscious friend Russ Stoddard, who runs Oliver Russell, one of the more serious purpose-driven marketing firms, pointed out that he thinks that charitable donations are up in the world of Covid-19. This message is inside of our Advertising Stories podcast. After you watch the Thai TV commercial, listen to the podcast. One of my best.