IT’S A MATTER OF TIME – Part Another

Ad Industry, GET FACT, How To

If you followed our suggestion like a good reader and feasted your hungry eyes on the first part of this insightful and long overdue article, you’d know that time is basically the same thing as money.

Now if you haven’t read that all-important first part, then you might be thinking something like “OH YEAH? If time is money than how come I can’t use it to get that pack of Twinkies out of the vending machine?” But that’s YOUR problem. Sorry, but we can’t solve ‘em all.

Part One ended with the assertion that negotiating a retainer is the best way to get your money’s worth out of an agency. And now, if you’re prepared to receive it, shall come the deep and meaningful rationale. ARE YOU READY FOR THE WHY?

WHERE DO BRANDS COME FROM?

Ad Industry, Branding, GET FACT

There’s a certain air of mystery surrounding what people in an ad agency actually do. While TV and movies might try to convince you that agency people spend the day drinking hard liquor and staring out the window while smoldering with unbridled sex appeal, that’s simply not true. We don’t all have windows.

Much of the mystery probably stems from the fact that people outside of the industry never get to see the hard, grueling work that gets done every day by the drunks and miscreants that populate ad agencies like this one. They just see the end result, which is gonna be less impressive if you ignore all that goes into it. That’s why this blog is here: To give you your own personal window into the magical world of advertising.

IT’S A MATTER OF TIME – Part Uno

Ad Industry, GET FACT, How To

What the hell are you REALLY paying an agency for, anyway?

Time is money. Let’s just accept this as true. We can go on about it, but it would be a waste of time. Which is actually money. Whatever. Let’s try not to waste either one, okay?

When you hire an advertising or marketing agency, you commit to spending money. On what? An ad campaign? Artwork? Words?

HALF THE BATTLE

Ad Industry, GET FACT, How To

Business intelligence shouldn’t be a paradox. It’s your ticket to ROI.

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” – John Wanamaker

Back in 1861, as the U.S. was just getting the Civil War underway, a 23-year old Philadelphian named John Wanamaker was opening his first department store with his brother-in-law. His store was founded on the revolutionary principle: “one price and goods returnable,” which kind of made him an early version of Amazon.

SEO WHAT?

Ad Industry, GET FACT, SEO, Website Development

NEWS FLASH: Everyone who’s ever had a website wants people to find it. And that’s pretty much where the trouble begins.

Because chances are that your website isn’t the only website to do whatever your website thinks it’s doing. In fact, there are probably THOUSANDS of websites trying to do the same thing. The Internet is a pretty big place.

YOUR BRAND SUCKS

Ad Industry, Branding, GET FACT

Or maybe it doesn’t. But it probably does.

We know what you’re thinking. “How can this stupid blog know anything about my brand? It hasn’t even seen it!”

Well, either this blog is some omniscient, magical creature that can see through time and space with uncanny precision, or brand happens to be something that most people simply do not fully understand. You decide.

RIP RFP? QBS OMG!

Ad Industry, GET FACT

We get it. Companies aren’t necessarily versed in how to choose an outside agency for advertising, marketing, or strategic consultation. And government entities are often required by law or bylaw to put out a Request For Proposal (RFP), even if they already know who they want to hire.