Why Architects Don't Install Sheetrock

As an agency, studio or freelancer are you an architect, general contractor or subcontractor?  Agency consulting firm Ignition Group explains why it is time to re-evaluate where your company’s true strengths and value to clients are and learn to when to outsource more of the “commoditized” services.

Using a building analogy, professional firms must be the architects.  They can even be the general contractors.  But when they also try to be the subcontractors, they lose their shirt.  Think Frank Lloyd Wright installing the sheet rock.  The value of FLW was his ideas, his imagination, and his vision for the building.  Although there’s certainly a difference between a good job and a poor job of hanging sheetrock, the truth is that millions of people can do it.  There are not millions of Frank Lloyd Wrights.

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projeqt \ how great stories are told

TBWA, mega agency with 12,000 employees in 77 countries, jumps into the mass-market, online product game with the launch of their creative work sharing platform projeqt.  To help announce projeqt the agency relaunched TBWA.com using the platform.

Only time will tell if the platform really takes off, but for now my money is on the smaller and agile teams behind Cargo, Carbonmade, Behance and even Tumblr. 

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MDC’s ‘Million-Dollar Challenge’ MDC Partners is the large holding company that owns a large percentage of today’s prominent advertising agencies including Crispin Porter + Bogusky, VITRO, mono, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, and dozens of other agencies.  Today they are making waves in the agency world by offering up $1 million to fund a new start-up agency with a fresh business model, in exchange for 51% ownership of the new agency. The most shocking—although not surprising—detail revealed in the article is that MDC spent $1 million dollars to revamp their corporate website.  Working in the advertising world for the last decade I clearly understand what all goes into the budgeting of these projects—thousands of hours of meeting, planning, debating, holding committees, politics, and then a small percentage on the actual execution of the idea.  How can you dispute that $1 million dollars isn’t an insanely bloated budget for a site built on existing platforms and technology (Twitter, Brightkite, Google Maps, YouTube)?  This is a prime example of the challenges that large agencies are facing to stay relevant in our fast-paced digital culture. Personally I believe building a vibrant and successful agency simply takes hard work and raw talent and throwing $1 million at a startup would change the motivation to work hard from success to performing to the standards that rewarded them the $1 million. The results of both motivations might appear similar, but there is no doubt that the motivation will ultimately effect the agency culture.

MDC’s ‘Million-Dollar Challenge’

MDC Partners is the large holding company that owns a large percentage of today’s prominent advertising agencies including Crispin Porter + Bogusky, VITRO, mono, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, and dozens of other agencies.  Today they are making waves in the agency world by offering up $1 million to fund a new start-up agency with a fresh business model, in exchange for 51% ownership of the new agency.

The most shocking—although not surprising—detail revealed in the article is that MDC spent $1 million dollars to revamp their corporate website.  Working in the advertising world for the last decade I clearly understand what all goes into the budgeting of these projects—thousands of hours of meeting, planning, debating, holding committees, politics, and then a small percentage on the actual execution of the idea.  How can you dispute that $1 million dollars isn’t an insanely bloated budget for a site built on existing platforms and technology (Twitter, Brightkite, Google Maps, YouTube)?  This is a prime example of the challenges that large agencies are facing to stay relevant in our fast-paced digital culture.

Personally I believe building a vibrant and successful agency simply takes hard work and raw talent and throwing $1 million at a startup would change the motivation to work hard from success to performing to the standards that rewarded them the $1 million. The results of both motivations might appear similar, but there is no doubt that the motivation will ultimately effect the agency culture.

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10 Web Content Urban Legends

College Humor’s CEO Ricky Van dispels the top 10 web content urban legends.  If you’re a brand (or agency) and think you’re going to attempt to go “viral” with branded or user generated content you have a difficult road ahead.

  • Myth #1). People will want to watch your branded content
  • Myth #5). We have no idea why things go viral
  • Myth #7). You should build your own community and tools
  • Myth #10). People will create good content for you

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King Kong 3D Ambient To promote Universal Studio’s new King Kong attraction launching this summer, independent agency David and Goliath created this outdoor ambient ad on Santa Monica beach.  David and Goliath is also behind the recent quirky (in a good way) Kia campaigns. Photographer: Jonathan Alcorn Reblogged from petervidani | Via I Believe in Advertising

King Kong 3D Ambient

To promote Universal Studio’s new King Kong attraction launching this summer, independent agency David and Goliath created this outdoor ambient ad on Santa Monica beach.  David and Goliath is also behind the recent quirky (in a good way) Kia campaigns.

Photographer: Jonathan Alcorn

Reblogged from petervidani | Via I Believe in Advertising

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The Win Without Pitching Manifesto

A Call to Arms for Creative Firms

“The forces of the creative industry are aligned against the artist. These forces pressure him to give his work away for free as a means of proving his worthiness of the assignment. Clients demand it. Industry associations deride it but offer alternatives that are just as costly and commoditizing. Agencies resign themselves to it.”

As I’m refining the business development process for New Ezra the insight from Win Without Pitching has been tremendously helpful.  I observed a lot of the principles in action while working at 2Advanced Studios, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming book to help refine the approach.

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“I was never afraid to hire people better than me and let them do whatever they could do. … I look for the genius in the person, even if I didn’t like it. I want to see the fire that the person could do something which no one else could do, or that I couldn’t do, because myself, I did not need to duplicate. Naturally, these people are not usable, at least not right away. You have to find a way for the organization to adjust to talent – I don’t think talent should adjust to the organization.”

Hartmut Esslinger, co-founder of Frog Design

I’ve personally seen situations where an organization becomes brave and hires talent doesn’t quite fit into the style and approach of the organization.  It is always unfortunate when it ends up not working out because the organization tries their best to make the talent fit their mold.

Via What Consumes Me

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