The agency world has always been a young man/woman’s game. At least Outside London, if you’re not a director (or equally senior) by your late 30s you might as well forget any plans for world domination and seeing your profile in Campaign. Which is, obviously, a rather stupid situation. Yes, the work-hard-play-hard agency lifestyle demands … Continue reading If your age/experience fits…
Category: agencies
when you can’t blow your own trumpet
The average agency website or creds presentation will always have a ‘client’ page where they boast about the brands and organisations they work with. It would be fair to say that some of these stretch the truth a bit, encompassing the FMCG brand the agency produced a one-off standee for and the Blue Chip firm … Continue reading when you can’t blow your own trumpet
Whatever happened to Pitch Season?
In the world of agency New Business, you used to know where you were by simply looking at the calendar. Pitch Season ran according to the academic year, with a particular spike in activity between September and the end of November. I’ve been working in and around agencies for twelve years now and one of … Continue reading Whatever happened to Pitch Season?
Project Management might be really about Customer Service
I’ve been lucky enough to eat out quite a bit recently – and unlucky enough to experience some pretty appalling service in the process. Last week (*cough* Piccolinos) it took ten minutes to get served at the bar, half an hour to be sat at our table and another twenty minutes to order. A few … Continue reading Project Management might be really about Customer Service
The Laws of the Pitch Room
Even though I’m freelance I still take part in quite a few proper pitches. I mean the full-blown strategy + creative + logistics + budget presentations in front of senior clients where they decide based on a ninety minute presentation whether or not to spend a million pounds plus with the agency. Comparing these agency … Continue reading The Laws of the Pitch Room
is it a Conflict or a Specialism?
AgencyLand has always struggled to know what to do when they’d really like to work with two businesses in the same category. Do they decide that they’re cars or house building specialists and work with lots of brands in that sector – or do they decide that would be a conflict and only work with … Continue reading is it a Conflict or a Specialism?
stereotypes in both AdLand and HorseWorld
The marketing industry is choc-full of stereotypes. The boozy 50-something agency board member who contributes little but has a contacts book to kill for. The ambitious 23 year old account handler who will do whatever it takes to claw and clamber his way to the top. The young, blonde secretary with a surprisingly large collection … Continue reading stereotypes in both AdLand and HorseWorld
what goes around comes around in the marketing village
I’ve had a lot of ‘small world’ moments recently, from crossing paths with media types from three jobs ago to working on projects for an ex boss and bumping into old colleagues in the park. Which brought me back to an idea I’ve touched on before – that the marketing world is basically one big … Continue reading what goes around comes around in the marketing village
Integrated agency? Need a specialist? Do you buy, recruit or hire?
With two of the UK’s top grocers headquartered in West Yorkshire the marketing community up here tends to keep a close eye on both Asda and Morrisons – after all most of them work for one or the other. So there was discussion last week about the news stories naming Morrisons as a possible buyer … Continue reading Integrated agency? Need a specialist? Do you buy, recruit or hire?
why the instore environment is still the same marketing brief
I’ve been working on a lot of retail projects recently. So I’ve inevitably been in a lot of shops. And it keeps striking me that as agencies we devote so much time, effort and creativity to trying to get people through store’s doors – and not nearly as much on persuading them to buy something … Continue reading why the instore environment is still the same marketing brief