The Marketing Agency Talk

There are 2 kinds of people. Those who look good and those who look professional.

Everyone, no matter your physical attributes, have the potential to look good. It’s the clothes you choose, your make up, your hair and maybe even your diet plans. But honestly, as a client, who would you give your business to?

Unless you are your own boss, and have lots of money to burn, you most likely would want to spend your marketing dollars with someone who knows what they are doing. This is where a lot of mis-conceptions occur. Small agencies believe that they are competing based on their superior creativity, or flexibility, or better prices. But the reality is this: people pay for what they think is “worth it”. Would you buy a watch for $1, if it isn’t working?

A professional approach is probably the most powerful weapon you can use in winning accounts.

There is a reason why agencies have been using ”suits” to do the selling. First impressions do count. Whether you are a big agency or a one-man-shop, presenting yourself professionally will go a long way towards not only winning the account, but actually being able to charge more for your work.

Suits are expensive. Suits off the rack don’t fit well and may end up making you look like a dork. You can spend days searching for that perfect suit off the rack. The other alternative is get one made to measure.

Don’t lament the fact that you do not have the money to spend on made to measure suits. For me, I found a Made to Measure place that is really cool. Like they say, you can find almost anything online these days. And getting a Custom Suit made isn’t that difficult or expensive anymore.  In fact, this My Suit place offers a custom, made to measure suit at close to rack prices.

When you are off to see an important client, you know that you are going to be up against some stiff competition. You need to look your best. Somehow, that pair of jeans just don’t make the cut. We have been conditioned throughout our lives, that successful men wear Men’s Suit. Successful women wear designer clothes or “power suits”. You are in the advertising business. You know this.

There is no more excuse. Spiff up and win.

Tags: Account Servicing, men's suit

“If I had to sum it all up, I’d say there are three breeds of account executives: the play-it-safe-and-by-the-rule-book transmitting agent; the neutralist, who’s never quite sure from one day to the next of his role in the agency-client relationship; and the truly creative account man, who may never write a line of copy in his life, but who, in his own way, is every bit as creative as the finest copywriter in the business.”

Emil Mogul (1960), ad executive, quoted in James B. Simpson, Contemporary Quotations, 1964, Binghamton, NY: Vail-Ballou Press, p. 84.

#3 - That’s where all AE should be.

Designers and Production folks really hate it if their AE is an air head who merely acted as the client’s mouth piece.

Equally frustrating is the blur type who cannot value add and merely serve as a co-ordinator between the agency and the client.

If you are an AE reading this, read Mongul’s words again and decide where you are now.

To advertisers: “Do not compete with your agency in the creative area. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?”

David Ogilvy, Confessions of an Advertising Man, 1971, New York: Ballantine Books, p. 68.

This is a good one from the great man.

I’m just thinking if I have the guts to repeat these words to clients who tried to hold our designers’ hands to create their advertisements.

There were times I really, really wanted to give them a piece of my mind but I just bit my tongue and be nice. And I didn’t feel nice at all.

My ex-boss always said we should be cool and civil even though the client is a perfect bitch with sharp claws. It’s business, it’s not personal.

If I dislike client interfering into areas they were not familiar with, can you imagine how the creative folks feel? I couldn’t even imagine.

“The most dangerous thing that can happen to us, I think, is to permit a feeling to develop that any client is a problem. I have always taken the attitude that no account is a ‘problem account’ but that all accounts have important problems attached to them - that you can waste more time and burn up more nervous energy by fighting a problem than by taking a positive attitude and solving it. It sure gives you a nice, warm glow when you do.”

Leo Burnett, quoted in 100 LEO’s, Chicago, IL: Leo Burnett Company, p. 75.

No client should be seen a problem. However, their problems can be our concerns. We are the problem solver and that’s what keep us in business and them as our clients.

We are inviting unnecessary stress and telling the universe that we don’t want business if we think and regard our client as a problem.

Corinne said she wasn’t comfortable with starting a business with borrowed money, in my previous post. This led me thinking a little.

When used properly, debts is just another form of leverage. Robert Kiyosaki has already explained the differences between good debts and bad debts in his “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book so I won’t bother to elaborate. My point is many of us resist change. We would rather stay in our comfort zone with the nagging knowledge that we are stunting our own growth to making a change in our life. By doing so, We surrendered to fear and fear paralysed us to realizing our potential. If there is constant fear in us, we will never make it on the trail of success. We have to tame our own fear since losing them totally is tough.

I was reading Stanley F Bronstein’s new book, “Achievement IQ Moments” and it hit me that all the 50 ordinary people who achieved extraordinary success did not let fear stop them. I’m quite sure they must have felt the butterflies in their stomachs, but they chose to push on with the “ready, fire, aim” attitude rather than taking the “ready, aim, fire” approach. They knew what they want, they were committed to their goals and they persistently worked their butts off to realized their dreams. They did think but they didn’t think too much. They must have realized that too much of unnecessary pondering and analysis would paralyze their energy and faith. They took the smartest route, they acted. They tweaked and honed their skills along the way. Knowledge, like Stanley said, is nothing but potential energy. Action is where the real strength is.

To be an entrepreneur or an achiever in any field, we need faith, desire and unwavering commitment to do whatever it takes to get from here to there.

I was touched by Harrison Koroso. He is indeed one who “grow up with nothing have more than those who grow up with everything”. From a boy who could not afford a pair of shoes, he literally ran all his way from Kenya to USA to become the founder of a “Freedom K Charitable Organisation”. From being assisted out of poverty, he is reciprocating now. Just think of his humble background and let it sink in a while: He was a negro boy in one of the world’s poorest nations. He lived in a mud hut. He had no shoes. Bread and meat were luxuries he seldom had a chance to eat. Yet all these obstacles did not stop him from becoming successful. What excuse do us folks in developed and developing countries have for not making something out of themselves?

Then, there is Andrew Ly who escaped from Vietnam to USA. As a refuge who could not understand English, he toiled to make a living. When I said toiled, I meant it. This man worked 7 days a week for nine straight years. He only took a break when he got married. Can we really live up the notion of being committed and doing whatever it takes? Can we sacrifice our weekends? Can we worklong hours and  not spend time with our loved ones and friends? Can we continue working knowing that our favourite soap or football is on air now? Can we not spend 4-5 hours at the pub? This guy knew long term gain is far sweeter than instant gratification. Now, 20 years on, his Sugar Bowl Bakery is making $42 million a year. Don’t envy him, he put time, effort, sweat, blood and tears to achieve it. We can if we are willing to make the commitment and take the sacrifices in our strike.

We are all ordinary people but that does not mean we cannot achieve extraordinary successes. It’s whether we want it or not. Wait, perhaps it’s not about wanting. Wanting doesn’t lead to having. We can always want something but as long as no action is taken, the wanting will just lead to more wanting and more frustration. Only commitment, action and faith will lead us to realize our dreams.

If you think you can’t, think again after you go through the 50 extradinary stories in Stanley F Bronstein’s “Achievement IQ Moments.