Step 1 in Your Agency Search: Developing a Needs Assessment
No one decides to replace a marketing agency on a whim – the service and financial stakes are too high to take anything but a thoughtful, considered, and evidence-based approach. Once the decision to move on has been made, though, your approach to finding the right new agency should be no less thoughtful, considered, and […]
The Marketer’s guide to planning an effective agency transition
Your agency review has concluded. You’ve found the perfect agency, negotiated a fine SOW and MSA and you’re itching to get started. And (of course) you are in a rush! You need the new agency to hit the ground running and your business depends on the success multiplier that a great agency relationship can provide. […]
Watch the 2023 Super Bowl ads like a CMO
In the run up to last year’s Super Bowl, we wrote about many of the basic approaches that marketers use to evaluate advertising during the biggest advertising event in the world. With this year’s annual advertising (and football) celebration just days away, we thought it would be fun to share some additional advertising principles that […]
How to onboard your new agency for greater success
The meetings have wrapped up, the SOW has been negotiated and the client and their brand-new agency are eager to start work. The review process has concluded and now they are in a rush as the client’s timeline is already strained. New work needs to be on air as soon as possible. What happens next […]
CMO Checklist for Better Agency Results
Great strategy is only great if it is executed well. PowerPoint, Word documents and board room discussions don’t build awareness or connect your product and services with the target audience across their buying journey or close any sales. Great strategy is only great if it is executed with distinction. The work is what works. The […]
Be Your Client’s Strategic Support
There are any number of reasons why a client-agency relationship can go sour, but one we hear a lot goes something like this: “We aren’t getting any strategic thinking from our agency.” It’s the result of an oft-seen pattern: the agency and client get into a routine, churn out the work, and end up without […]
Marketing leader tips on prepping for an unpredictable 2023
What an end to a crazy year! With a truly bizarre 2022 wrapping up, CMOs and marketers everywhere are looking ahead to 2023. And the road ahead is full of unknowns. What can marketers do to hit the ground running and be ready for the unknowns that 2023 will bring? Here are three key tips […]
Commit to the Pitch Process
Written by Barry O’Neil and Lindsay O’Neil If you’re going to commit your agency’s time and resources to a pitch process, we say go “all in” and don’t wait for the final presentation to show your cards. There’s simply no reason to participate if you can’t commit 100% to showing your agency off in the […]
Agency leaders should sign The Project 47 Pledge (& this should matter to CMOs)
Our good friend Alan Brown of the fine small agency DNA recently shared this story with us over coffee: a recent industry survey was suggesting that an exceedingly small percentage of agency employees were self-identifying as LGBTQ+. We were terribly surprised by the data. It just didn’t seem to fit in the bubble we were […]
The Best Case Study I’ve Ever Seen
I’m going to caveat this whole post by saying “the best case study I’ve ever seen” only came about because of a confluence of lucky chances, including: a prospective client who specifically requested the presentation of case studies as part of the pitch process, an agency who happened to have some impressive cases that felt […]
