Ladder up to win ad agency new business

Salutations, ardent ad agency new business admirer. Today’s post is brought to you by the letter “L” for yes, you guessed it, ladder. You can be more effective in new business pitching or prospecting by looking at something and asking a simple question.

“What does that mean?”

This can be done for practically anything related to agency new business. For instance, let’s just look at understanding the mindset and personality type of the prospective client. If you get the sense that your prospect is more of a Type A professional, ladder up to understand the implications of this personality type and what it can mean throughout both prospecting and pitching.

It ain’t rocket science. Type A people don’t have too much time and want to get right to the point. What does that mean in prospecting? Short, purposeful interactions would be a good start. A minimum of bullshit. What can it mean in pitching?  Well, for one, it can mean shorter presentations. Shorter introductory walk-ups to strategy or creative.

Another quick example: laddering up in its most basic form helps identify pitches, too. Let’s say you see recurring quarters of negative same-store sales. What does that mean? Again, no quadratic equation needed here. It suggests that change is in the air for this brand. And change could spell a new business opportunity for your agency!

There are lots of other ways laddering up can be used in new business:

  • identify root brand challenges or opportunities
  • help define pitch storytelling or presentation themes

Or, turn the ladder horizontal: talk about how your idea impacts the entire stakeholder chain (from company to sales force to distribution channels to end-use consumers).

As always, thanks for your attention. What that means for me is certainly available upon request! Happy pitching.

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Pitch Predictor: New CMO at Docker’s

ad agency new business tarot pitch announcement predictionDocker’s has named a new chief marketing officer and her name is Adrienne Lofton Shaw. Here’s the announcement on the Levi’s website. Per Ad Age, “most recently, she was the senior marketing director at Under Armour, Inc., responsible for the global brand strategy for men’s, women’s, and youth products, as well as accessories.”

Looking for a hint on what this brand will do in the future? Here’s a quote from Ms. Shaw. “Together, I know we can tap into the brand’s unlimited potential as we expand the relationship with our current consumer, and usher a new generation of loyalists into the brand.” Hmmm…

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Pitch Predictor: Jenny Craig

ad agency new business pitch predictionAd agency new business prospecting seeker, be aware. There’s a new CMO at Jenny Craig. You can find out more about Leesa Eichberger here (Yahoo site) and here (the Jenny Craig site).

She has a balanced background, including agency and client-side stints. Agency experience includes Ogilvy.

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Pitch Predictor: OfficeMax

Hello, ad agency new business pitch seeker. No doubt you and all your competitors saw the news that Kim Feil was recently hired as the new Chief Marketing Officer for OfficeMax here in Chicago. Here’s the press release from the company.

Before joining OfficeMax, Ms. Feil was the CMO of Walgreen’s. And before that, she’s been in senior marketing positions for several packaged good giants, including PepsiCo, Cadbury and Sara Lee. It would be easy enough to do some research to learn when Walgreen’s went into review and where the agency was based that won it. Just sayin’.

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Pitch Predictor: Zynga

Hello, ad agency new business fan. Today’s inbox brought the news that Zynga’s CMO has resigned. There are many news stories around this move, which apparently is part of potentially bigger picture challenges for this company.

Hmmm…

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