7 Key Digital Trends for 2011 for Ad Agency New Business

What are you doing to prepare your agency for the digital revolution?

Rising to meet the escalating demands for digital, a lot of agencies are now requiring that almost all of their employees develop digital skills. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article,  the bigger agencies are spending roughly $750,000 to $1.5 million on digital training programs this year.

Founded in 1996, eMarketer, with its articles, charts and analysis, provides a whole library of resources for ad agencies wanting to keep up with the latest trends and best practices.

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28 Stimulating Digital and Social Media Marketing Quotes

Martin Luther King Jr.

Write something memorable, that stands out and provides inspiration to others.

I’m reading constantly and often find and keep the most memorable quotes from my daily reading. Here’s a collection that I thought would be of interest as they relate specifically to digital and social media marketing. I hope you find inspiration, a spark for your creativity and to take the time to write something memorable.

Here are my favorite digital and social media marketing quotes:

  1. “There’s never been a better time to be in advertising, and there’s never been a worse time.” – Aaron Reitkopf, North American CEO of digital agency Profero
  2. “We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people.” –  Pierre Omidyar, founder, eBay
  3. “The Internet has been the most fundamental change during my lifetime and for hundreds of years.” – Rupert Murdoch, media mogul
  4. “Online advertising doesn’t have to be a “wild west.” – Benjamin Edelman, Harvard Business School
  5. “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.” -  Jimmy Wales, founder, Wikipedia
  6. “Social media is a savior not a nemesis, an asset not a liability, a time saver not a time killer for ad agency new business” – Michael Gass, new business consultant for advertising agencies
  7. “In the 21st century, the database is the marketplace.” - Stan Rapp, MRM Partners Worldwide
  8. “Content Doesn’t Win.

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Big Ad Agencies Now Requiring the Development of Digital Skills

ipad-ad

Small to mid-size ad agency owners and executives need to be better equipped with digital technology. It will not only impact agency business but also new business development.

I having a discussion with the creative director of a small agency who is in his early 50′s. He was expressing his frustration with changing digital technology and its impact upon his agency and the advertising industry.

He said,  ”I have no problem creating a print ad but I don’t know where to even start to create an ad for something like the iPad.”

I asked him if he was ready to retire.

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Status Quo Just Won’t Cut It Anymore for Ad Agency New Business

Bret Giles

A conference for ad ad agency principals and partners plus media, account, creative and business development leaders that helps them get their digital house in order.

Bret Giles, president of agencyside which offers high-quality, current training, coaching, staffing and consulting exclusively to advertising agencies. An advertising veteran of 22 years, Bret started his career at Ketchum Advertising in San Francisco.

Bret has asked me to speak at his annual conference for advertising agencies and I asked him to share directly with you more about it.

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Survey: Marketers Top 10 Wish List For Ad Agencies of the Future

future of advertising

Digital marketing is thriving during the recession. Clients are switching agencies based on digital marketing knowledge. Traditional agencies need to be competent at digital marketing now.

Forrester’s recent projections of interactive marketing spend through 2014 show social media increasing at an average of 34% year over year.

A national survey  provides insight into what marketers want from their agencies. The Agency of the Future Survey, sponsored by Sapient. Though this survey was conducted just over a year ago, it is a perceptual look back as well as a look forward and still has relevance for agencies today.… Continue reading

Survey: 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook

sports-illustrated-itablet-magazine

The Rise of Digital … is your ad agency digitally prepared?

“This is a changing of the guard,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO of Denuo Group and chief innovation officer for Publicis Groupe Media. “If you look back 20, 30 years ago, the major (media) companies would probably be print-based. Then they move to basically be broadcast based. Now we’re looking at companies that have basically digital or technology underpinnings.“

The 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook survey, conducted by The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), which polled in excess of a thousand executives from major global brands, traditional and Digital agencies, vendor and service providers that operate in the Digital space, as well as freelance and independent Digital practitioners.… Continue reading

What to do if your ad agency isn’t digitally prepared for new business

brain

A challenge to senior agency executives: Create your own digital apprenticeship program.

Tim Williams, author of Take A Stand For Your Brand, encourages agency execs to assure their personal relevance in the marketing communications industry.  He writes,

“Increasingly clients are turning to agencies not only for help but for thought leadership in digital marketing, and only the most progressive agencies are in a position to deliver it.  Agency principals recognize the urgency and importance of the shift to digital, but are personally unprepared for the change.”

Tim suggests a solution to the problem: Create a self-study program that provides a fast track understanding of digital marketing and adapting your agency to the new digital landscape. 

He says, “Think about the digitally-talented people you know and you’ll realize most of them are self-taught.

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Top 10 Questions – Is Your Ad Agency Digital Ready?

Digital marketing is a hot topic with clients and prospective clients. Many agencies are up selling digital services to their current clients and landing new business offering prospective clients fresh online marketing ideas.

Jason Baer is President of Convince & Convert, a digital marketing consultancy to small and mid-sized ad agencies and PR firms. Below is a compilation of Jason’s top questions to determine if your agency is digital ready:

  1. Have you used the term cyber, e- or digital anything in the past year?

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