new business

2 Pieces Of Advice For Ad Agency CEO’s

Peter · April 29, 2013 · Leave a Comment

The big idea is that your agency should be making things — for yourselves (and your clients.) It is simply too easy and you have the brains, talent and energy. What’s more, you will walk the design talk. One idea is futuristic and the other is simply something you should be doing anyway.

Here are two ideas.

1. Learn 3D Printing

Buy a 3D printer, experiment and be much smarter and on the ball than all the other agencies in your town.

My suggestion is buy the the soon to be released Form 1 from Formlabs. As Formlabs says,Form 1 is…”An end-to-end package. Printer, software, and post-processing kit that just works. Right out of the box.” Check out their video.

$3,300 puts you right in the middle of the 3D printer explosion. And, its so damned beautiful. Put it on that expensive front desk that really does zero for your agency’s street cred. Go here if you need to geek out on this big idea.

Make Some Tee Shirts

It’s summer. Need I say more?

I have a few more ideas. Most are about how you can make more money. Now, that’s a cool thing for an advertising agency to make.

How To Write An Ad Agency Business Plan

Peter · April 21, 2013 ·

78% of advertising agencies do not have an up to date business plan.

Ok, I made that number up. But, based on my travels through ad land, I am sure that I am close… and, maybe even a bit low.

Without a business plan it is virtually impossible to build the right agency for the future and a new business program that wins new clients and fuels revenues.

Here is a four part template for getting started on planning, steering and managing an agency that will get noticed, grow and prosper in today’s fast-paced advertising and digital marketplace. I call my “instant” 4-Part Business Plan blueprint. It’s essentially a fast-track Q&A to help start the planning process that results in an actionable business plan. [Read more…] about How To Write An Ad Agency Business Plan

The Six Second Advertising Agency C/O Vine

Peter · April 19, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Advertising agencies ask…. “How can we look / sound / act different that the other 4,000 agencies?” Well, why not become the “Six Second Agency”?

Business Insider reports that “Nissan Says A 6-Second Vine Might Have Been Better Than Its 30-Second Commercial”

Would certain commercials be better if they were condensed into 6-second Vine videos?

In October 2012, Nissan released a TV spot in which a mid-level accounts guy gets mistaken for a high ranking executive after he gives his boss a ride in his Sentra.

Then a consumer edited the 30-second ad down to six.

Nissan then posted on Vine, “Hey @ellencmayfield you’re on to something. Maybe we only needed 6 secs of airtime for the Carpool ad. :)”

I wouldn’t be surprised if the six-second Vine got more attention that the TV commercial. Why?

Vine is still new so any Vine TV spot will get extra attention until advertisers overwhelm us with this type of advertising.
We are collectively way ADD. Six seconds is good.
Advertising effectiveness wasn’t hurt when TV spots went from :60 to :30 to :15’s.

Back To The Six Second Agency Idea

Here is what I’d do if I still had my agency:

Create a micro-department and call it The Six Second Agency.
Create 5 Vine spots.
Build a simple website.
SEO the hell out of it.
Make some noise… go get some PR.

If it works, great. If not, hey you just had some inexpensive fun, your employees will think you are cool and your clients (at least the savvy ones) will smile and be glad that they are working with such a smart agency.

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There is a 78% chance that you loved what you just read. So, go here, read my Corleone offer and call me if you are an agency CEO or want to be someday.