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Thunderclap | Advertising and Marketing Recruiter

When you bring business development strategies to recruiting, it's the perfect storm for success.

By SteveCongdon

The most helpful agency new business post you’ll read in six months

The title of this post may sound like an overpromise. But stick with me. There just might be over 240 reasons why the post is helpful in your agency’s new business growth efforts. (When all you really need is one or two.)

This post digs further into a list of 241 CMO hires from the first six months of 2020. The list is broken out by the following broad categories:

  • apparel / retail
  • consumer digital and media
  • consumer products & services
  • leisure & hospitality
  • financial services
  • healthcare
  • industrial & natural resources
  • non-profit / education
  • professional services
  • technology

Some brands will be familiar to you. And some won’t be. To me, some of the categorizations feel a little wonky. But not sure it matters here. What’s helpful is that it’s a collection of brands in a variety of sizes, marketing budgets, potential scopes of work and marketing situations. A little something for all agencies.

The list is published by Russell Reynolds, a leading executive search firm. You can find it here. They note that while many (many!) brands cut their marketing spending during the pandemic, here’s a surprise: the number of senior-level marketing hires actually increased by 15%.  Which spells opportunity for many agencies.

What follows are four quick ways an agency can use this intel:

Identify brands that may be going into review
This ain’t rocket science. Here’s a great example. This list mentions that Nikki Neuburger is the new chief brand officer of Lululemon. Five days ago, trade press suggests Droga5 was just hired.

Identify brands that may need new CMOs
When a CMO gets hired, they may be leaving a brand that will need a new senior marketing leadership. One could argue this is more helpful information than knowing a brand will go into review. Particularly if you can place a past client there.

Build your connection with CMOs
Share this information with them. There are a number of senior-level client-side professionals out there looking for jobs. This information helps identify potential job openings.

A word of caution: double check the information on this list! At random, I checked about ten names. And on two of them, found some incorrect info. For instance, new CMO’s past jobs listed were from one or two jobs ago vs. their most recent job. This kind of information is easily checked via other online databases.

Further dimensionalize this list to make it even more useful
This information can inspire a few more questions for for growth-minded agency professionals:

  • What’s changed on the list? For the brands that are a potential match for your agency, hop on Linkedin. What’s changed since June? For example, I recently saw new marketing leaders at AT&T, Nature Conservancy, Kate Spade and Volkswagen.
  • How does your agency intersect with these CMO needs? Do you have anything special that might be of interest your target that could spark a conversation?
  • Can this list be prioritized by that intersection?
  • Here’s another post with more questions to inspire your outreach

Anywho, hope this intel proves helpful in your agency’s growth efforts. And as always, should this post spark a thought or two, give me a shout. Thanks!

Filed Under: Agency Growth, CMO Thinking, Pitch Predictions

Intrigued and Wanna Learn More?

Thanks for reading. And glad this got you thinking!

If you’re an agency…
Give us a shout to talk about your next hard-to-find search, a thorny retention or diversity leadership challenge.

If you’re a candidate…
You can give us a shout, too. We know terrific agencies that are looking to hire great people.

Regardless of who you are, feel free to share this post with anyone it might help. Thanks!

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What Others Say

  • "Thunderclap was a great partner in our search for a business development leader. They were thoughtful and transparent throughout the search and took time to understand our organization at a very deep and authentic level. Never once did it feel like a rehash of candidates who tick boxes on paper. Each candidate they presented was thoroughly vetted to our needs and our organization which made the entire process a pleasure. I look forward to working with Thunderclap on future hires."
    Director of Talent, New Business Leader search, mid-sized agency
  • “My search was for a new business leader at a mid-sized regional agency. While candidates are open to relocating to that market, it’s not on everyone’s radar screen. Steve Congdon at Thunderclap gave me a terrific candidate that the agency loved. She’s now on their Executive Leadership Committee.”
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  • “We gave Thunderclap a search for a Senior AE that needed agriculture experience, which is hard to find. And they delivered."
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  • “I’ve given Thunderclap several recruiting assignments over the years across three departments: account management, planning and new business. It’s a pleasure working with them. They know our industry and our agency very well. Their candidates fit our requirements and I know they’re a cultural fit when they come from Steve's firm.”
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  • "After briefing Steve on what was needed, his company was able to quickly source several well qualified candidates that matched the jobs specs. Thunderclap screened them and submitted the best of the pack. One was hired and continues to be one of our top performers. Couldn't be more pleased with Thunderclap's quick response, professionalism and [I] look forward to working together again."  
    Recruiter, New Business Leader search, 300-person holding company agency

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