Advertising Age - Small Agency Diary

I've been traveling a lot lately for business, both domestically and overseas. I've met many fellow small-agency owners along the way and had a chance to talk shop with them. There have been a lot of groans and glum facial expressions -- but no smiles or wide-eyed looks. How sad....

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"Will Ad Age notice a 3-year-old interactive agency based in Arkansas?" That was the question that crossed my mind last spring as the application for Small Agency of the Year sat on my desk, mixed in a stack of RFPs, resumes and reports. We were confident of our mettle, but...

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Last year, we held the first ever Ad Age Small Agency Awards. This year, we're adding a little something extra: a conference....

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Results. They're what every client wants and what every agency promises. At the end of the day, they are truly the alpha and the omega of our business. And far too often, in spite of the pomp and pageantry, they somehow get lost in the daily lives of agency folk....

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As long as there is a need for an idea, there is a demand for what we do. In other words, we will always be in business as long as we create new ways to communicate brand stories....

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My fellow columnist Peter Madden wrote a well thought-out piece on the effectiveness of Tiger Wood's apology event last week. Well thought-out, but off the mark as well. I don't think Woods gained much from his performance at all....

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Our competitive drive seems to have created an unfortunate trend toward agencies holding out broader expertise than they can possibly muster, which contributes greatly to client cynicism and the commoditization of our industry....

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As the communicators, we're taught that public relations is the art of positioning through communications. Communications in this sense is everything from what was said, not said, and the visual presentation. In the case of Tiger's redemption party (or more like a wake), the following is my take on what...

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In the advertising business, we take similar approaches to winning business: for a pitch, we practice, practice, practice. And then we do our thing in front of the client (the equivalent of the Olympics judges)....

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It seems that business communication is moving at 140 characters a minute, until it comes to the conference room, where everything. Must. Take. An. Hour. We're adults now, and we don't all need "a turn" in the meeting....

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The vast majority of thought, emotion and learning happens in the unconscious mind. The implications for our industry are profound, far-reaching and frankly too often ignored in the day-to-day reality of how we build marketing plans, craft target insights, and even sell and produce our wares....

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Even though RFPs precede an actual business relationship, they contain an implied transaction: We'll invest heavily in time, brainpower and, yes, emotion to demonstrate how we can move your business forward. Your end of the bargain is to acknowledge that contribution at each step of the process....

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It was like a breath of fresh air. It was like walking out of a noisy party into a peaceful spring night. It was remarkably striking in its simplicity. It put the furry animals in perspective. It made all the digital wizardry disappear into the background. It put my consumer...

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There was much debate on whether Pepsi made the right choice not to participate in the Super Bowl commercial spectacle. Ironically, most of those who bought commercials didn't participate either. No one wants to do a great commercial for the Super Bowl anymore. It looks like we're just out of...

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A focus group is an extremely artificial environment in which to see an ad, where the viewers are attentively awaiting presentation of the commercials that they will judge. Sound familiar?...

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Even as anchormen became anchorwomen and news teams became more racially diverse, a sameness of product emerged on the late local news. Each TV station followed the next. Man-and-woman anchor teams. Incessant coverage of house fires and crime scenes. Helicopters. Oh, and the weather. Hyperbolic coverage of weather, each with...

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More and more, I'm hearing about agencies who are approaching the conference with aggressive business-development goals. And each year, there's a growing army of marketing folk in attendance, so there's likely a Texas-size gaggle of potential clients to share barbecue with....

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I won't comment on why much of an agency's compensation has shifted from monthly fees to project-based ones. That is a whole posting unto itself. What I prefer to discuss now is how to prepare your agency to thrive in a largely project-based world....

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As AgileCat enters its 10th year, I can look back with few regrets. But if I had to pick one, it's that I didn't put enough effort into making the culture extraordinary. Since the beginning of 2010, my focus has been wholly on our culture, and I can feel the...

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Utopia does not exist. But while this type of rhetoric may sound ethereal, we do believe that talking about these values -- at the inception of a relationship -- can have a significant impact on agency-client relationships. Think of it as having the hard conversations with your clients, before they...

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David Ogilvy was quoted as saying, "Look in all the parks in all the cities and you'll never find a statue to a committee." Truer words were never spoken. Ideas can't be "committeed" into greatness. That said, some of our industry's greatest work over the last decade required a huge...

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Like many small agencies, our new-business efforts were in full swing last year -- focused on both offsetting budget cuts and trying to (as always) bolster our client roster. Against the backdrop of this heavy influx of presentations, meetings, proposals, RFPs and pitches, we found ourselves in a unique situation...

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In 2010, I think we're going to see a new economy emerge with less expensive services that will displace a lot of the premium services that agencies depend on for the lion's share of their revenue. This new economy will change the organizational structure of agencies and determine the next...

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It's funny how someone can quickly get pigeon-holed into becoming the go-to resource for all things related to a given profession. I'm guilty of it. In fact, I do it all the time with my mechanic friend, investment friend, accounting friend and the list goes on. That's probably why it...

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As an agency that transformed itself from traditional to 100% digital over the span of about 10 years, the question we get asked most often at conferences and industry events is, "How did you guys do it?" The full answer to that is far too long for one of these...

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I'm a big fan of resolutions. Each year I personally make three. Most years I'm lucky if I successfully complete one -- as was the case this year -- so I carry two forward and add a third. In that spirit, let me offer up three resolutions that I hope...

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Our lives move at internet speed, yet many only put together their business, marketing and financial plans on an annual basis. Why don't we throw the one- and three-year plans in the garbage, and commit to quarterly plans instead?...

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Bad times are good for us. It brings out the good in people....

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Two words have fueled a dramatic increase in online purchasing this year: free shipping. Sounds crazy, right? I can just hear the cynical comments. So hold tight there. And even if it isn't crazy, why am I more concerned about the impact of free shipping on the agency world?...

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Based on what I've heard, you would think Dec. 31 will be the day we flip a switch and, like Dorothy opening Auntie Em's front door after the storm, everything will change from dingy brown to glorious Technicolor....

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