by Next Wave Team | Oct 3, 2007 | Careers in Advertising, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Practical Marketing 101, Secrets of Great Advertising, The Craft Of Advertising
Mark Silveira at Ordinary Advertising reminisces about two clients who asked for, and got, great advertising. To help you understand how to get the advertising you think you deserve- he offers a list of 7 traits in a good client- but number 4 was worthy of mention here:
A Frank Appraisal at Ordinary Advertising
Neither of these clients believed the agency should be considered a “vendor” (more than a little demeaning) or a “partner” (utterly unrealistic), but rather as an “asset” of the client’s business to be taken care of in direct proportion to the return being generated from it.
I’ve seen hundreds of agency sites that talk about being a “partner” when in fact, the agency has nothing on the line- no risk, other than losing the business.
Considering your ad agency an “asset” fits much better - along with the understanding that the part of the balance sheet that accounts for “goodwill” and “brand value” comes in part from the client/agency relationship which should include an almost symbiotic relationship, an intertwining of DNA of the two organizations. Understanding a brand isn’t something that comes overnight or with a contract, it comes from insight gained over time.
In choosing an agency, look closely at what kind of agency you are retaining:
- How long do people stay there?
- Who owns the agency- and what is their personal stake (holding companies can be very cold bedfellows)?
- How long do their client/agency relationships last?
- Is there a passion for the craft, and your product in the agency?
- What are the rewards for both sides if the relationship blossoms?
- Are your expectations for advertising realistic?
- Do you trust them as experts in the field?
In buying a piece of capital equipment- what do you look for?
- How long it will be relevant to your processes?
- Who makes it?
- How do they treat their current customers?
- Is it the best it can be for the money?
- How does it pay off?
- Will it do the job?
- Is it the best solution?
See, your relationship with your agency is the same as that of your new CNC machine- and just like that CNC machine, it can only produce great work if there isn’t operator error- which brings us back to what Mark was talking about- and the idea of the relationship as an asset.
by Next Wave Team | Aug 30, 2007 | 1 to 1 marketing, Brand Relevancy, Change the world, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Low Budget Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Secrets of Great Advertising, Web strategy
There are people out there who specialize in “Buzz Marketing” who will charge you a lot of money for what I’m about to share with you.
Doing the right thing will get you more customers than a new ad campaign.
Recently I’ve had a few very good customer experiences that went above and beyond what I expected from a manufacturer- so good, I’m going to share them with the world, and in the day of Web 2.0 when everyone can have a say, it’s a very good investment.
I’ve had two Lowel Pro-lights for a few years. I am not the original owner, I bought them on Ebay for a song- since the cords had been jury rigged by the previous owner. I had tried to contact Lowel soon after I bought them to get parts to rewire them but hadn’t heard back. I was frustrated, but the lights still worked. We had a lull in our shooting schedule and a new office manager who loves to “Get things done”- so I had her tackle the problem again.
Lowel said- send them in. Two weeks later- the lights come back with new cords- 2 piece this time, with cord wraps included. No charge! When the decision comes to buy lights again- there is no question about what brand will be at the top of my list.
Here is what they say about their warranty on the site:
About Lowel Light
In the event of a defect reported by the consumer within the applicable time period, if any, Lowel will, at its option, replace or repair the defective merchandise at no charge to the consumer for either parts or labor.
Note: the warranty on lights is only 2 years, and I’ve had these for over 4.
Another case of going above and beyond was Hans Grohe the German highend plumbing fixture company. The holders for my hand showers had cracked, and the heads had taken a few tumbles.
I was looking for just the replacements for the holders- but, instead was shipped 2 brand new shower heads complete. Hans Grohe has a lifetime warranty- and apparently stands by it. I will grant that the new heads aren’t quite as cool as the old ones, but, I’m just as clean.
The jury is still out on Zwilling JA Henckels, who promise a lifetime warranty on their fine cutlery, but seem to be confused about what lifetime means- when a handle delaminates. The knife is over 40 years old, and still is a great chef’s knife- however, the handle is coming apart. When presented with something as simple as putting 2 new composite sides back on the blade, they seemed to want to stall and pass the buck. Is it really worth it?
Detroit has turned to extended warranties as a way to compete with higher perceived quality of off-shore manufacturers. Millions are spent on touting 10 year, or lifetime powertrain warranties- yet, if the money was instead spent on making sure every owner felt that getting warranty service wouldn’t be a major battle- and that customer satisfaction really was the brand’s first priority- they’d probably be selling more cars.
Customer satisfaction may be the most overlooked buzz marketing strategy available. As these three experiences showcase how one customer can help propel your brand into the blogosophere for better or worse.
by Next Wave Team | Aug 9, 2007 | Advertising, Apple Advertising, Change the world, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Future of TV, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Secrets of Great Advertising, Web strategy
I don’t have time to sit and watch Steve Jobs introduce the new iMac and iLife while tethered to my high speed connection- but, man, this would be great to watchon my iPhone on the plane to Chicago tomorrow, so I bop on over to Apple’s site and there it is:
Apple - QuickTime - Apple Special Event - August 2007
Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveil the all-new, redesigned iMac and demo new features in iLife 08, iWork 08, and .Mac. See the video-on-demand event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.Voiceover users click here to listen to keynote address.
The problem- even with Quicktime Pro, I can’t save it to my desktop because they have it as streaming media… oops. Went to the iTunes store- and it’s not there either.
Either you fully embrace the idea of video anywhere anytime or you don’t.
Lesson to marketers: make your video, commercial, training film, industrial video available to anyone, to watch anytime if you want to get maximum bang for your marketing dollar.
by Next Wave Team | Aug 2, 2007 | Advertising, Creativity, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Secrets of Great Advertising, The Craft Of Advertising, The Next Wave in Business, Web strategy
Back in 2005 Rupert Murdoch was interviewed in Business week, long before he purchased the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones:
The Birth of Murdoch.com
BROAD VISION. “Our strategy is quite simple,” Murdoch said. “News Corp. at its core is about content. The Web at its core is about personal choice. What we are aiming to do is combine the two, and in the process redefine the meaning of [an] Internet vertical.”
And in buying up newspapers, which ad agencies and CMO’s are writing off as an advertising medium- Murdoch is proving he’s way ahead of everyone else: he’s buying content generators, which will give him eyeballs. He’s planning on earning attention the old fashioned way- by providing useful content.
Which brings me to advertising as practiced today. We’re no longer generating ads to ride along with content- now more than ever the ad has to be able to stand alone as its own content. Not by intruding, but by being invited as content worth watching. So fun, interesting, informative that consumers will actually want to share it, interact with it, or use it to expand their own personal equity stash.
So, before you look at your next media buy and your new ad campaign, look at it as content first, and think what you would do with it? If you would want to hang it on your wall, share it with friends, save it to solve problems, or just keep it because it’s beautiful or funny- then go ahead and run it.
If it doesn’t do any of those things, or is mostly you beating your chest, maybe it’s time to select a new ad agency.
by Next Wave Team | Jul 27, 2007 | Advertising, BMW Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Search and Business, Secrets of Great Advertising, The Craft Of Advertising, Web strategy
Putting an account into review seems to be pretty popular these days. Doesn’t matter what you did for us for the last twenty, thirty or fifty years, or if we catapulted the client to the top of their category- a new CMO (and they change faster than models at a fashion show these days) has to strut their stuff and see if they can save a bit on fees or trade you in on a new model agency. The client agency relationship in America has gone the same way the institution of marriage has gone- from till death do us part, to starter marriages and a string of trophy wives.
The most recent shockers were GSD+M losing Walmart, Wieden + Kennedy losing Nike running and Fallon losing BMW. All the agencies had taken their clients to the top- and then some. With each of these divorces must come costs- yet, clients don’t seem to understand the brand equity involved in an agency relationship. It can take years to find a client voice- and only one swift move by a budding CMO to lose it.
So, with the “trading agencies” show going great guns- the new business to be in is one of matchmaker- to which we recently added Ark Advisors/AAI to the mix. Here is their uninspired bio: (with writing like this, it’s a wonder they are qualified to tell the good agencies from the bad)
About Us
Ark Advisors is a management consulting firm that focuses on a broad range of complex issues facing corporate advertisers and their marketing communications partners. We work in concert with our clients to optimize their relationships with their agencies and to maximize the effectiveness of their own marketing operations.
We have four primary areas of specialization: Agency/Resource Search, Agency Compensation, Client-Agency Relationship management, and corporate Marketing Management.
The Next Wave tries to provide the most update to date list of “agency search consultants” on the web- for those thinking of finding a new agency. Of course, once you’ve found us- you really shouldn’t need to do much more searching.
by Next Wave Team | Jul 18, 2007 | Brand Relevancy, Careers in Advertising, Change the world, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Guerrilla Campaigns, Hot New Creative Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Search and Business, Secrets of Great Advertising, Web strategy
To all the über creatives out there about to launch your new “hot agency”- a few words of advice: launch a site before you send out your press release telling the world that you are open for business.
Unfortunately, most trade press doesn’t bother to publish your url, your phone number or your address so potential clients who are dying to hire a spin-off of Fallon, Wieden+Kennedy, The Martin Agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, TBWA Chiat/Day etc.
If I was a client, I’d assume that an agency is the first to realize that people can’t buy from you if they can’t find you, so, start off with your best foot forward.
Please note: this also means, don’t waste your money on a fancy Flash site- save that for when you are too big and don’t want business (unless you are really smart and know exactly how to make a Flash site that is both accessible for the blind- and search friendly- which few of you do). Google doesn’t like Flash much- and so all those people googling to find start-ups like Goodness Manufacturing, Toy, Barrie D’Rozario Murphy, and Brew Creative are ending up on some upstart agency site like this to find a link to your site.
There is also a bit more to it- web 2.0 and search require more than a brochure site- you have to continually add and update content to make your site relevant to search. If your agency doesn’t understand this, we’re happy to offer our consulting services to help you get the results you want.
