Alternative ways of pitching

There are days - although not many of them I must confess - when I think it would be so wonderful to live and work in London, as I did in the early 70's and then again in the late 80's.  Of course one week of that awful weather would immediately drive me back to sunny South Africa.

However I do appreciate the quality of thinking that is evidenced in the marketing and advertising industry in the UK and in particular with some recent posts regarding The Good Pitch.  My colleagues at ISBA- the Voice of British Advertisers - along with the AAR Group ( our UK partners at IAS)  as advisors have done some excellent work on alternative ways of pitching. 

This work was precipitated by the findings of research done among client companies where it was found that the current fully comprehensive pitching process was considered to be expensive in time and money, and not always completely necessary in some cases.

As a result ISBA and the IPA ( Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) developed some new pitch alternatives which we have examined and found to be very practical.  We know that these alternatives will work extremely well in South Africa.

So keep a look out for news on:

* the chemistry pitch

* the tissue pitch

* the No Pitch, Pitch

and the * Pitch in a Day (PIAD)

which we will be making available from December 2013.

For more information in the interim visit www.thegoodpitch.com



 


       

The client/agency relationship blog: Why person to person networking cannot be replaced...

The client/agency relationship blog: Why person to person networking cannot be replaced...: It occurred to me last week that unless we are out there networking for business, we cannot expect to maintain close contact with targeted i...

Why person to person networking cannot be replaced by social media networking - but can be enhanced

It occurred to me last week that unless we are out there networking for business, we cannot expect to maintain close contact with targeted individuals. 

All of us are tempted to think that social media networking can replace individual one to one contact. The reality is that in today's world, we need both elements to work in order to maximize our contacts.  It is so noticeable, for example, that when I am with some business colleagues on an Ad Forum Summit in New York - and I see these colleagues once or twice a year - we become even more active with each other on the social networks during the course of the Ad Forum week.

People love photographs and sharing thoughts with each other.  From where I view things, social media networking helps to deepen this experience and sustain it in between personal interactions.

How we then use the social media networks tells our colleagues and friends about the roles that they have in our lives both personally and business wise. Sometimes these lines become blurred but the better we become at thinking about our social media networks strategically, the more useful they can become to us and to our colleagues and ever broadening network.

Ends

  

The client/agency relationship blog: Winning New Business - preparation for pitch day

The client/agency relationship blog: Winning New Business - preparation for pitch day: We are half way through the first Winning New Business course for agencies and I am very pleased with what we are accomplishing.  The input ...

Winning New Business - preparation for pitch day

We are half way through the first Winning New Business course for agencies and I am very pleased with what we are accomplishing.  The input from the delegates is great - and we are able to share quite openly in a safe space even thought there are competing agencies present.

7.15 in the morning is an early start but everyone is fresh and ready for the day.

The first three sessions were:

* completing a call for specific credentials and how this will be evaluated.  Being competitive and having a point of view is essential if agencies want to stand out from the rest of the line up of agencies - could be up to 15 submitting specific creds in a pitch situation

* Chemistry - what is it and how do you handle the chemistry session?  The four aspects of chemistry that can have an impact on whether an agency will be selected to go through to final stage or not.

* The pitch brief - final pitch - countdown to success and all that must be managed on the way through.  Why the impact of the content of what agencies present at final pitch stage is the critical success factor.  I guess we can write forever about the key to pitching success.

Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal - and why there must be at least three of them before pitch day.  I have drawn extensively from a number of sources - but Cleve Langton remains one of my best sources - his content in his book " New Business lessons from Madison Avenue " is by far the best.

The next three sessions -

*  Managing pitch day

* pitch follow up and having won the pitch, how to on board the client

* New business prospecting - the process from start to finish

I am enjoying also re learning so much of what I already know and have passed on before. It is so stimulating.

Next year I plan to run these as in house bespoke courses for agencies, as well as making the content available on line through webinars.   It is an exciting new venture for the IAS and we are well positioned to deliver this material.

That's it for now.

Johanna    


 



 

The client/agency relationship blog: Winning new business course for agencies - starti...

The client/agency relationship blog: Winning new business course for agencies - starti...: Well I landed back in South Africa on Monday morning after the week in New York on the Ad Forum summit, managed to float about at work for t...

Winning new business course for agencies - starting 30 October - preparation

Well I landed back in South Africa on Monday morning after the week in New York on the Ad Forum summit, managed to float about at work for two days still running on adrenalin from the previous week. However - the last two days of this week have been quieter in terms of meetings with more time to prepare for the last months of 2013.  And a key moment in this last quarter is the start of our Winning New Business course  which starts on 30 October.

Our colleagues in London, the AAR Group, have run a new business course for a couple of years now and while I don't know the content of their course in detail I do know that it is based on the pitch process that we follow. 

So it is quite exciting to put this all together and think about the 16 delegates who will be attending the course and what they will want to get out of the content.  There are a couple of sources of information I have also used - the most interesting being the book by Cleve Langton who I met five years ago and who is a familiar figure at most Ad Forums. His book - New Business Lessons from Madison Avenue - is just the best book I have read on this subject.

A second book -  Perfect Pitch - by Jon Steel has also been highly recommended by another of my consultant colleagues, Will Hamilton, and that will also be part of the required reading.

When I write the content for this course, I realise that packaging 30 years of experience into six one and a half hour sessions is going to be a tall order but the guiding light will be our pitch process coupled with what I have learned as a new business director in a number of different agencies and different disciplines.

The areas we are looking at include:

* credentials preparation and being competitive
* managing the chemistry process and what clients look for
* preparation for the pitch and access to clients
* the pitch itself
* why the on boarding process can make or break a new relationship

And then to wrap the course up we will have a session - on what I think is the most important aspect - cultivating your leads,  and attracting new clients to even ask for a pitch or proposal.  And being patient.

The holy grail of all of this is the understanding what motivates clients during a pitch process and I guess much of our sessions will be around the anecdotes of pitching and pitches that I have seen.  But I have no doubt that our delegates will have a lot to share and discuss.

It will be FUN!!

Until next time.

  


      

Ad Forum World wide Summit - Day 5 and wrap up

My final blog this week.

 

Day 5 was quite spectacular as our first meeting was a surprise as we met John Wren – CEO of Omnicom.  Ad Forum have not seen him for a few years but he accepted the invitation to join us and give us an update on the Publicis Omnicom merger.   He confirmed that the many reasons for the merger include finding efficiencies in financial and technological areas, and that the focus is on the corporate side of the transaction not on the individual agency brands.

 

None of the agency brands in both groups will be merged.

 

The newly merged group – and it will still take about eight to 12 months to finalise in all areas – will continue to do acquisitions in order to ensure that it has every discipline in place.

 

The group will continue to provide clarity to employees and clients regarding Newco ( the new company that will ultimately be formed once Publicis and Omnicom finally merge).  It will have to yield good results for shareholders.

 

And in the interim the Omnicom group still has its fiduciary duties to its current shareholders – as does Publicis.

 

 

Andrew Robertson – worldwide CEO of BBDO – then spent time with us and explained that the world does not need more content as there are already six billion hours of content on YouTube and it will take us 1700 years to watch it all.  He showed us some wonderful case studies from all around the BBDO network including the following brands:

 

La Redoute.fr

 

Doritos – Mexican band

 

Smart Fortwo – car

 

Snickers

 

Guinness – ad for the disabled

 

All of which have achieved major successes in their respective countries already.

 

 

We then moved on to the final discussion re the Publicis Omnicom merger.  This time we heard from Miles Nadal of MDC ( Crispin Porter, 72 and Sunny etc) and Maurice Levy – Publicis Groupe.

 

MDC commented that they will continue with their own acquisition trail and do not see any real impact on their group from the POG merger – although there might be opportunities.

 

Publicis Groupe – CEO Maurice Levy – provided a very interesting new viewpoint on the merger and, as always, talked about the future and Big Data rather than dwelling on the past.  Levy proved to us that this merger is very much about being ahead of the curve and being able to meet the needs of a changing world.   And the impact of external consulting companies other than agencies.

 

Our final stops of the day were at the LinkedIn offices in the Empire State Building and with a digital agency called Vertic.

 

Vertic showed us two case studies around renewable energy and Office 365.  In both cases, groups of Linked In members were targeted according to demographics, profiles etc with astonishing results.  They showed us how they can calculate a business case on a global scale through leveraging Linked In data – this is the future world.  They would love to be paid on ROI but procurement is not ready for this concept just yet.

 

Regarding Linked In itself – they acknowledged that most marketers have not embraced what Linked IN can do but that  awareness campaigns are in play to change this.

 

And so after a final discussion and lunch, another Ad Forum Summit was over.

 

Saying goodbye to real friends is not easy as we share many experiences over a short space of time.  We all felt that this was probably our best Ad Forum Summit yet – with lots of content (!) and outputs to think about.

 

 

Thank you for reading my blogs for the last week – I am looking forward to being back in South Africa and to catching up with our agencies and clients over the next few weeks.

 

Lots of food for thought.

 

Ad Forum Worldwide Summit in New York City - Day 4

Well by now the consultants are all becoming slightly weary – after three days of non stop agency visits, 15 hours of working each day including late evening presentations.  But we are all up and ready once again early on Thursday morning for another full day.

 

Big excitement was a visit to Geometry Global – the new shopper marketing/precision activation agency  formed by Ogilvy from a number of subsidiary agencies that have been in place.  The preparation that the Geometry people demonstrated through their presentation was inspiring for us all as we looked at case studies from Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America – these were “live” case studies so we also had the experience.  And a delicious breakfast.

 

The people of Geometry are hard-working and humble – a pleasure to be around and I am delighted that they have also opened up In Johannesburg – I am absolutely certain that they will be highly successful.

 

We then moved on to Havas – to their new offices at 200 Hudson and learned about their “Change Faster” mantra along with their commitment to social media and digital as well as Social responsibility and business.

 

They have put creative, media and digital all in one place – starting in Paris, and now in New York – this philosophy will be rolled out everywhere in the Havas world.  As always a highly creative and collaborative experience with a fascinating lunch preceded by a number of speed dating sessions around the agency.  Havas’s  open policy really works.

 

We then met with Michael Roth of IPG.  He is always good news in terms of his overview of the industry and his agencies and believes that while there is confusion in the market place due to the economic conditions still not being completely recovered, along with the mega merger of Omnicom and Publicis, there is opportunity for IPG. 

 

He summarised the state of his agency networks very succinctly – commenting on how great two of the IPG agencies in Africa are – along with the various successes in other parts of the world. 

 

We then met with Jack Morton agency – a shopper marketing agency owned by IPG since 1998 but started in 1939.  This is a very stable agency network which has only had three CEO’s since it opened its doors all those years ago.  A very refreshing presentation and an interesting business that would certainly be very welcome in South Africa.

 

The final agency of the day was iCrossing who we met last year.  A digital agency of 900 people – they identify themselves as moment makers who build connected brands one moment at a time.

 

We learned a lot today about the consumer purchase decisions and the consumer purchase journey.  The consumer data that is now available in this area is making it much easier for agencies to be precise in their communication – and we see this as a growing area of business for all client companies where consumer behaviour measurement is critical.

 

The iCrossing team showed us case studies for PNC bank - the virtual wallet and Hampton Inns – a moment that was videoed with a 3,5 minute clip which is now on line and is watched – to the end – each time.

 

And so the day ended with all of the agencies we have met this week joining the Ad Forum consultants for dinner at a New York restaurant.  Very social and lots of fun to have everyone together.

 

Day 5 will see a very quiet bunch of consultants on the coach at 8.00 tomorrow morning and our day looks like this:

 

Friday 11 October           

           9.00 - 10.30 am       Andrew Robertson, CEO, BBDO Worldwide (Breakfast)

                                                                1285 Avenue of the Americas (51st St)

                10.30 – 10.45 am               Maurice Levy on Publicis Omnicom Group (Video)

                10.45 – 11.45 pm              Consultants roundtable : Mega Merger Consequences

                                                                                @ BBDO Offices

                         12.15 – 1.15                 pm       Sebastian Jespersen,CEO & founder, Vertic

                                                                LinkedIn Agency Relations Services (Lunch)

                                                                Empire State Building, 350 5th Ave

                1.30 – 2.30 pm   Global Agency Consultant Association Initiative

@ LinkedIn OfficesTBC

           2.30 – 3.15 pm        Wrap-up

     

Looks like another great day!!

 

#adforumsummit

 

Best

Johanna  

   

 

Ad Forum Worldwide Summit New York Day 3

So by Day 3, normally there have been one or two agency presentations that have not lived up to our expectations as consultants but this year, the standard is extremely high and very competitive - so we have not been disappointed.  In general the US agencies believe that the economy is improving and that business is picking up – they see this in the quantity of new work that is being commissioned by clients.

 

I think it is also important to add from the IAS perspective – that we do not share any of the confidential information that we are presented with during this important week.  As consultants we are privy to a great deal of information from both agencies and clients and our value is being objective and able to assist both parties.

 

The notes that I am sharing in this daily blog are really a summary of observations or of any important comments made during the course of the day.

 

Day 3 of the Summit always includes an hour or two of rest in the afternoon – which is always very welcome after two consecutive 14 hour days of non stop meetings until 22.00 most evenings.

 

This morning we met with Critical Mass – a digital agency born in Canada and now with 700 employees in US, UK, Hong Kong and South America as well  as Calgary, Canada.  Let by a very impressive female CEO, the agency shared their focus with us which is delivering cumulative Customer experiences for clients.  An excellent presentation, very informative and a great start to our day.

 

Some interesting case studies for Nissan – Usain Bolt, Clorox – Green Works and the adidas – make it mine campaign at miadidas.com.

 

We moved on to the McCann Group whose network includes 23 000 staff members across many countries. McCann works hard at making sure that they have a global network of agencies with at least 65% local business – the model is not perfect yet – it is work in progress.  Some magnificent creative work which has won major awards this year at every major competition and for which they are justifiably proud.

 

Lots is planned for the Africa continent so watch this space.

 

We met briefly with the brand new Publicis Worldwide CEO, Arthur Sadoun,   after lunch – he shared with us his early thoughts on the positioning of the Publicis brand in the Publicis/Omnicom Group.

 

After a two hour break we met  with Sapient Nitro – they meet with us as consultants each year at Ad Forum and always have a great deal of news to share. Now numbering 10 000 people with offices in many parts of the world, we are hoping that South Africa will be next on their list of countries – and certainly if business warrants it and clients need it I am told that an office can be opened in a week.  They talked to us about their culture, philosophy and – most importantly – the drive to attract the greatest talent. From a business growth perspective they are looking at double digit growth this year. 

 

And so – once again – after an excellent dinner and charming hosts, we wend our weary way back to the hotel ready to sleep a few hours before Day 4 which looks like this:

 

      Thursday 10 October                              

                8.30 -     10.30 am              Steve Harding, Global CEO, Geometry (Breakfast)

                                                                The Chocolate Factory, (Ogilvy), 636 11th Ave., (bet. 46th & 47th Sts.)

                                                                Lobby Level Theater

                11.00 -   1.00 pm                David Jones, Global CEO, Havas Worldwide (Lunch)

                                                                200 Hudson St. (just below Canal St.)

                1.30 – 2.15 pm                  Michael Roth, CEO,  Interpublic

                                                                1114 Avenue of the Americas, (43rd and 6th Ave)

                2:30 - 3.00 pm    Tara Back, President,, Jack Morton (@ IPG offices)

                4.00 – 5:30 pm                   Brian Prowley, President, iCrossing

                                                                300 W. 57th St., (bet. Eighth & Ninth Aves.)

                6.45 pm                Cocktails & Dinner hosted by AdForum

                                L’Apicio, 13 E. 1st St., (bet. Bowery & Second Ave.)         

 

 

Looking forward to meeting with Geometry tomorrow – Ogilvy’s newest agency and also just opened in South Africa – and to seeing my former colleague Howard Smiedt – a South African now in London and ECD of this newest agency.

 

More tomorrow.

 

Day 2 of the Ad Forum Worldwide Summit in New York City

Today started off with a taped message from Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP in response to key questions we were asking re the WPP group as well as the potential impact of the Publicis Omnicom Group merger.  Sir Martin refers to it as POG – which of course is funny and interesting at the same time.

 

WPP sees the need for more scientific skills within the group in order to manage the future and the needs of data and technology.  He also commented that business in general is much better than in 2009 but is still tough and will continue to be so for some time to come.  Regarding POG,  Sir Martin believes that it is a “fatally flawed” merger, badly handled from a PR and client perspective with little consultation with staff and clients alike. It spells great opportunity for WPP.

 

We then moved onto Group M – the media trading group which contains the four WPP media agencies. An excellent overview of the market in general from the CEO, discussion about “ horizontality” ie harnessing group structures for the benefit of clients across countries and disciplines eg Team Detroit within WPP.  Lots of discussion and questions around media and where the future lies.

 

Y&R was next and it has transformed itself in the past three years under the leadership of David Sable and his team – including a move to new premises – the first move in more than 90 years of being in business.  A whole new energy, great traditions and experience at the top, lots of new young people.  We were shown some of the newest – and very impressive -  work and some interesting new thinking about the duality of brands. 

 

One of the trends observed is that more people have access to mobile phones than to toothbrushes or toilets – makes you think!

 

Y&R in South Africa and Africa is of course very strong and the conclusion of the transaction with Native was a feature of the growth in the VML (digital ) Y&R network.  A delicious lunch on the rooftop of the agency premises with a magnificent view of Central Park rounded off that visit.

 

Good discussion then among the consultants only around agency compensation and why agencies need to articulate their thoughts on what makes marketing spend different from any other spend pool for a marketer.  More on that at our next Subscriber master class – 10 key messages.

 

We then moved on to MRY – which is a merger between Mr Youth and LBi and now owned by Publicis. Brave and creative social media work on a big scale and competing with R/GA and Razorfish, this full service digital agency believes in creating connected ideas make people’s lives better.  They use data to predict consumer behaviour and then supply the products and campaigns which will meet those new needs. 

 

Finally our last destination for the day was Wunderman – where we learned about Emotional Data along with how Wunderman views the future.  An excellent dinner with a very stimulating group of Wunderman people rounded off what was certainly a most stimulating second day of the Summit.

 

Day 3 looks like this: 

 

 

Wednesday 9 October

                9.00 -     10.30 am              Dianne Wilkins, CEO, Critical Mass (Breakfast)

                                8.30 – 10.00 am Meet at the Apartment, 101 Crosby St.

                                (bet. Prince & Spring Sts.)

                11.00 -   2.00 pm                Diamond Harris, CEO, McCann Worldgroup (Lunch)

                                10.30 – 1.30        622 Third Ave., bet. 40th & 41st Sts.

                                2.00 – 2.30           Miles Nadal on MDC Update

                                                745 5th Ave, (58th St)

                2.00 -     5.30 pm                Open Afternoon

                                6.00 pm                Gaston Legorburu, Executive Director, SapientNitro

                                                40 Fulton Street (Pearl St.)                                          

                                                Dinner hosted by SapientNitro, same location

  

 

We might even have time for a short rest in the afternoon!!

 

More tomorrow.

 

#adforumsummit – follow us on Twitter.

 

Day One of the Ad Forum Worldwide Summit in New York

Day 1 is always a big day for a number of reasons.

 

Firstly it is often the only time the consultants have seen each other in a 12 month period and there is always a lot to catch up on.  For many of us we have made real friends as a result of this Summit and it always good to see friends.

 

Secondly – on Day 1 we have a lot of energy and spirits are high.  This year is no exception – especially as we are meeting  with or hearing from all five of the marketing communications holding companies.

 

But first today it was to MediaCom – who impressed us with their business focus and “a shared belief that everything is connected” with three excellent case studies – Gillette and body grooming in Latin America, Nerf – a toy gun in Germany, and Coca Cola content development. The big question with media agencies is where do they start and end as increasingly our observation is that they are more and more involved in content. MediaCom commented that they want to continue to collaborate and assist with content development but that the role belongs to the creative agencies.  We will see.

 

Second up was Grey  - who have experienced a remarkable renaissance under the stewardship of Jim Heekin in the past three years. A veteran of the industry, Heekin pulls no punches and has surrounded himself with a brilliant team.  They have focused on their internal culture – a long neglected area within advertising agencies traditionally – and the positive results are proving to be very worthwhile regarding client business, creative effectiveness and profitability.  We wait for them to re open in Johannesburg and are assured that it will not be long before this happens. Meantime they are chalking up successes in other areas and countries and breaking new ground from a virtual perspective.

 

Shopper Marketing was the subject for the afternoon and we met – three speed dates – with three separate companies. The content of the presentations was rich and varied and proved to me that we need to focus on helping our clients find suitable companies – not only agencies – which will assist them with this vital part of the marketing spectrum.  Lots more to talk about here.

 

WE met with Maxus – media agency and part of Group M in the late afternoon.  Relative new comer in the media space and the fastest growing media agency with significant global business but a pride in the fact that they are a global network of local agencies. A refreshing and uncomplicated approach to media and the courage to have two global clients – S C Johnson and Barclays – attending the session and describing what it is like to work with Maxus.   It would be great to have them open up in South Africa – plans are afoot.

 

Finally we met with Huge.  Creative digital agency, born in Brooklyn and now with offices in London and Shanghai as well as six offices in US alone.  Significant clients and part of IPG they are an agency to watch.

 

And so to bed before another full day tomorrow.  Agenda below – we cannot be late for Sir Martin.

            

 

Tuesday 8 October                         

                9.00 -10.15 am   Sir Martin Sorrell on WPP (Video) (Breakfast)

                                                Dominic Proctor, CEO, Group M Update

                                                @ JWT, 466 Lexington Ave (46th St.)‎

                10:45 -   1:45 pm                David Sable, CEO, Y&R  Brands (Lunch)

                                                3 Columbus Circle

                2.00 -     3.00 pm                Consultants roundtable:  Agency Compensation  policies

                                                Moderated by Gerry Preece

                                                Y&R, 3 Columbus Circle

                3.30 - 5.00 pm    Matt Britton, Founder & CEO,  MrY

                                                11 West 19th St. (bet. Fifth & Sixth Aves.)            

                                6.00 pm                Daniel Morel, CEO, Wunderman

                                                Museum of Art & Design

                                                2 Columbus Circle, 7th Floor

                                                Dinner hosted by Wunderman, same location

 

 

Twitter: #adforumsummit

 

Arriving in New York this morning after a 17 hour flight was – as always – an exhilarating experience.  Kennedy Airport was at its most efficient this morning ( whereas last year they were on a go-slow) and more than 300 passengers were through immigration ( finger prints et al) within 40 minutes of landing. Impressive.

 

Autumn is only just starting in New York – they have enjoyed a late summer and New Yorkers are still in summer clothing and all looking quite relaxed.  The government shut down does not appear to be affecting daily New York life – although it is early days.

 

Ad Forum always tries to select hotels which represent the new trends in New York – and the Refinery is no exception.  A new hotel created in New York’s garment district – it has been renovated from the old Colony Arcade Skyscraper.  It is brand new – and surrounded by small interesting shops and diners – the shops often being in the garment and accessories trade – heaven!

 

The position of the hotel – between 5^th and 6^th Avenues on 38^th Street, makes it the ideal spot to start each day of meetings at ad agencies.  The week coming up is probably the fullest agenda that I have seen since I first came on one of these Summits some six years ago.  We are seeing all of the holding company CEO’s – either in person or on video conference – as the big issue under debate this year is the Ominicom/Publicis merger and what the industry thinks about it and the broader implications.

 

The other big theme this week is Shopper Marketing – the last mile.  Very topical and our quest is to discover what agencies are doing about it. 

 

On Sunday – we have a few hours of leisure and time to look at New York ( catch up on some work as well) then we meet in the evening at the hotel with all of the consultants so that Ad Forum can preview the week with us.

 

Day 1 on Monday looks like this:

 

Meeting at hotel with Ad Forum and the 40 other consultants coming in from all over the world from 8.00 am.

 

9.15 – MediaCom – CEO Sash Savic    - breakfast session at MediCom

 

11.15 – 13.15 – Jim Heekin CEO Grey Group Worldwide – lunch

 

13.45 – 14.30  A perspective on Shopper Marketing – Aidan Tracey President of Acosta Mosaic Group

 

14.30 – 15.00 – Panel discussion – Shopper marketing : Agency reviews

 

15.15 – 15.45 – Ken Barnett – CEO, Mars  

 

15.45 – 16.15 – Paul Price, CEO Creative Realities International

 

16.15 – 18.15 – Lindsay Pattison – CEO,  Maxus

 

19.00 – Dinner hosted by Aaron Shapiro, CEO, Huge

 

And we will be finished (literally) by about 22.00. 

 

That’s a 14 hour working day from start to finish!   Our role as consultants is to listen, ask questions and keep ourselves informed about what the agencies are doing to identify and embrace new trends, to give feedback and to bring our news back to home country to share with our clients and agencies there.       

 

Day One is always the first of a stimulating five days of discussion and this will be no different.

 

Watch out for my summary of the day – which I will be sure to do before I fall into bed on Monday night.

Follow us on Twitter at #adforumsummit

 

The client/agency relationship blog: Why every ad agency needs a new business director

The client/agency relationship blog: Why every ad agency needs a new business director: The IAS is launching its "Winning new business" course for agencies in the next month and this has come about as a result of it be...

Why every ad agency needs a new business director

The IAS is launching its "Winning new business" course for agencies in the next month and this has come about as a result of it becoming more and more obvious to us that there is a need for dedicated senior people to play this role in the agency environment.

A phenomenon of the 80's and 90's, new business directors were tough, senior, often female executives, whose role it was to market the agency to prospective clients, lead and motivate the pitch team, manage the process.  I wonder what happened to those individuals - there seem to be less and less of them now - and hardly any here in South Africa.  I can think only of one individual - who happens to be female and senior - who has this dedicated role.

It is impossible for the day to day teams in agencies to also think about new business and most CEO's have full diaries of agency management issues along with existing client meetings.  Sadly we see the new business role delegated to a level too low in agency management structures to be forceful.  A junior marketing or PR person cannot lead the new business charge. 

New business people are hunters of note - their key characteristics being:

* understanding that the odds of winning are stacked against them but see these odds as a challenge
* volunteering rather than waits to be drafted
* seeing the obstacles of prospecting as challenges around which to manoeuvre rather than as  justification to abandon the effort
* understanding when to hunt alone and when a team effort is required to achieve the goal
* exalting in victory and recovers quickly from defeat

These characteristics are typically found in senior ad agency people who are resilient and able to motivate the people around them.

I am noticing more and more agency recruitment ads looking for new business directors as agencies start to recognise the importance of the role and why this cannot be part of the role of an account director or business unit director. These "farmers" are far more inclined to look after and grow their portfolio of clients and will often see new business as a distraction to be avoided.

Winning agencies recognise that the funding of a new business director is essential for external marketing and new client growth. We applaud and encourage this move.

    

Why chemistry sessions save clients and agencies time and money

Since we started the IAS in South Africa, one of the most frequently asked questions has been the role of chemistry in a pitch process.  For us - as well as our UK partners - the chemistry session is arguably the most important part of the process. 

Using chemistry as an elimination phase enables both agency and client to meet each other - at the agency's premises - and with a minimum agenda.  This one hour meeting where the quality of the agency team and its questions to client will be the key components, will ensure that neither party goes any further in the "dating process" if there is not a good match.

Realising that this then saves time on both sides as it means that only those client : agency sessions with good chemistry will be worthwhile pursuing, means that unsuitable agencies will not be invited to pitch thus saving them an enormous amount of time and expense.

From a client perspective, the elimination process makes the final pitch decision simpler and faster PLUS there will be a limit to the amount of pitch fee compensation that the client will have to pay to the unsuccessful agencies.  A three way final pitch therefore has huge benefits all round as there will only be two unsuccessful agencies after the final round and, in our experience, if the earlier chemistry sessions have been good, the client is still left with a favourable impression of the agency.     

That is what makes chemistry a "winner".

Introducing the topic of client : agency relationships and what they mean

The idea behind the Client/Agency relationship blog is to share experiences and interests about the dynamics of the relationships that exist between clients and their advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

Over the years of my career - from qualifying as a marketer in my early twenties - then moving to agency side when I arrived in South Africa - the years on both sides of the fence have taught me a great deal about sharing responsibilities - often the hallmark of a strong and enduring client : agency relationship.

I would love to hear from people who have experienced these relationships and have learnt useful techniques to gain maximum mutual benefit in this dynamic.