Marketers can help agencies dive deeper into the business

Every marketer wants their agency to live and breathe their business. Why not? The more your agency understands your business, brand, product or service offering, the more likely they will create impactful strategies and tactics. The results should be better. And good work should be easier to get to. How can marketers help their agencies […]
Clear philosophies help marketers & agency execs succeed

A clear set of beliefs is paramount to leaders, their people, and organization. Earlier in my career when I was in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, the company’s philosophies were crystal clear. People development was the starting point to long term success. The consumer was our North Star. Products that met consumer needs were […]
The Keys to Strong Client-Agency Relationships

Over the years, we’ve conducted hundreds of client-agency 360 reviews, a process wherein we talk to and survey clients and their agencies to find out what’s working, what’s not, and “where to go from here.” Recently, we dug through results of ten years of such reviews to find out what, if any, themes could be […]
AdAge’s 2023 Small Agency of the Year Awards are open for submissions. Great small agencies should apply!

AdAge’s annual Small Agency of the Year Awards are now open for submissions for 2023! This is the only awards program of its kind tailored to agencies of 150 or fewer employees. These awards, now in their 15th year, recognize the best in small agencies from overall agency of the year to agency of the […]
5 Steps CMOs & agencies can take to deliver better return on agency investment this year

CMOs and their agencies are looking to get the year off to a great start. CMOs and their agencies everywhere remain as busy as ever. Marketers and agencies are expected to produce more with less and to deliver even better results. There is enormous stress on both growth and cost effectiveness. And today there is […]
Google’s Kevin Babcock: Advice for 2023

By Stephen Boehler with Google’s Kevin Babcock How can marketers and agencies make the most of the year ahead? No organization on the planet has more data than Google, and Google’s offerings represent a staple for most modern marketers and their budgets. And Google’s main offering – Search – represents just a fraction of the […]
Yearend reading for Marketers and Agency execs

By Stephen Boehler & the team at MIG It’s been an eventful year for the team at Mercer Island Group! We’ve shared a great deal of content aimed at helping marketers be better marketers, agencies be better agencies and how the two can succeed together. We’ve captured advice for 2023 from Yahoo SVP Jen Whelan, […]
2023 Advice from Yahoo SVP Jen Whelan

We’re leaving behind a crazy year and need to turn our attention to a new year with both new and continuing challenges. What should we be focused on as marketers as we approach the new year? To answer that question, we spent time with our friend (and Yahoo SVP Marketing) Jen Whelan. It’s hard to […]
How OKRP Won Burger King

By Steve Boehler with OKRP CSO Nate Swift Burger King. An iconic brand. Over 7,000 restaurants in over 3,000 United States cities. A brand supported by a rich history of agencies like Crispin Porter & Bogusky, BBDO, McCann, Y&R, JWT, DMB&B, N.W. Ayer, Lowe Lintas & Partners, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and McGarryBowen. Along with […]
Forrester’s 2022 Predictions: Key takeaways for CMOs and agency leaders

The team at Forrester recently released their annual “predictions” report covering 2022. And they followed up their report with a helpful webinar. This is an important report with a number of observations that are worth considering. The key overview is spot on: “In 2022, the new normal will be more new than it will be […]