Three new business mistakes
We speak to a lot of agencies. Many of them go on to become Sponge NB clients. Many of those heed our advice to market themselves as smartly as they market their clients. Sadly we only look after a small stable of clients at a time, so what you’ll find is a common theme among many agency web sites and credentials documents. We don’t profess to be User Experience experts or remarkable copywriters. We can proof-read fairly well (though not our own material anywhere near as well – the plumber’s wife has leaky taps) and we can spot me-too marketing a mile off. Here are some of the most common examples of agencies saying, well, stuff we wouldn’t advise.
We have an office – we’ve had it for a while. A number of people work there!
An astonishing number of agencies have documents which open with something like, “Based in Lowestoft, our team of 12 have 10 years of experience working together on campaigns across the marketing spectrum”. The problem is that as an opening statement, this is very dull. You’re saying, “We have an office. Some people are in it. They have been there for some time.” This isn’t even slightly compelling. Marketing decision-makers want to know what they can get from you. Use your length of experience, size of team and locality as something to build credibility later in your proposition.
We’re ever so smart and technical.
Who likes fussy language, convoluted descriptions or 30 words when 10 would do? Agencies. Here’s an example of one I found on an agency’s web site with 10 seconds’ Googling:
Creativity is our life blood… And that means we start every job with a blank sheet of paper and an open mind. As our client you can expect lots of hard work from us, a determination to see you succeed and a passion for delivering inspirational ideas in the most effective way to deliver your message powerfully.
Formed in 2000, <agency name removed> has been working with companies of all shapes, sizes and flavours throughout the UK. Because we create communication strategies, design and PR solutions that really work, our clients have enjoyed measurable improvements to their business performance and enhanced their target audience perception.
It sounds kind of ok, doesn’t it? It comes from an agency with a good reputation for strong results from great work. So why doesn’t it say “We’ll work to increase your sales through smart marketing” or something like that? Most prospects are bored by the time they’ve trawled through your essay to find out what they might get from you. Just tell them. For the record, the agency I’ve picked on is a great agency and one of many who had similarly lengthy descriptions. If you’re from that agency and want me to remove your words, I will of course do that. And then replace it with someone else’s.
We have awards.
I covered this in great detail in a previous post on here, so I won’t go over the same subject matter again. In summary: prospects don’t choose you because you won some awards. Sorry ‘bout that.
It has been pointed out to me that the 2011 IPA and Gunn report suggests that creatively awarded campaigns have been 12 times more effective than non-awarded ones. Well the IPA dishes out awards, so you might wonder if they’re biased. I wondered.
- Only 175 campaigns were included.
- They were all major brands.
- 74% of the awarded campaigns were TV ad campaigns with significant budgets.
- Awards happen once a campaign has been effective, not the other way round. This doesn’t reduce the impressive nature of a nice award twinned with an effective campaign, but the IPA Gunn report makes statements like “The more creatively-awarded a campaign, the more effective it becomes”, which is misleading.
- In fact, the closest thing to a real correlation in the report is that campaigns where there was high investment in ESOV (Excess Share of Voice) were most effective. The SOV was relative to the effectiveness of the campaign and hence the awards.
For the other agencies out there turning out brilliant conceived experiential ideas, needle-in-haystack direct marketing campaigns and commercially stunning promotional ideas: stuff the awards. They’re great for your ego and your team morale but they simply don’t win you clients. Oh and if you want the full IPA report, they’ll charge you £10. Enjoy.
Some good points well made, Steve. This is why a fresh pair of eyes on any marketing activity should be welcomed, it’s sometimes too easy to fall into an “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it” rut. I think far more people should adopt a “If it ain’t broke – break it” approach. Breaking stuff is good – it means we have to make new stuff. Which is good.
Steve
In point 1, you’re saying that approach is wrong, but what would you replace it with?
Also, in what medium is it particularly wrong? (Web, creds document, introduction emails, etc)
It shouldn’t be at the start of any of those – we suggest opening with “what your prospective client will get”. Andy Bounds talks about AFTERS (an acronym from his book The Jelly Effect) – those things that companies will have after you’ve worked with them (buy it on Amazon at http://ow.ly/7BOuu – worth every penny). Sell those first. If it’s more sales through Facebook referrals, then say so. They’ll wait to find out when you were formed but won’t wait to find out what it is you want them to pay for. It can makes printed or digital marketing materials seem a bit pointy to us marketing people, but decision-makers want to know: What’s in it for me?
Do you think that some agencies see their size and experience as a distinct advance over local competitors? For example:
“Shizz Faces is a London based – full service creative agency with over 30 years experience”
“Whizz Elbows is a full service creative agency”
Are you saying that actually, Shizz Faces have no advantage over Whizz Elbows with their opening line, in fact, they might be putting a potential client off?
I think that Whizz Elbows perceive their advantage (and indeed Shizz Faces perceive their disadvantage) disproportionately. A prospect doesn’t care that much at the start of any contact about those staples. If Shizz Faces opens with “London-based yadda yadda” and Whizz Elbows opens with “We have ideas that will increase your sales and create a platform for customer loyalty” then Whizz Elbows is more likely to get the prospect to read page 2.
An agency I really admire (for their work and approach) open with this:
“Welcome to BooneOakley, a full-service ad agency in Charlotte, NC. Since we opened our doors in 2000, we have been fortunate enough to work with a long list of prominent clients, including HBO, MTV, MTV2, The One Show, State Farm, Ruby Tuesday, CarMax & Bloom.”
Which i’d say falls into that ‘dull’ category.
But then, they did also do this – http://www.booneoakley.com
I think I’d open with the cool thing they did every time. It’s a brilliant (and well known) piece of work, but I don’t know that being in Charlotte since 2000 moves them along any. They seem amazing to me because of their work, not their address. It doesn’t hurt their approach unless someone else has similar (or more impressive) clients and gets to the point more concisely. Also most agencies don’t have half of the cool stuff that BooneOakley have!
Loved this post. All of this goes not just for agencies but any company in any industry!
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