Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

marketing

Advertising Agency Coaches Are Pissing Me Off.

· · Leave a Comment

$2,250 For A Group-Grope Agency Coaches Seminar? Huh? WTF!

One of my California ad agency clients passed on an advertising agency coaching seminar email solicitation. She pointed out that two of my advertising agency coaching competitors are charging $2,250 for agency managers to attend a group seminar on agency positioning.

Huh, I’m like, $2,250 to attend a group-grope seminar that could not conceivably recognize or focus on the very unique challenges confronting individual, as in very different, advertising agencies. I’m sorry about two things. 1) Any coach charging $2,250 for what I am sure is a mostly canned seminar (just an educated guess) and, 2) Exploiting today’s advertising agency marketplace in a very challenging environment. By the way, here is a bit of the sales copy:

Experience the confidence that comes with deep expertise

Orientation Week: April 20, 2020 / All course modules drop the week of April 27, 2020 / $2,250 per firm principal

OK, Back To Free.

Do you need confidence? I got that.

I’ve been advising and coaching my ad agency clients that they need to hug their best clients. Give some strategic thinking away. No obligation. Provide brilliant, market-relevant insights for free. Keep your client friends close.

Hugging. Here is my free offer. I’d love to talk with you about your current issues and, importantly, opportunities – for free / no obligation. We’ll do some scenario planning I know its tough out there – I have some rather strong ideas.

Want to move fast? Contact me here.

By the way, if you would rather spend the $2,250, let me know and I will pass you along.

Leverage My Real Market Experience.

I’ve lived through multiple advertising recessions (albeit lighter than this one) as a Fortune 100 account director and director of business development at Saatchi (New York & London); the CEO founder of two Internet start-ups and the owner of my own two-office advertising agency. Plus, I’ve custom coached over 100 advertising agencies.

SO — Take me up on my free offer. Let’s talk specifically about your agency (not in a mushy group format), its management, staffing, clients and growth potential. Use my brain and experience to help you to position your agency for long-term success. For free. I’m giving back. Zero obligation. Keep your $$$.

One more thing, if you are looking to reposition your agency, as in being specialized, something I think you need to be doing right now, here is a link to my very well-read post on advertising agency positioning.

The Advertising Agency Of The Future

· · 1 Comment

What Does The Advertising Agency Of The Future Look Like? How About Your Agency?

The advertising agency of the future needs some serious planning and agility. No surprise here. But, what is surprising to me is the lack of attention paid to how to craft an advertising agency for the future.

Just for the hell of it. I’ll start with the good old days.

My first job in advertising was at Dancer Fitzgerald & Sample. Back in the 1980’s DFS was New York’s largest advertising agency. We were sweetly based in the iconic Chrysler Building. At that time, we did not spend lots of gray matter on thinking about the future of the advertising agency business because we were making a 15% commission on media and 16.5% on production. We had a sweet client list that included General Mills, P&G, RJR Nabisco, Sara Lee, Northwest Airlines (I ran the account and our annual profits were $6 million on $9 million in revenues), HP and Toyota. As you might expect, we were not too concerned about reinvention. All this client and revenue firepower helped Saatchi & Saatchi love and buy Dancer in 1986.

Today advertising is a radically different business and ad agencies need to be thinking about how to be positioned for a future where multi-year AOR clients; 15% media commissions; three primary media types (TV, print, radio); a positive global network effect and loyalty are attributes of the past.

Not to get too down, but today the advertising world is about project work, crazy price consciousness, competition from all sides (large consultancies, in-house agencies and your ex-Creative Director who does just fine as a freelancer).

Bummed Out?

Look, for many agencies, it is kinda fucked up out there. As the famous Chinese curse says,

“May you live in interesting times”.

But, but, there are still agencies that grow and make bucks. You can too.

So, in preparation for this blog post – yes, it is ultimately about how to position your agency for the future – I read a bunch of articles on “the advertising agency of the future.” Not too surprising, this is a hot topic.

Interesting (as in ‘Uh Oh’) the first page of Google has articles on your future from traditional agency killers like Deloitte, Accenture, Adobe, CMO.com (an Adobe site).

The agency industry perspective is not on Google’s page one. It isn’t until page two that Inc., AdAge, The Drum and the ANA get to chime in.

I stopped trying to find an actual advertising agency perspective delivered via this search term by the time I got to page four. Do the big guys (even WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, etc.) not want to discuss the future?

Some Findings On The Future on Advertising

Here are some of the highlights from my research. I’m listing these in random order. I’ll have my personal thoughts a bit later. [Read more…] about The Advertising Agency Of The Future

The Advertising Agency CEO and Marketing Data Analytics

· · 1 Comment

I recently had a couple of conversations about the increasing use of marketing data analytics in advertising, design and, of course, digital marketing.

A Big DUH!

The conversations led me to a DUH! A Duh! I am sure you are living through.

Data rules marketing these days (good or bad) given where we are in 2019 marketing. But, these conversations also delivered agency warning signs – and an opportunity.

The opportunity? Agency CEO’s and managers better learn how to use and discuss marketing and advertising data analytics with their current and future clients. I mean, really be able to sound smart.

I’ll tell you how below. But first, some marketing data analysis related insights from people who talk with clients all day long.

1. The Association of National Advertisers

Michael Donahue of The Association of National Advertisers pointed out that every size agency must make the use of advertising data analytics an integral part of their work. Period.

2. Ad Age

Lindsey Slaby in my recent post, “Ad Age Small Agency Podcast”, said the following — followed by my thoughts:

Lindsey: So we need to have the people at the top of some of those agencies that understand what data and analytics really means. It’s not putting one person in a corner to go work on this. Right? So I think that consultancies have really learned, and they’ve always played a part in looking more at the business in terms of revenue and bottom-line profitability, and they get in there and they have access to that information, and now they’re simply saying, “Well, now that we know all this about your consumer, which is so important, and the data, and what they’re listening, and what they’re talking to, and what they want from us, we would like to connect that to the actual advertising and create a benefit station.” And that makes sense to me.

PL Thoughts: The main point here is that in many agencies, especially in ‘creative/full-service’ agencies, management and staff do not fully understand a client’s complicated/complex sales spectrum. Much of today’s sales process is rooted in understanding, processing and leveraging consumer and market data. Unfortunately, in many agencies, data management has been relegated to a back-room function. Because of this, we have a bunch of agency leadership that simply is not schooled in data management and therefore in understanding the entire sales funnel.

Consultancies get this and deliver on the deliverable that they, and their MBA-fueled staff, are schooled in sales-oriented, high ROI solutions.

Agencies that rest on the singular idea that they deliver cool creative and a barrage of content ideas is not a very strong, stand-alone concept.

The Solution: Go To Columbia, Wharton Or Columbia

I am sure that sitting in the corner office, or even out in the sea of open office desks is not where you will get an in-depth understanding of data analytics. I think that this is a subject for proactive agency management. I know that the new consultancies eating big agency lunches get this.

Here is a good idea… Three online schools offer courses in marketing analytics. YO CEO: Why not take one of these courses and you can then tell your clients, future clients, and staff, that you now seriously get marketing analytics.

Head over to edX and see what Columbia, Wharton and Berkeley offer.

 

Want even more learning? Let’s talk about growing your business. I mean how to build a real sales and agency management plan.

You are in a hurry, right?

Contact me now and take me up on my impossible to refuse 15-minute Vito Corleone offer. 

 

A New Advertising Award

· · 1 Comment

Actually, A New Advertising Award And A Pat On My Back

I’m about to digress before I get to the new (to me) advertising award.

I’ve had zillions of conversations with advertising agencies about why their agency blogs get little to no traffic. I have lots of reasons. However, a key one is that essentially, in many cases, nobody wants to read their shit – see what I mean here.

But… There is simply no good reason that agencies should write stuff that either nobody wants to read or is simply a kind of a rehash of what other agencies have already written. Therefore, my award, listed below, is for demonstrating that if you write about things that your target market/audience wants to read, they will actually read your shit.

End of digression.

Award Number One: Ad Stars

I’ve added a new award to my award list. Go check out Ad Stars on my master award list at Top Advertising and Design Awards.

Thanks to my friend Bobby McGill and his must-read branding in asia magazine for alerting me to Ad Stars. As the article says, “Ad Stars wraps up its 12th year with winners chosen from 20,645 entries submitted from 60 countries.”

Here’s the winner’s list.

Go win this award next year. Put it on you ad award list. You have one, right?

Award Number Two: Me

I am giving this award to myself for writing about a subject that appears to be rather dear to the hearts of advertising agencies. The subject is the desire to win an advertising award. I know this because my 2019 blog post, Top Advertising and Design Awards has + 7,400 views as of today.

My point? I deliver valuable information to my prospective clients. I know that you can “own” a subject that matters to your readership. The readership (as in new clients) you really want.

 

Advertising Agency Recession Freakout

· · 1 Comment

Advertising Agency Prosperity During A Recession – Fuhgedaboudit

Is your advertising agency ready for the next recession? Have you been thinking that the current sweet economy that has helped the small and medium-sized advertising agency market to prosper in the past couple of years was going to last forever?

Well, the time has come to fuhgedaboudit.

Early last week a smart agency client of mine asked me about the current volatility of the stock market that is driven by increasingly inept and ill-timed trade war announcements. He mentioned that his clients are getting skittish because they do not have a clear view of the future. Uncertantude is not a harbinger of growth in client marketing, advertising spending and therefore agency security.

Yesterday the stock market dropped 3% on thinking that a global recession is coming. Does this make you feel secure? Even if the market continues its up and down ride, clients will be spooked for awhile.

The Advertising Agency and Recessions

Recessions breed fear and loathing within client ranks. I know this having gone through some major recessions where worried clients lower budgets, stop programs and begin to fire and change agencies. You do not need to hear my personal history. But you should remember the ‘great recession’ of December 2007 through June 2009. The USA GDP dropped by 5.1%.

To be direct, that recession fucked the advertising industry and I am not sure that the industry, as in what it can charge clients, has ever recovered. I won’t go into detail about the recession. But, if you need a memory nudge, watch these two movies again: The Big Short and The Queen Of Versaille.

What Can You Do? Think Business Development Baby.

You know what happens to client spending and loyalty during an advertising recession. What can you do about it other the tried and mostly failed attempts of trying to convince clients that recessions are exactly the time to increase advertising branding and spending.

Well, you should now up your agency to prospect B2B marketing and spending. Get that account-based marketing program off the shelf. That means it is time to market your agency because:

  • One or more of your best clients will exit through the back door.
  • You’ve been too complacent. When business is good, advertising agencies think the good time will roll on. Not.
  • Sorry, referrals will not sustain any agency growth during a recession.
  • Good news, your competitive advertising, digital and PR agencies have been somnolent as well. They’ve given you a big marketing gap to fill.
  • “Consultants” like Accenture are smarter than agencies when it comes to managing recessions. They will eat up some business.

The recession is coming. Tomorrow? Next year? Who knows. But, I do know it is coming.

It is time to up your advertising agency marketing game. By the way, this is not my first rodeo. Here is an older blog post on recessions.

My recession marketing reading list. Go forth.

My Recession Reading List…