Don’t pay consultants to be in their pitch
It just happened again. We are running a review for a fantastic client. A CPG firm with smart, wonderful leadership. A terrific brand, number one in their category. And, as we reached out to the small, heavily researched and finely curated list of agencies we were inviting to participate in the review, one agency asked […]
Perfect pitch practice for a perfect pitch
A pitch is a performance. It might not have all the lights, costumes, and orchestra that you’d find at a Broadway musical but there will certainly be an element of song and dance. You’re standing in front of a potentially critical audience and asking them to believe in you. To feel something. To be delighted […]
How to lose a pitch in only 5 minutes
A few years ago we ran an important creative agency review for a leading beauty retailer. The review was for the creative AOR with a great client in a great category. Agencies were thrilled to be involved. We ended up with a very competitive field of enthusiastic, talented and strategic agencies. By the time we […]
The Prospect Friendly Written Proposal
How do you write proposals that win new business? This is a common question we hear from agencies. And many of the proposals we read are not compelling, are poorly organized and fail to stand out. Many proposals focus more on the agency than on the prospect’s business and challenge. There is a trick to […]
Simple ways clients can be more appealing in reviews
We often hear that client-run reviews can be unnecessarily challenging to navigate and impersonal. What a missed opportunity! The client may be leading an agency review, but the agencies are also evaluating the client. It’s a dating process. Agency staff want to work for the most appealing clients. And more appealing clients can even get […]
Good & Bad News: Super Bowl 2025 Ads
This year’s Super Bowl included some historic advertising and overall, the creative was more effective than recent years’ ads. And… there is a potential crisis brewing in advertising. I’ll get to the potential crisis in a moment. First, some good news. System1 Group’s review of 2025 Super Bowl ad effectiveness has been published. If you […]
Marketers & Agencies: Be our Valentine!
At Mercer Island Group, we LOVE marketing and advertising and PR and media and shopper… you get it! We LOVE marketers, and we LOVE agencies. And we LOVE to help them succeed. We are incredibly thankful to the people, their brands and agencies. Here’s why we would love marketers and agency execs to be OUR […]
Stay in shape: a daily marketing & ad workout
Want to stay in good shape? Have a daily workout plan. Eat well, exercise and keep up your emotional wellbeing. Want to stay in marketing shape? Commit to a daily marketing workout. It takes a plan and commitment, and the rewards are significant. Successful marketers and agency execs share a number of characteristics: They know […]
Agencies: want to grow? Don’t act small
Want to grow your agency? Look like you deserve to grow. Agencies that want to grow need to look the part. Many don’t. Many act small. It doesn’t have to be that way. Marketers that are looking for an agency want to be confident they have found the right partner. They want an agency that […]
Kindness, mercy and being a better leader
This is an article I never expected to write. Recent events and some troubling trends over the past thirty years have broken my silence about some important ingredients of sound leadership: kindness and mercy. Mean, recent public commentary, and cruelty for cruelty’s sake, have reminded me that we all deserve better leaders in all walks of […]