Lately I’m seeing more and more agencies replace their screens and multimedia projectors with large plasma and LCD TV/monitors. My advice: don’t rush to follow them. Sure, these displays look rich, imposing, and modern on the wall—that’s why architects and interior designers like them so much. And they’re great for showing movies and TV...
Think you’re ready to pitch? These are the twelve key steps I believe are the most important ones that you must manage well to get the win you deserve. 1. Manage first impressions. Make sure you sound organized, eager, and professional on the phone when you get the call. Get back to them fast...
Get the word out to everyone working on a pitch: You’re on pitch time now. The heat’s on. It’s not business as usual. Your whole team has got to think differently about time. One of the strongest assets a pitch team can have is a driving sense of urgency. With ongoing work, agencies grow...
Clients often say they’re looking for their agency relationship to be a love-fest – a true “strategic partnership”. Why, then, do they act so coy and withholding during the courting and mating process? Wouldn’t a little more generosity and openness make for better pairings in business, as in love? An agency executive recently shared...
I just learned a new phrase: “cognitive miser”. (No, it’s not someone who won’t share what he’s thinking.) It’s a term for how people cope with complexity in decision-making. I ran across the term yesterday while getting ready for a seminar I occasionally go to at Columbia University’s Center for the Decision Sciences. It...
How many times has it happened to you that after you show creative work to your clients, one of them turns to you and says, “What’s the agency’s recommendation”? Careful. This question has explosive potential, although handled well it can help you a lot. When I coach agency rehearsals, I spend a lot of...
It occurred to me today that marketers often approach communication strategy the way puppy trainers deal with the family pooch. It’s a question of which commands to give, and how to reward good behavior. For example, marketers of new brands often tell customers, “Fetch!” Drop what you’re doing, go out and grab the latest,...
