January « 2008 « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

Should an advertising agency outsource its own branding?

January 19, 2008

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The first agency that I’ve ever heard of outsourcing it’s own branding was the Campbell-Mithun advertising agency, Minneapolis. Campbell-Mithum had been building and reviving brands for clients since the 1930s. Back in 2004, their new CEO, Jack Rooney, decided to hire another ad agency, Cue, also of Minneapolis for assistance.

Rooney said,”It’s a bit like heart surgery, you can’t operate on yourself.”

Now we all know that advertising agencies are their own worst clients. They hardly ever practice what they preach and are like the cobblers children who have no shoes. But, should an advertising agency ever tap an outside agency to brand/market itself?

Read the article: Why One Ad Agency Hired an Ad Agency and Agency, Heal Thyself? (what experts had to say)

8 Comments | Agency Branding, New Business Trends | Tagged: ad agency self branding, ad agnecy new business, campbell mithum, Jack Rooney, Michael Gass | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The Biggest Trend in Agency Business Development

January 5, 2008

A new business director for an ad agency is a unique breed of person. Engaged in the kind of activities that most agency principals, creatives and even account service execs hate, selling the agency. This lack of internal expertise and passion has fueled a growing trend of outsourcing new business development, particularly among smaller to midsize ad agencies. Below is an outsourcing article that is worthy of discussion …

“Outsourcing New Business Development The invisible trend”, By Matt Duffy Editor, DailyVista.

According to Duffy, outsourcing may be the biggest trend in ad agency business development that no one’stalking. European agencies have been increasingly outsourcing their sales departments for the last decade, and a few American firms are now offering the service.

“The problem with employing someone in house to do the outreach is that their cost, plus the costs of data,
plus the license to use trackable email soon escalates to the point where it is more cost effective to use an external consultancy … An external consultancy also has more ‘ears to the ground’ than an internal source.” – Adam Whittaker, RSW

The combination of financial savings plus business intelligence and expertise makes for outsourcing an appealing option for small-to midsize agencies.

Download the entire article: Outsourcing New Business

3 Comments | New Business Trends | Tagged: agency business development, agency new business, agency new business consultant, catapult new business, dailyvista, List Partners, Michael Gass, new business development firms, outsourcing agency new business, Quennell, reardon smith whittaker, Small to mid-size ad agencies | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass