Clients, Agencies & Good Manners
A surprising thing happened as I left my local Starbucks earlier in the week. As I began to open the door, another customer approached from outside. I held the door open for them, as my mother taught me long ago. And then the surprise occurred: she smiled and thanked me. I’ve been thinking about this […]
Has your agency been ghosted?
Being ghosted sucks. Your agency spent time responding to an RFP, maybe developing and delivering a presentation, possibly even traveling on your dime to meet with the prospect. You delivered your pitch and returned to your office to wait for feedback or an outcome. And… crickets. Weeks and months later…. Crickets. Ghosted. Being ghosted sucks. […]
What will we learn from the State of the Pitch?
What will we learn about the current “State of the Pitch” in the US? You may recall Mercer Island Group has teamed with Campaign and Trinity P3 to launch the State of the Pitch survey here in the U.S. The survey is live and any pitch you have participated in since January 2025 can be […]
AI and avoiding a sea of advertising sameness
The promise of AI is extensive in advertising. Clients expect more, better, quicker, cheaper. Agencies are exploring and creating tools to help deliver on that promise while working to create new compensation models that protect their ingenuity and financial security. There is a risk to marketers and their agencies that is not being discussed: the […]
What’s the State of the Pitch in the US?
What is the “State of the Pitch” in the US these days? RFP and pitch processes can sometimes be far from perfect. Horror stories abound and those are the stories that get the most attention. But when we talk with agencies, we typically hear much more nuance as many experiences seem respectful and positive while […]