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Some quick intel from the trades on agency pitches, wins and losses. For your recruiting, job search and new business efforts.
Pitches
Wins
Losses
This post was published November 1, 2019. Other relevant articles of interest:
Here’s a quick overview of new CMO announcements. Culled from a variety of trade press and a custom Google search, it’s expected these brands will go into review.
Hyundai brings on new CMO with heavy agency experience. Angela Zepeda arrives at Hyundai having worked at Innocean, the agency built to manage the business. Angela spent three years at Innocean and has a wealth of other account management and new business expertise from other well known agencies.
Twitch hires new CMO from Zynga. Doug Scott joins Twitch (an Amazon-owned company), ending a three month window where Twitch was CMO free. Doug’s past relevant experience includes Electronic Arts, YouTube and earlier stints at Diageo, Gallo wines and more.
Babbel invests in new marketing push with new leader. And they’ll also beef up their internal team. Steven Meyers brings marketing experience from Indeed, WeWork and Candid.
Beyond Meat adds new CMO from Coke. Stuart Kronauge spent 18 years on various Coca Cola brands before being wooed to join Beyond Meat. Expect more marketing investment from this brand, as the company has added other senior level professionals to the marketing team.
Yasso Frozen Yogurt brings new CMO to leadership team. Andy Judd brings relevant experience to Yasso from marketing jobs at ONE brands and Boulder Brands. Yasso bars taste great and happen to be good for you.
Jos. A. Bank’s new CMO is from Mattel and a start-up. Matt Repicky joins this men’s clothing retailer with a wide variety of fashion experience, having worked at Mattel/Barbie, Amazon/My Habit and The Jones Group. Jos. A. Bank has over 500 retail locations and a growing digital presence.
This post was published on October 30, 2019.
A couple of newsworthy Chief Marketing Officer changes you should know more about… And keep in mind as you read about these changes, there might be opportunity at the brands these marketing leaders are now leaving.
Subway gets new CMO from Michael’s. The brand is making other leadership changes, too. Carrie Walsh joins this sandwich brand from Michael’s. And before that, Carrie’s worked at Susan G. Komen and YUM brands.
Impossible Foods hires new marketing chief from Google. Yes. That plant-based meat brand. And this new leader has a fascinating and unexpected background. Jessie Becker’s marketing past includes successful stints at Google and Netflix. As the press release reads, the Impossible Burger is sold in nearly tens of thousands of restaurants across the US and in every type of cuisine.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe brings on new Chief Marketing Officer from Floor Coverings International. Mark Montini will now lead Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s marketing efforts. The brand has over 800 locations, most of which are franchises. The company is also hiring a new digital and chief information leader. And as you’ll read, bring your data and franchise expertise to this potential pitch opportunity.
Puegot North America finds a CMO to accelerate US re-entry. Another interesting move. Lisa Mark will join the auto brand from Voya Financial. Lisa has experience on other big brands, too: Disney, Mizuno and Fox Sports.
Might be just me. But all four of these brands are bringing in marketing leaders from outside their respective categories. Hmmm. Does this suggest these brands might be more open to non-category agency pitches? Or maybe this just means your agency can help these new execs get up to speed in their respective categories. Or maybe it means…
This post was published October 18, 2019.
Here’s some intel on three brands bringing on new marketing leadership.
Intel hires CMO from Cisco. Karen Walker joins this giant tech company from having spent ten years with another tech brand, Cisco. The Ad Age article offers up some intel on recent Intel organization and strategy changes that ultimately made the company shut down it’s in-house agency.
Sierra Nevada hires new first VP Marketing from Equator Coffees & Teas. Noelle Haley also brings more than six years of beer marketing experience to her new post, as she was CMO of Lagunitas (where she was promoted to that role). Looking for more more CMO change in beer? Read the article above. A variety of sized brewers are mentioned.
Sirius/XM/Pandora brings on new CMO from Ameritrade. Denise Karkos is leaving Ameritrade and joining this satellite radio giant. Seems like a great move for both the leader and the brand, as Denise is known for combining keen data analytics with tech platforms.
This post was published October 9, 2019.
Hello there, agency CEO, president and/or agency new business development professional.
Who isn’t looking for new ways to generate revenue? You don’t need another guru preaching about all the change happening in our space. But you might need an innovative thought or two on how your agency can win given the new realities of this ever-shifting industry landscape (insert appropriate guru talk around all the changes.)
As you think about news ways of doing business and making money, here’s one useful tip: look beyond our profession. By all means, ya gotta do what many call the three “Cs” – explore and analyze your company, your category and your customer.
But to me, there’s an opportunity to go a bit further. I think the best new thinking comes from some liberal borrowing from relevant and sometimes unusual sources. Steal a few ideas from other industries.
The job is made even harder should you be an agency leader at a large agency.
Which is why you should check out this article from the Harvard Business Review blog. Entitled, “Can Bigger be Faster,” it offers up a big picture thought on why bigger organizations can, in fact, be faster. The answer seen in the post: due to their networks. And then, they use the US Army, one of the largest organizations in the world, as an example. The article identifies four strategies that are an integral part of the Army’s own change due to…wait for it…THEIR ever-shifting landscape. Sound familiar?
The post is terrific reading, written by some smart dudes. And don’t be thinking, by the way, the thoughts are relevant for big agencies only. If you’re leading a ten-person shop, you should still check out the article.
It immediately made me think about how thinking about you can rethink your agency’s networks, establish a shared purpose; create a shared consciousness; and encourage dissent. (The article’s four strategies to company transformation).
However, the problem with articles like these is that they are too broad. While I applaud big picture, head-nod thoughts like, “build relationships” and “encourage dissent,” I would take this 30,000 foot thinking and bring it down to good ol’ main street. So read the article through an agency lens. Maybe you”ll see what I did:
Whether you use technology to encourage communication between teams, warehouse category knowledge, or optimize work flow / project management, it can be a useful tool. It can also be marketable and might provide some differentiation in, say…a new business pitch. Or in crafting a new client/agency relationship paradigm.
I barely know what “change management” means. Here’s a high level view. Or check out wikipedia. I think it means what you think it means. What’s interesting, to me, is that whatever new operating model or change you are considering, it will be important to consider HOW the change is implemented and that you take into consideration all parties. Staff, clients, suppliers, agency owners, etc.
Avoid the “no proof” objection – a sure-fire killer in new business pitches – and consider trying out and then optimizing your innovation with clients. Not your biggest ones, of course. But someone that can offer you the right balance of risk / reward. Some positive results for a client or two – a case study for your news – can do wonders.
One could even argue that you could take a crawl – walk – run approach to anything new. You do, after all, have mortgages at stake. No matter how big your agency is. Crawl: small clients. Walk: a new business pitch. Run: more external visibility, more clients, etc.
Anywho, hope this gives you an idea or two that will help your business. Check out the article, do your other “C” analysis, and then get to innovatin’. Thanks for your time today.
photo credit: The U.S. Army Multi-national training via photopin (license)
Traditional agencies are having a hard time. They’re trying to survive in a world where brands are rethinking the way they handle marketing. For starters: more in-housing; more projects/less AOR relationships; goodbye, CMO/hello, Chief Growth Officers.
Agency growth is stagnant. Heck, some great agencies are even closing their doors.
I suggest to you, gentle agency CEO, president, new business leader or discipline leader, that one way to help keep your client around and grow revenues is to help make sure the client/agency team is having an impact. The kind of thing that helps you solve the thing that keeps you and your client awake at night.
Here are a quick few hundred words on helping your CMO partner create bigger impact.
1. Re-purpose and redefine the client / agency relationship
I’m not quite sure if that consultant-speak delivers the thought. Might be better to illustrate this with as few sample questions:
All agencies deliver business or brand results. Fewer agencies deliver thinking, ideas and services that move beyond marketing communication. Moving beyond just making ads is a great revenue growth strategy.
2. Merchandise and market the results of the client / agency partnership
Said in another way, this is helping your client sell-in and sell-through your team’s work throughout his or her organization. That’s a fairly broad idea, but I think it’s clear. The sometimes political, internal stakeholder work that all clients and prospective clients must do to justify marketing’s existence. Not to mention their own jobs. Here are some thought-starters:
Anywho, I hope this gets you to expand your thinking around the relationship agencies typically enjoy with their clients. Having had the privilege of working on two long standing client/agency partnerships, I can tell you it’s the above kind of thinking that leads to happier, more productive and valuable relationships.
Thanks. And happy thinking!
