Notes from enough time spent in advertising
A place where account people can stay in touch with serious reality.
On Service And Knowing The Owner
On relationships & influence
Warfel on Trade Shows
Do it right or stay home.
Nobody wants a drill. They want a hole in the wall.
Getting to the core of the objective.
John Webb: We turned around and he was gone.
His legacy remains all around us.
Buffalo has no big-name national ad agencies…
We’re doing fine just the way we are.
Mistakes Are A Great Teacher
Learn from what others do badly.
On Bringing in the Client:
Jay Chiat
A client worth remembering…
You can’t do great advertising without a great client.
Account managers really do need to write creative briefs.
Twenty minutes writing a brief can save twenty hours in production.
I know a guy…
…who knows a guy.
Some days it’s just going to be easier to take a bus to work.
On Who Should be the Boss / Copy Writer or Art Director:
Robert Solomon
DON’T GO LOOKING FOR MERMAIDS IF YOU CAN’T SWIM
Beware of going to the deep end of the pool if you can’t swim.
It’s Show Time
Trade shows will return but be forever changed.
Problem: The Internet – Art vs Science
Is viral marketing the purview of people who believe in magic?
Branding Aesthetics
Nothing speaks louder about a company than the space it occupies.
On Experience:
Mike Beato
Who knew…
I like it here.
Everybody needs to be on the team…
Make sure that the CFO knows she’s part of the team.
On ideas:
David Ogilvy
On value:
Ted Johnson & Tom Peters
Why we go to the show.
We work in a business rife with characters.
On great advertising and bad products:
From Jerry Della Femina
On what account people need:
According to Jon Boal
The well delivered interview.
Hitting the trifecta.
Provided by Lisa Strock
WHAT I’VE LEARNED…SO FAR
When I was a client there were things that I loved about my agencies, things I disliked and things I hated. When I was an agency account manager there were things I loved about my clients, things I disliked and things I hated.
On advertising as an energy business:
From Bill Backer
On getting hired & fired:
Rick English
Working with a decent account manager
From Tom Peters
On teaching…
How hard can it be?
Get Ugly Early
Prep and staying out of trouble.
CHEAP RESEARCH
Probably shouldn’t have done that.
On comparing agencies:
From Jerry Della Femina
On telling your family & friends:
From Blair Boone.
New Bike
How much will it cost? How long is a piece of string?
Six–pound fish on a two-pound line
Going after new business.
Share of Voice vs. Share of Market
Managing expectations and sometimes you have to tell them you can’t get there from here.
Advice from the CEO on getting hired:
From Jim Hettich
What happened to all the bad clients?
They never left.
Going Local…
Like having a cousin in the business.
Is there a question?
Wrong questions show how bad you are.
Sometimes you eat the bear–sometimes the bear eats you.
How far should you go with spending on a trade show?
On quitting your job:
According to Joe Crowley
On getting worried:
So said Hal Riney
Ad agencies’ paradox
On Expectations:
Len Cross
On why agencies exist:
From David McCall
On sales:
From Lance English
Two Beggers
Two beggars sat on the ground in Mexico City, both with a tin-cup in front of them, hoping for a few pesos from the passers-by. What happened next?
Why didn’t they like the creative?
Twenty markers for judging an ad.
On Getting a Printer
There are printers that print and there are printers that can make a difference.
Opinions…
From those that have been there.
Home Court Advantage
Been there–haven’t necessarily done that.
How to be a less annoying client…
Jean DuBow on how to be a less annoying trade show client.
Designer or Artist?
Designers don’t cut off their ears.
Systems
Traffic people don’t get enough credit.
On having confidence in your own judgment:
From Mike Beato
Emily the Intern…
Provided by Emily Markarian
Wanted…
Should be able to…
Who’s Fault?
Take the blame.
On putting yourself in context:
From Lee Clow
PRODUCTION MANAGERS…
Queen of the bloody Nile
Don’t kill the creative spark…
Keep the creatives motivated
THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS RISK PARADOX
When you pitch a new account, three things can happen and two of them are bad.
Who should be assigned to work with the agency?
Want to make your agency go nuts?
Do you really need to send out all those long RFPs?
There are only three things you need to know about an ad agency.
Spec work…
Nothing happens until somebody sells something
On message delivery:
From Bill Bernbach
SMART CLIENTS
They actually exist.
Rendezvous…
Maybe it’s time we got together again.
BITE THE BULLET ON A TRADE SHOW EXHIBIT THAT WORKS
If you can’t afford the dress, maybe you shouldn’t go to the prom.
Beckert on Online Media Measurement
Beware the online media numbers.
Provided by Dave Beckert
On the original error:
From Hal Newsom
What goes around comes around…
“You can never give too much. It all comes back.”
Joe Crowley
JUST IN CASE–
Just in case anybody in accounting, manufacturing, shipping, media, creative, finance, human resources, IT or operations forgot–"NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL SOMEBODY SELLS SOMETHING." Lance English Sales Manager Envise, Garden Grove CA
How long is a piece of string?
Searching for a budget.
On changing jobs…
Joe Crowley said…
Who cares what a brand is?
You would have thought by now that anyone with a basic business understanding and responsibility would know what a brand is. Apparently not. According to the Wall St. Journal, Frank Hurt, president of the Baker’s union that just brought down Twinkies, putting 18,000...
Again with the Social Media…
Do I really need to know this stuff?
On understanding your role:
The Real Don Draper
On invisible advertising:
From Bill Backer
Old Guard and New Media
The new media, needs the old pros,
Beckert on Media
Advertising is not dead.
What should I expect from a trade show exhibit vendor?
Not all exhibit houses are created equal.
On advertising and sales:
Bill Backer
From The Back Of The Class…
Several semesters ago in my Advertising & Media Strategy class, I asked new students why their interest in working in an ad agency. A hand shot up, and I only recall that his name was Tim and that he was very short…smallish actually. Tim was an avid sports fan,...
Open apology to all creatives.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Every time the client told me we had three extra days on the deadline, I told you guys we only had two.
An open note to marketing managers:
Pick your partners carefully
No money for research––going to have to wing it.
Measure twice, cut once.
“What we’ve got hea’…is failure to communicate.”
For all the clients I’ve ever had, and all the places I’ve ever worked, right up on top of every priority list is, ability to communicate. So how come it gets screwed up so much? I had a client that was so concerned with communications and the free flow of ideas that...
On Clients:
From Lois Korey
DON’T TELL THEM. TEACH THEM.
Lee Clow said, "Don’t tell them you’re going to learn their business. Tell them that you’re going to teach them yours." Every shop that ever did a pitch said that they were going to learn their client’s business from the inside out. Learn what makes their client...
SHOULD HR SCREEN THE CANDIDATES?
There’s a reasonable argument that says they should, but several years ago a great client was seeking a senior professional to join their in-house marketing team. I, along with Dave Beckert that handled the media, was asked to meet with the new person on the morning...
Who’s The Smartest One In The Room?
People say that we should have a president who is more like us–one of the common folk, just a regular guy. Not me. I want to vote for the smartest son-of-a-bitch we can find. He’s got to run the whole government. If we only got somebody as smart as me to be...
Adjust The Question…
Can only be as good as the client.
We didn’t say it was your fault. We said we were going to blame you.
Who should run the account?
Be careful what you wish for…
When estimating a project, three things can happen–and two of them are bad.
George Zenger…
If we look back and make assessments about whether or not we’ve been reasonably successful over the years, we might tend to blame our good fortune on things like talent, experience, hard work and certainly a measure of good luck. But in this business, we can’t be...
Can art directors write copy?
Did I say art directors can’t write?
NOT ALL THE GENIUSES ARE AT THE APPLE STORE.
Last week I purchased the new iPhone 4S from the Apple Store in the Galleria. No wait; they had them in stock, even the white one. I paid the money, and then they took me over to the set up table where they attempted to transfer all of the stuff from my old 3GS to...