personal branding

Gary Vaynerchuk Is Full Of Shit

April 8, 2020 By Peter 1 Comment

Gary Vaynerchuk Is Full Of Shit. Too Harsh?

Before I get to the meat, as in the why of the “Gary Vaynerchuk Is Full Of Shit” blog post (the original, below) I want to point out that this post has received 6,369 views as of today. Clearly, the keyword Gary Vaynerchuk travels. Understatement. Saying ‘shit’ probably does not hurt either.

Plus, for all of you SEO geeks, Animalz told me to update this post.

Let me start with the word ‘shit’.

Here’s a story from my first days in Oregon after I purchased Citrus, my advertising agency. I am a born and bred New Yorker. “Fuck” is in our daily vocabulary. As someone who has lived around the world, I’ve modified the use of ‘fuck’ because some cultures are not as upfront as us. After I moved to Portland I found myself in an early AM meeting and I hear myself saying ‘fuck’. Being a highly sensitive type, I turn to the woman next to me and ask, “Oh, sorry, is it OK to say Fuck in a Portland meeting?” She says, “It’s OK to say it – but only twice.” I love Portland! That was one of my intros to the culture of Oregon.

OK back to Gary Vaynerchuk is full of shit.

Am I being too harsh? No. A while back I wrote on Linkedin about Gary’s take on traditional advertising. He did two minutes of dumping on the world of advertising which ran on an Ad Age Digital Crash Course segment. To maybe to make it easier for you, here’s the copy from the post from Linkedin…

I just watched the Gary Vaynerchuk episode of the Ad Age Digital Crash Course.

My take: Gary is full of shit. (OK, mostly).

First a moment of background. When I lived in New Jersey I was a happy customer of his huge wine shop and as an early digital media adopter, I was well aware of his significant social media foresight and skills. Gary was early and right. And, in a world of ad agency growth issues, he has managed to build a 500 person agency. Bravo.

Here’s the ‘shit’ part. In the video, Gary pontificates in ‘Gary Speak’ about how sales and marketing are not aligned i.e. agencies don’t care about selling products (only about winning awards); that emotion does not sell (tell that to “Think Different”); that ‘traditional’ advertising is inefficient (like much of digital isn’t); that creatives might want to consider shooting 10 spots for $300K each vs. one for $3 million (what world is he living in?) and that maybe we should think about testing advertising before we run it (hmm… that’s a new one).

I love self-promotion. And I get railing at the old ways of doing business to further one’s cause. But, please, cut the way too obvious crap and don’t be insulting.

Look, I get self-promotion. But, please, do not be so insulting (even if you are a little bit right.)

But, But.

I actually like Gary and his Garyvee persona. I have super respect for his personal branding and VERY high energy. And, I dig that he has been well ahead of the curve re new technologies and marketing platforms like Instagram and now TikTok. Frankly, way too ahead of many advertising agencies.

And… I’ve said nice things about Gary in the past. Old school advertising CEO.

Side note: Gary will also star in one of my new videos.

Now This: My 2020 Advertising Agency Survival Guide

Here is another well-viewed post… The Advertising Agency Survival Guide

How To Position An Advertising Agency – Part I

April 1, 2020 By Peter 8 Comments

But First: An Advertising Agency Survival Guide

Here is a comprehensive guide that will help your agency become a winner in today’s crazy advertising marketplace – The Advertising Agency Survival Guide.

Part I: The Advertising Agency Position – The Heart Of Your Agency And Reason For Being

An updated look at how to build a smart advertising agency position (for 2020)… Agencies are wondering how to position themselves in the current environment. Some thoughts before I get to the detail on how to position your agency.

If you have really worked on and delivered on a smart advertising agency position in the past couple of years, do not toss it away because it might not be a perfect business development strategy for early 2020. For Example, if you ‘own’ the positioning / expertise in travel and hospitality do not totally back burner that hard fought for brand equity. Sure, this is a currently weak category! But, when it comes back, and it will, you want to be the leader.
In the meantime, if you are an expert in a weak client category, you might / will need to find a, hopefully short-term, advertising agency position for the current coronavirus world. An example would be to become a very strategic thinker, insight-driven agency. Be the idea guys. Have ideas that relate to your current and future clients – meet the current needs. Do and deliver market research. Drive respect for your brains. use this to stay in touch. Valuable insights will not be viewed as ass being too ‘salesy’.

Need one simple but, believe me ahead of your compeitive agency curve… do some reasech and thinking abut the new Tik Tok advertising world. Here is a link.

One more, why don’t you get one of your folks to start a Tok Tok channel. but, please do not make it about your agency. i have a few ideas. need them?

Part 1

You’ve arrived at Part I of my three-part review of the art of advertising agency positioning. My perspective on this series is that you have to read all three parts to get the maximum benefit for your agency.

Read it all. As Enzo Ferrari would say: “Devi differenziare la tua agenzia. Per fare ciò, leggi tutte e tre le parti.”

Why start with Ferrari?

I think that Ferrari is a well-positioned brand (LOL, how’s that for an understatement!) Ferrari is known for its racing heritage, engineering, design and luxury. Everything they do supports their positioning and, importantly, sales.

At this point, you might be asking two questions.

“What does Ferrari have to do with my advertising, digital or design agency?”

Well, your agency’s brand positioning needs to be as well designed and supported as Ferrari’s.

2. “Do I really need to hear yet another advertising agency business development consultant tell me that advertising agencies need to do a better job of positioning their agencies?”

Yes. Why? Because the great majority of marketing communications agencies look and sound too alike. Not sounding like the guy down the street will result in your driving a much more powerful agency

Before I get into the meat of the positioning issue, I’d like to help answer one of the most perplexing questions of our time:

Is the term “Advertising Agency” still relevant?

What I Learned At Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising

March 27, 2020 By Peter 3 Comments

What I Learned At Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising – It Is Relevant Today

I got educated at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising. I applied my learning to a career that spanned GM of the Minneapolis office, to London and Europe, to two Internet startups, my own agency, and now my advertising agency consultancy.

I learned about the power of strategy, kick-ass creative, being ballsy and going for it. This is what an agency principal and her agency must use today.

First A Bit On Dancer Fitzgerald Sample

I started my advertising career at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample as an AAE on the large General Mills account. Dancer was known as DFS. It was New York’s largest advertising agency and lived in the glorious Chrysler Building. Its clients also included P&G, Toyota, HP, Wrangler, RJR, Nabisco and other biggies.

During my tenure, it was named Agency Of The Year and had a new business pitch winning streak that hit baseball Hall of Fame numbers… .900+. The agency was also known for delivering highly effective advertising including Wendy’s “Where’s The Beef?” and the advertising that launched Toyota and sustained its growth.

The agency spent a great deal of time and money nurturing its account executives with a weekly training program that pumped out the best AE’s in the industry. DFS taught me how to write brand-building strategies, run a profitable account and how to deliver exceptional account service. It also taught me how to work within an empowering, yet nurturing a culture where everyone loved their job. This last point was driven home every month when we celebrated employees who had worked at the agency for 10, 20 and even 30 years.

I was about to learn even more. [Read more…] about What I Learned At Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising

B2B Ghosting Is Bullshit

June 4, 2019 By Peter Leave a Comment

B2B Ghosting Sucks.

Do you know what ghosting is? Here is a definition… From a Google search. I believe that the definition works for both interpersonal relationships, the current common usage, and B2B interactions.

The practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication.

Why mention ghosting in a B2B blog post about an advertising agency business relationship? Because B2B ghosting happens too often.

The B2B Black Hole Proposal AKA – You’ve Been Ghosted

You’ve probably been here. You send a prospect a proposal (they asked for it) or a recommendation to an advertising client (because you are smart and this is what they want from a good agency) and you do not hear back. No response. Nada. Like its starting to feel like never. And, sure you followed up. But, nada. Let’s call it ghosting.

And, worse, any way you think about it, it is simply rude.

This B2B ghosting definition occurred to me today for a couple of reasons.

First, I heard an episode about ghosting on This American Life. The episode is yet another good one from these stellar folks, listen to it. Get A Spine.
Second, I have two proposals out to agencies without any feedback or response.
These proposals are sitting at two Brooklyn agencies and they have gone dark. Important: they asked for the proposals. I delivered. I have been doing this advertising agency proposal / big idea way too long to get upset. But, I do think that not responding is way too unprofessional.

This is a learning moment – a decent subject for a blog post.

Get Past Ghosting

Your mom did not bring you up to act like this. Rude is not cool.

So, y’all need to respond to proposals. Note, NOT doing so is bad Karma. You are, after all, an agency that wants your current and future clients to respond to YOU. Right?

Side note: I get a hundred plus visits to my website every day. Better yet, I get multiple quality leads from advertising agencies a month. These leads, after a conversation, often result in a proposal. Many of the proposals result in clients for my consultancy.

Hardly any end up as dark hole ghosts. Most agencies understand good Karma. And, they listened to their mom. Maybe they even listened to the Dali Lama. Apparently, this Karma stuff might not be an active ingredient at Brooklyn agencies.

OK, it’s a small sample.

LOL. I am over it. Writing is so cathartic.