new business

Advertising Agency: Do Not Pitch That Account!

Peter · November 11, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Hello Advertising Agency Leaders: Do Not Pitch That Account – Yet!

Please, Don’t Do It!

The following blog post on when not to pitch for a new account is from my book, The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. I suggest that you buy the book if you want to (do I need to say this?) win more pitches.

Buy the book – > Here.

Virtually all of the advertising search consultants that I interviewed for the book said that advertising agencies pitch too often. Many agencies seem to pitch almost any account that knocks.

They are inclined to pitch most incoming because (pick one or more): they are feeling the pinch of lower margins; they just lost their big account; they are generally nervous and don’t know the next time they will be invited to a dance; don’t have a serious new business plan that attracts the right clients; haven’t actually identified the types of clients they really want to work with, etc. This pitch anything that breathes mentality really reared its head big time during the recession, but it has become omnipresent in our new world of projects vs. AOR searches.

From the book….

Just Say No!

Before you embark on a new pitch, you should be asking yourself one extremely important question…

Should we be pitching this account?

I know what you are thinking… Levitan’s kidding, right? We’ve made it through the RFI and RFP stages, and now he wants us to ask if we should even be going to the finals?

It’s still ok to say “no”, and now is the time to take a deep breath and review a go-no-go decision. You are about to spend a great deal of time and money. Are you sure that you should go through the next step? Are your colleague’s groans getting louder? Looking in any way ambivalent about the pitch will not help your pitch team feel good about charging into it. Passionless pitches don’t win.

Pitch or not is usually one of the most difficult decisions agency manage- ment has to make. There is a good chance that you think that you’ve already answered this question if you participated in an RFP that led to your selection as a short list candidate. I believe that even if you’ve performed a sound decision making process, now is the time to stop to determine if this potentially expensive pitch is worth the time, effort, and human and cash cost.

Buy My Book On Ad Agency New Business

Peter · October 20, 2014 · Leave a Comment

From The Land Of Self Promotion:

Buy My Book On The Art And Science of Ad Agency New Business And Change Your Agency’s Future.

Imagine spending only $12 bucks on Amazon for the paperback and even less for the digital version to buy a book that will dramatically change how you and your ad agency team creates and runs new client pitches and presentations. Imagine that after you’ve read the book, you will win more pitches!

Imagine not doing this.

No, don’t imagine that. Because, I want you to buy my book…

“The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.”

I want you to win more business, be happy and make more money.

Buy it here.

Why should you listen to me?

You might be asking… Is this Levitan Pitch for real. Don’t take my word for it: here are two reviews from two serious advertising industry dudes: [Read more…] about Buy My Book On Ad Agency New Business

Chemistry Wins Ad Agency Pitches

Peter · October 15, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Here is an excerpt from a chapter on the importance of interpersonal chemistry in winning new business from my book on pitching, “The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book Win More Pitches.”

Interpersonal Chemistry Wins Pitches

By now, you’ve seen that there are many ways that an ad agency can win or lose a pitch.

However, there seems to be one aspect of pitching that keeps coming up over and over and rises to the top of almost everyone’s list (especially within the advertising agency search consultant world). That is the idea that agencies ultimately win or lose based on interpersonal chemistry and corporate culture alignment.

My fear with the chemistry thing is that it can appear to be something that just is vs. something that can be managed and created. There is a school of thought that says that you either gel with the prospect, or you don’t. Sorry Ms. Agency Business Development Director, it’s all about a chemical reaction, and that’s why it is called chemistry.

Yikes.

After weeks preparing preparing a smart, tight presentation, are we ultimately at the mercy and vagaries of some mysterious and unmanageable human thing? Pheromones, anyone? [Read more…] about Chemistry Wins Ad Agency Pitches

Ad Agency: Why No Sales Methodology?

Peter · October 7, 2014 · 4 Comments

I came across the revealing ad agency business development infographic below on the RSW/US website. The infographic highlights some of the findings from RSW/US’s 2014 Agency Marketer New Business Report.

The infographic sucks. Um, no. The infographic doesn’t suck, but it points out one critical agency fail that… SUCKS!

According to the RSW/US report, 66% Of Ad Agencies Have No Business Development or Sales Methodology

What? 66%! Having run ‘sales’ (sorry, it is sales) at Saatchi, my own agency and two Internet companies, I know that a company that has something to sell in the B2B marketplace cannot succeed without a biz dev plan and implementation methodology. Cannot, full-stop. No methodology means no plan and no plan means no growth no growth means lower income. So, let’s solve this problem. [Read more…] about Ad Agency: Why No Sales Methodology?

How To Start A Creative Advertising Agency

Peter · October 4, 2014 · 8 Comments

I am occasionally asked…. “How do I start a great advertising / design / digital agency?”

Here are some videos that help to answer this question. There are more out there but these three videos should get you on your way.

Thanks to Source and Mirren.

The first is from London’s Steve Harvey. Here is how he talks about himself (hmm, Agency of the Decade, not too shabby):

Steve Henry was Founder / Creative Director of Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury, the agency voted Campaign’s Agency of the Year three times and Campaign’s Agency of the Decade in 2000.

Next, we’ve got Sir John Hegerty. Shabby? Not.

John Hegarty is one of the world’s most awarded and respected admen. Over six decades he has been at the forefront of the creative advertising industry from the early days of Saatchi and Saatchi to Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the global company he runs today.

In 1982 he founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty with partners John Bartle and Nigel Bogle. The agency swiftly became one of the most talked about and awarded advertising agencies in the world. BBH has won every Agency of the Year accolade and every creative award possible and has been at the forefront of the industry for twenty nine years.

Finally, here is Chuck Porter. I saw him speak at Advertising Week last week (along with John Hegerty) and he is rather, um, on it.

Chuck Porter is an American advertising executive, marketer and author. He is co-founder and chairman of the advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky and chief strategist for its holding company, MDC Partners.

My numero uno take on starting an agency?

Be distinctive as illustrated by a cartoon from my book, The Levitan Pitch. It demonstrates a key issue facing new and used agencies…. Sameness.