by Next Wave Team | Sep 20, 2005 | Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns
“We don’t do guerrilla,” says a big agency in NYC, they also “don’t do web” and, no, you have to hire a design firm to do your collateral- we’re an Advertising Agency (with capital “A’s” for effect). When you get to local agencies, it’s even worse- at least around Dayton Ohio and vicinity (that would be Columbus and Cincinnati too) where they don’t even get the advertising part right.
Selling isn’t something companies can do part time. By that, I mean, your brand must live 24/7 in the world- that means on store shelves and the customers cerebral cortex. Your employees should eat, sleep and breathe your product. Think about the employees at Harley Davidson, Apple, Nike – do you think anyone rides a Yamaha into Harleys HQ or anyone is using a Dell that works at Apple- or running a marathon in Reebok’s if they work at Nike- the answer isn’t no, it’s hell no.
So- if your agency can only do one part of the dance that is critical to marketing in these days of fractured media and message overload, you may as well just give up. It ain’t going to happen. Driving your message home isn’t about creating a campaign today, run it for the next six months and work on the next one. It’s rapid fire and maneuver, because if you aren’t shooting your message at your target, your competition is.
There is no one magic media; there is no one great ad that will sell it all. You put an ad out there and you start working on a new angle to hit the market in a different way. You won’t be able to score the same way twice, the landscape changes too quickly.
So, what is a brand manager to do? A couple of things have to change- it’s time to pay for creative- and pay well, forget about the media commissions, how was anyone supposed to really make money on a 15% commission anyway? The rest of the world works on 40 points, so, if you think 15% is going to get you great ads- instead of great media bills, you can go home right now.
The scope of the work should change too. It’s not about just ads- it’s the whole experience that has to match. Expect the website, the brochures, the field work- all to have the same consistent voice, coming from the same people- the agency in partnership with the brand manager. It used to be called “integrated marketing communications” - now the “total brand experience” may be more apt.
It’s also critical to be flexible- to experiment with new media, new placement, new ideas, and especially a new honesty. Ads can entertain, but they also must inform. If you aren’t hitting an emotional chord with the audience while reaching for their gut and their brain at the same time, get back to the drawing board.
No one has time for ads anymore- they want to be part of something bigger. Your agencies job is to create that brand experience that makes the consumer feel a part of something bigger. Look at Harley Davidson’s Owners Groups (HOGS) or the Mac heads that will defend their computer to the death.
When an agency does get it, like Wieden + Kennedy got Nike, it’s a beautiful thing. So, instead of saying what an agency can and can’t do- find one that can Just Do It.
by Next Wave Team | Sep 8, 2005 | Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, VW advertising
I don’t know why we haven’t posted something like this before, but a guy was asking how to find an agency for his “online drum recording service” on Web Pro World News- so this was our answer:
Fascinating business model. Only problem is that now all the prima donna guitar players can find a drummer that might put up with their BS 🙂
On finding an advertising agency- for any business- large or small- our first advice to anyone is to learn a little about advertising. Wehighly recommend the timeless classic by David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising. We also have a tip sheet, called “Conversational advertising for everyone” on our site.
Once you understand better what advertising can and can’t do- the next thing is deciding if you really need an agency, or can afford one. We have a saying: “Advertising only costs when it doesn’t work”- think about it. If you spend X on advertising and get X to the tenth back in revenue, and profit structure is right, your advertising didn’t cost you a thing and your business is better off for it.
If you can’t handle a huge influx of work from the money you spent on advertising, you will probably be in worse shape than not having any business- since bad word of mouth travels faster than good. If you have no budget consider the book “Marketing without advertising” by Salli Raspberry & Michael Phillips (it’s out of print but worth it).
If you think your model can handle the business- by all means start interviewing agencies. As someone who has been in the business for a while, I can tell you the first question to ask is what else have the people at the agency done for a living and what made them go into advertising?
Why- because this isn’t a business about being cute- or funny- or cool, on someone else’s dime- it’s about selling things, and it’s serious business. I don’t know how many people I’ve met in this business (especially graphic designers) who have no clue about selling something other than their own ideas.
The second question is- what are their passions? If I hate sports, I’m not going to do a good job advertising your professional bicycle pursuit championships, but if I eat, sleep and breath bikes in my limited spare time- I’ll probably go to the ends of the earth to create the greatest ad campaign ever.
The third question is do you like the people at the agency? The working relationship between advertising agencies and their clients is like a marriage. You are allowing the other person to take your name and represent it to the world. With so many marriages in this country ending in divorce, it’s a wonder any ad agency/client relationships have a chance. Most important to this relationship (as in a marriage) is mutual respect and trust.
I’ve been assuming that you are approaching an agency that is the right size for your company all along- although if you are a non-profit, or something really offbeat that can allow an agency a chance to do something really creative and fun- you might get lucky with a bigger firm. You should always look for an agency that can afford to give you the right amount of attention for your budget.
So- once you’ve made it this far- start looking at methodology. There are agencies that always use the same formula for all their clients- TV, magazine, online, direct mail etc. Sometimes it’s based more on their own profit model/structure than your needs- be careful of that. The best agencies sell creativity- and are “media agnostic,” Crispin Porter Bogusky, the current darlings of the ad world have grown from a small Miami shop to a huge powerhouse by making small clients seem huge, not by spending more, but doing better creative. They started with the “Truth” anti-smoking campaign, moved up a notch with the introduction of the Mini Cooper to the USA and now have Burger King and as of September 6, 2005 VW.
You have to be willing to pay for creativity- not just media. If an agency is using the stupid model of a percentage of your media budget is their take, they will only advise you to spend more on media.
Look to what kind of “Brand voice” the agencies under consideration establish for their clients. Is it consistent, is it clear, is it distinct? Do they use a variety of media to surround the potential customer with your message? Does it evoke emotion? Does it make you want to be a part of the brand? This is what Crispin did so well with the Mini “Let’s motor” campaign. They found a voice for the brand, stuck with it, and spoke to their target market with a confidence that was sexy and smart.
The last part to look at, especially for a business that is dependent on the Internet, is to see if the agency really understands the net. Is it a part of every campaign? Do they insist on working on your site? Is the content updated often? Is it interesting, is it full of key words, is it built to search? If their own site is built in Flash- run. For the most part, Flash doesn’t search well, doesn’t tag well, and is useless for sending links to part of your site. A simple way to tell if a site is built well is to go to google and type in Site:theagencydomainname.com and see how many pages are indexed, how many have titles and descriptive descriptions. If the agency site doesn’t do this- how will yours?
Last but not least, call a few of their clients and ask how long they’ve worked together and how has their business grown.
We hope this helps answer your questions. Of course, I would hope you would consider our agency for your work, but, if not, we have a list of all our local competition on our site so you can do a comparison shop (and so that people looking for their poor sites, find us first 🙂
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Sep 7, 2005 | Everything You Want to Know About Advertising
From Macintouch.com today:
[Chris Graves] I read yesterday David Esrati’s offer and thought I could do something similar. I own a web hosting company based in Denver and I have temporary office space for two creative or IT types evacuated from the hurricane affected area to Denver. I have available space for two - two desks plus I have a G4, a G3 and a Windows box they could use, plus printers, scanners, telephone, fax etc as well as a beefy Internet connection. I have a full suite of graphic/web production apps available on the Macs, but not the windows machine. If they also know … web design I can perhaps find a few good freelance jobs for them. Just throwing it out there in case it fit with anybody’s needs. Anybody interested can contact me from the contact form on my website.
by Next Wave Team | Sep 5, 2005 | Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, I hope you read this.
(The founders of Google)
To help with the Katrina/New Orleans disaster, could you set up a site where people across the country can offer a job and housing to people in their profession?
So mechanics invite mechanics to their home, bakers bring bakers, bankers and bankers and ad guys invite ad guys.
For the next six months, these people need purpose in their lives.
It’s not a question of give a man a fish, or teaching a man how to fish- it’s giving the fisherman a place to continue to fish.
I’d also say it’s a way to bring a bit of that infectious Big Easy Cheer to places across the country. Between Katrina and the War, we need to remember how to have a good time.
I’ve opened my home/office to help. I’m asking my clients to do the same.
Can the kings of Internet search help? Please?
What do you think?
I’ve just been alerted to this site- although it doesn’t do the job part well-
http://www.hurricanehousing.org/
it’s an effort of moveon.org
by Next Wave Team | Sep 1, 2005 | Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns
A small Katrina win-win?
My agency, The Next Wave, has been looking for web-savy designer/ ad generalist. We’re a small creative firm in Dayton OH. I also have a spare bedroom- right across the street from the office. If there is anyone escaping Katrina who needs a place to stay- and a job, and they have the qualifications- I’m offering my room rent-free, and my office to you if you are displaced. If you owned a small agency and need a place to continue working- that’s fine too, my office can be your office. The position is posted at http://thenextwave.biz/tnw/?p=57.
I’m really not sure of how this will work, I just know that if this happened to me, I’d be grateful if someone was willing to make room and work for me. The only caveat is you have to like dogs and be a non-smoker.
Contact: [email protected]
Alan, my trusted genius intern, found this site: http://www.displaceddesigner.com/
I’ve placed a post there-
I’m really happy they took this idea and ran with it.
Great minds think alike?
7 Sep. 05 Update: I’ve heard from 2 potential displaced people- both, fresh out of school, who have places outside New Orleans with their folks. Both have agreed, finding someone with no fall back housing would be the best option. I’m guessing the people who have been totally displaced haven’t had a ton of time online yet- to sort things out. We’re waiting for you….
ABC News from NYC called, wondering if I’d taken anyone in yet- so the word is spreading- just not to the people most in need yet.
I’m glad others have started following in my footsteps- but the matching will take a bit of time.
by Next Wave Team | Jul 29, 2005 | Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns
When the Museum of Sex opened, they spent a ton of money on really great advertising. When the prestigious Leopold Museum in Vienna had a show of nudes during a heat wave, they just said “come naked or in a bathing suit and get in free.” Guess who got more press coverage for less money?
see pictures here.
There is no doubt that sex sells, but, museums have had pictures of naked people since, well, we’ve had museums. Some one at the Leopold museum understands guerrilla marketing- and I place a bet, that not only will they get international press, they’ll have record turnout of gawkers just looking at the nude guests.
Museums often struggle with their marketing and work really hard to get people to come to their facilities. I’ve been a member of the Dayton Art Institute for years and think it’s one of the best venues for art I’ve ever been in (and I’ve been to museums all over the planet)- yet their marketing effort is always stuffy- totally failing to interest Joe Six Pack in visiting the museum. Even their single nights felt snobbish.
Of course, this campaign wouldn’t work for Dayton since admission is already free, but, I doubt anyone visiting the Leopold right now is worried about the price of admission- this campaign is priceless.
What do you think?
