Hello, sports fans! Steve here. Beach-side. And lovin’ it. Saw yet another story about how we as an industry should try to avoid the idea the standard capabilities presentation. Yes, sometimes they’re dreadful and boring. And sure, the best meetings in early rounds feel more like a chemistry and “what can you do for me” interaction.
While yours truly loves to see these kinds of stories as you never know when or where you’ll learn something, enough is enough. Why continue to moan about the current state of affairs? We’re a bunch of smart folks. So let’s try to solve the problem. Here are two quick thoughts that might help spark some solutions:
- Develop a page and or time limit on capabilities presentations. Get both the 4As and the ANA involved to help seed the idea. Sell in the idea to the search consultants by calling out the benefits of said limits.
- Supply an alternative. Is it a standard two-page “pitch letter” that agencies must craft to advance? Could that replace the RFP or creds round? The notion of being brilliant in just two pages helps everyone.
Don’t know about you, but in certain categories and in certain situations, I always try to help my agency avoid the pitch by making an offer. But we digress! Happy pitching. Sans the typical credentials, natch.
Hello, sports fans! Steve Congdon here. Just read a little bit about Jaci Russo’s take on agency culture and how important it is. You’ll find the story here. By the way, her nimble, WYSIWYG agency is one of the leaders with regard to using social media for new business development. Do the social media thing right, and your agency culture can’t help but shine through. We’d all do well take a lesson out of her book.
Today, I thought you might find some value in BRIEFLY discussing one aspect of how culture can intersect with your new business efforts. It can be a terrific way to differentiate yourselves. After all, surely you can do better than “fun, honest and smart.” Everyone says this.
Do you have… Read the rest of this entry »
This is a quick one. Only because I’ve got to go! Ad Age reported yesterday that the holding company level got a new professional with strong digital chops. What can this mean for KMart and Sears? Potentially some digital assignments coming into review.
If you read carefully, though, and do just a smidge of homework, you’ll see there may be other, more direct changes coming to those brands. So, not at the holding company level, where the impact might be less.
Unless, of course, you’re a monster agency that can offer some substantial supply chain benefits. We just saw this with Grey and Darden. Blogged about here, even.
(Newbies, thanks for being here! Feel free to search for “Grey” in the upper right hand corner of this blog. Also, try “pitch predictor” for a quick review of some brands that may be coming into review.)
While you would usually read a plug here for a Thunderclap backgrounder (first come, first served), yours truly heads off to vacation next week. Sand and computers don’t typically mix! Yet you can still expect some fresh, brilliant little thought-starters or helpful reminders next week. Ciao!
Just finished reading a great how-to story by Avi Dan on Ad Age. I’ve silently watched this man for years. He’s got a great backstory – Israeli tank commander turned agency man turned new business man turned search consultant. Or something like that. Looks like he might even be one of the good guys by not accepting money from both clients and agencies. Hip-hip!
Anyway, in his latest Ad Age piece, he’s offering perspective to CMOs on how to search. And says some smart stuff. What was missing, though, was agency size.
Do you think size is important? Well… Read the rest of this entry »
Answer: spurned partners who just lost pieces of business. And neither one of them will be defending. Richards lost Red Lobster to Grey. And Arby’s just dumped Merkley & Partners.
Ugh.
No one wants to lose something. We’ve all been there! It’s all part of this crazy agency business we all can’t help but love. (Well, for the most part…) And in the “for what it’s worth” category, you gotta respect agencies who read their situation and decide not to defend. They might actually have better chances leveraging that experience in different ways.
While I’m bummed for both of these agencies, it sparked… Read the rest of this entry »
