A CMO tip: streamline the to-do list to get more done
There is an epidemic of wishful thinking in industry today: objectives that are too lofty, priority lists that are overwhelming and bottomless project lists are the norm. Wall Street has lofty expectations and company leadership often demands more than their organizations have the capacity to deliver. And they certainly often demand more than their organizations […]
P&G’s 10 Commandments of Leadership, Early 1980’s
I was cleaning out some old files and came across a fantastic one-page document: The Ten Commandments of Leadership. It was from the early 1980’s, early in my tenure at Procter & Gamble. I don’t remember anything regarding who wrote it or the intended purpose… but boy has it aged well! This probably shouldn’t come […]
How to be a great CMO
A few months ago I wrote about SpencerStuart’s latest annual CMO Tenure Study. The report highlighted a continued decline in average CMO tenure, with average tenure declining to its lowest point since 2009. Median tenure had plummeted to 25.5 months, the lowest on record. Being a CMO is a tough, tough job. Frankly, it has […]
CMO checklist: before you run an agency review
The best work often comes from a long-standing client-agency relationship. The agency team has a deep understanding of the client’s business and brand, keeps a close eye on competition and knows which levers to pull to help their client succeed. This basic principle holds true for client-agency relationships of all types, from creative, media and […]
Better clients get better agency work: the checklist
Good clients get good work. We’ve been repeating that phrase for close to thirty years. We’ve seen it in action during our consulting engagements with hundreds of clients of all sizes and shapes. We’ve seen it in the results of the hundreds of annual 360 reviews we’ve conducted (clients and agencies evaluating each other) in […]
5 Strategies to Win: Small Agency of the Year
An agency can enjoy amazing benefits from winning Small Agency of the Year. The agency’s reputation grows! Team morale swells! The phone rings! And many Small Agency of the Year winners have gone on to enjoy incredible success. Given the importance of the award to building a small agency’s reputation, many small agency owners and […]
Small Agency of the Year: How the Winners Won
Small Agency of the Year winners enjoy many benefits from their hard work, talent and success. The agency team’s morale gets a huge boost. The award enhances the agency’s reputation. It’s evidence of both talent and success. It puts unknown agencies on the map and elevates known agencies to a new level of acclaim. It […]
Small Agency of the Year: Why agencies should apply, and why CMOs should care
At Mercer Island Group, we love agencies. The best agencies, with the best clients, can drive immense returns on a client’s investment and can change the entire future direction of brands and companies for the better. We not only love agencies, but we also love agencies of all sizes. And there is a special place […]
An update for CMOs on the US agency landscape
The holding companies have come roaring back from the pandemic, reporting strong year over year organic growth. WPP just reported +12% year over year organic growth for 2021. Publicis, Omnicom, Interpublic and Dentsu each reported year over year organic growth exceeding +10%. In a big industry, that is a great deal of added revenue! All […]
5 Questions CMOs should be asking their agencies
The economy is robust. CMOs everywhere remain as busy as ever. There is as much stress on growth and results as ever. Agencies are expected to produce more with less. The unique bond between senior marketer and agency remains one of the keys to success! Great agency relationships can help make a career, a hit […]