Key learning from speed dating 36 indie agencies in an afternoon
The 4As hosted a fascinating effort last week in Austin as part of MPF 2025: they programmed an afternoon of speed dating for agencies and search consultants. Thirty-six fine agencies met individually with several of the country’s top agency search consultants. MPF stands for the 4A’s “Management Practitioners Forum”, an event that brings together leaders […]
54 agency biz dev mistakes
What are the top 54 pitch mistakes agencies make? Robin and I were delighted to present 54 Mistake Agencies Make in New Business Development during the annual Build A Better Agency Summit presented by Agency Management Institute. Forbes calls it the #1 conference for agency executives. This is the ideal agency conference for small to […]
Where is your agency in the agency supermarket?
Many agencies forget about a critical element of brand positioning when it comes to their own brand. Just what kind of agency are they positioning? This important gap results in agencies missing out on business opportunities daily. In classic brand positioning work, the two core elements are captured by defining “the type of product or […]
Holdco clients: take charge in 2025
The world of large agency holding companies has lost its collective mind in the past 6 to 12 months. Publicis led the way with an ever-increasing emphasis on principal buying and centralized teams working across differing agency brands. Omnicom then ate IPG in an attempt to seemingly enjoy even more nontransparent media practices and headcount […]
Follow these experts, be a better marketer! Vol. 2
It is so hard to keep up with seemingly daily changes in technology, marketing, media and consumers. Marketing strategy, creative and media effectiveness, transparency, AI and attention are just a sampling of the areas that are challenging for anyone to master. Luckily, there are a handful of people you can trust to keep you up […]
Run a Modern Agency Review in a Few Quick Sprints
Every year there are hundreds of agency selection processes in our industry. While we run a sizeable number of reviews and are a major “player” in reviews, many more reviews are run by clients themselves or by other consultants. The problem is that few people have ever been trained in how to run an agency […]
Procurement can work better with Agencies
Last week we wrote about the vital and often misunderstood role that corporate Strategic Sourcing teams play vis-à-vis their firms’ marketing services firm relationships, and how agencies and marketers can work better with their procurement counterparts. Upon reading that blog, an agency friend (thank you, Alex!) wrote the following: “I’d love to see a post […]
Agencies & Marketing can work better with Procurement
Strategic Sourcing teams (aka “procurement”) play a vital and often misunderstood role in many companies vis-à-vis the relationships with marketing services firms. Let’s fix that! I was honored to recently moderate a panel of Strategic Sourcing pros on behalf of a group of senior agency executives. The discussion was lively and covered a great deal […]
Small Agency of the Year: Advice from last year’s winners
We are entering into a special time of year for small agencies. The applications for this year’s annual Ad Age Small Agency of the Year awards are due April 16. The awards will be presented at the Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards in Toronto, July 22 and 23. At Mercer Island Group, we […]
What Mercer Island Group will talk about at Build A Better Agency Summit 2025
The annual Build A Better Agency Summit is coming up May 19-21 in Denver. This is the ideal agency conference for small to mid-sized agency leaders! The focus is on how to run an agency business better, so that it’s more sustainable, scalable, and down the line if you want to — sellable. The Build […]