digital marketing

An Advertising Agency Website That Actually Brands

Peter · March 6, 2014 · Leave a Comment

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?

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.”

Merry (Belated) Christmas From Victors & Spoils

Peter · February 19, 2014 · Leave a Comment

I’m a bit late to the Christmas party but, just found this more-creative-than-the usual-boring agency-Christmas-thing. In this case, its a Christmas video from that agency that so many other agencies that don’t have a point of difference love to hate. Yes, Victors & Spoils has detractors. But, then again, anyone doing anything new gets dumped on by the old guard. Surprisingly, for a “creative” industry like advertising, “new” is scary.

Did Victors & Spoils crowd source the Photoshopping? While you are at it, watch the agency’s descriptive “about” video. It also works. More agencies need to use the power of video to sell, yes, sell, their agency to fickle website visitors.

Today’s Marketing Headache

Peter · February 9, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Need a marketing headache? Well, according to Gartner you should already have one. Check out this chart that makes it all look like a train wreck ready to happen. That’s the bad news.

The good is that savvy advertising agencies should be able to use this level of complexity to offer aspirin-like services.

My First Time. It Was Sweet.

Peter · February 8, 2014 · Leave a Comment

I won my first pitch in February 1984 — so, this is my 30th anniversary of pitching and winning.

In 1984 I was an account executive at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, New York’s largest “Mad Men” era advertising agency and I used this pitch to gain senior management awareness and a promotion to account supervisor. Dancer also known as DFS, an agency you might not know about, had some small clients like P&G, General Mills, Toyota, Sara Lee, Nabisco, Wrangler and HP. (Saatchi & Saatchi bought Dancer in 1987.)

The pitch was for Western Union’s EasyLink service. EasyLink was the first commercial email service and launched the same year as the IBM PC. We won the $15 million AOR pitch and in the process I learned how a well-oiled pitch worked from a new business team that won nine out of ten pitches that year. One of the reasons we won the Western Union account was our repositioning of electronic mail (yes, that’s what it was called back then) as Instant Mail. DFS was very keen on selling the benefit.

So, just to go back to 1984 for a second. I was three years into my advertising career, I got promoted, I was working at New York’s hottest agency. I was working on one of the earliest internet technology accounts (a reason that I eventually left advertising to launch two Internet startups) and I learned how the Internet was going to transform the world of communications.

Here is how the New York Times reported on the win. get this. There were about 40,000 email users back then. Today? For 2014, Radicati Group projects 2.5 billion email users worldwide.

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

Peter · February 7, 2014 · Leave a Comment

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”.)

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.