Cover Letters that Win
Written proposals! They can be the bane of an agency’s existence. If only prospective clients knew how much time and effort agencies put into these babies. The sad truth is that they have no idea. In fact, and it pains me to share this, in our experience many clients don’t even read them all the […]
How to kick off a more persuasive agency pitch
Most agencies kick off their pitches – and spend the first 20-30 minutes – talking about themselves. Perhaps they are sharing a history of the agency, or their capabilities or a case study. The agency team is proud of their agency’s success, client list and capabilities. And those agencies may be losing their audience from […]
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 […]
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 […]
Getting it Write: The Art of Written Agency Proposals that Win
Your agency has advanced in discussions with a prospective client far enough that it is time to deliver a written proposal. This may or may not be the final step; there may be presentations after the written proposal or there may simply be a Q&A discussion and perhaps some negotiation. Regardless, when it comes time […]