Misaligned Teams Don’t Grow. Here’s How to Fix That
Picture the last time your leadership team left a meeting without actually deciding anything. Everyone nodded. Someone said, “Let’s take this offline.” And two weeks later you’re back in the same conversation. That’s misalignment in action. And until you fix it, your agency’s growth is effectively held hostage to it. The fix isn’t more meetings […]
4As speed dating: what we learned from 34 indie agencies in an afternoon
The 4As hosted another fascinating effort last week in Austin as part of their 2026 Management Practitioners Forum (MPF) for Independent Agencies: they programmed an afternoon of speed dating for agencies and search consultants. Mercer Island Group’s Barry O’Neil and Steve Boehler met with thirty-four fine agencies in quick 15-minute sessions. The 4A’s Management Practitioners […]
Feedback Is a Gift—But How You Receive It Says Everything
Feedback is a gift. Yes, it’s a cliché. Yes, it needs to be said again and again. But here’s what actually matters: how you receive feedback says infinitely more about you than all the work you’ve done up to that moment. In a pitch, feedback is a test. Not of your work—of your character. When […]
Sizzle reels don’t sizzle
As long as I can remember, a staple marketing technique of creative agencies has been the “sizzle” reel. You’ve undoubtedly seen many. A video mashup of quick cuts generally pulled from an agency’s best video work. Sometimes set to a soundtrack. The intent is to impress a prospect with the amazing creativity of the agency. […]
5 Things we’ve learned from 11 current agency reviews
It’s been a very busy start of the year for agency reviews. We’re currently managing or wrapping up 11 different agency reviews, covering a wide range of needs and agency types. With so much activity, some clear themes are emerging that may help agencies and clients. What are we seeing and hearing? 1. Agencies (still) […]
Write winning agency proposals
Would you like your agency to win more new business? I know – that’s a silly question. The better question is: how can an agency win more new business? One way is to master the art & science of writing agency proposals that win. Good agencies everywhere win less of their proposals than they’d like. […]
How agencies often waste the pitch Q&A
The pitch Q&A session is one of the most important interactions that agencies have with a prospect during a formal review. The client gets to see how the agency team handles themselves and has a chance to hear the quality of the questions asked by the agency. The agency has an opportunity to gather critical […]
Practical Allyship: What Men in Leadership Can Do Today
When I wrote about feeling invisible as a woman in business, I expected a lot of “yes, me too.” I also heard from men who said, “this happens to us as well.” That’s all true and still beside the point. We don’t need more parsing of who has it worse; we need more people with […]
The Invisible Woman: A Personal Reflection on Gender Equity in Business
I’ve spent decades in marketing and consulting, building businesses, advising Fortune 500 companies, and working alongside some of the brightest people in the industry. I’ve co-founded a successful firm, written a book, led complex client engagements, and mentored countless professionals. And yet, there are days when I feel invisible. Not literally, of course. But invisible […]
A simple way to improve marketer & agency productivity
The productivity expectations that executives face have never been tougher. We are always on and daily technological advances seem to make our workday harder and longer rather than easier. This avalanche of expectations has led to a self-defeating problem: there is an epidemic of wishful thinking in industry today. Objectives are too lofty, priority lists […]