Execute

During the “getting shit done” phase of our methodology we will take the research, timeline and plan and actually do work ,with your approval of course. We will run media schedules, track results, reconcile invoices and we will bill you for a lot admin time and earn the bulk of our commission during this phase. We also bill you for actual media placed with as fat of a markup as we think we can get away with. We will take trips to see you in Sacramento with big shiny reports to assure you that you made the right choice. We will personally go out and make sure people are using your product, even if we have to pay them to do so. 

We will make any necessary changes and alterations to our plans and timelines no matter how much it pains us to do so because of your knee jerk reactions and budget cuts. We will learn to deal with your temper tantrums, ridiculous deadlines and fear of change. We’ll also perfect our impressions of you, hire an intern to do any of the difficult work on the account and rename Friday Happy Hour “To Let’s Get Shitfaced because of XXX Hour.”

The day before Wachovia was bought out by Wells Fargo, it awared it’s 150 million ad duties to Ogilvy & Mather. A new business pitch that cost the agency upwards of a quarter million dollars and was a significant win for the agency. 

Unfortunately for Ogilvy, the buyout puts their win in limbo. Not only will the 2009 budget be siginificantly less than th 150 million ad spend, as Wells Fargo’s agency of record is Omnicom’s DDB, its unknown if Ogilvy will seen any of the account at all.

Similar advertising issues with the WaMu buyout by Chase could result in the loss of 135 million ad spend from TBWA\Chiat\Day if WaMu’s budget is moved elsewhere. 

I cannot imagine the devestation of winning and then losing a 150 million dollar account within 24hours. 

Read more about it here and here.

But after seeing this video case study I’m rethinking our case study format….better to read about what we do or see it in action? 

My favorite from this week was an RFP (request for proposal) on Redacting Services. Redacting is basically going through and removing sensitive information before publication or sharing of that information. Its common practive in legal documents or company information to remove data before sent to the public. 

Redacting can be accomplished with a sharpie and a copy machine. Sharpie out the pieces you don’t want viewed, then make a copy to ensure the words cannot be seen through the other side of the page or through the ink. I’m sure many of you are thinking, but the goverment must have a more sophisticated method for removing sensitvie data, after a couple months working on gov’t contracts I can assure you thats not the case. 

I kind of want to bid on the redacting contract as an indepent contractor. Charge $500 an hour and the cost of my sharpies to complete the simple, mindless process.

Media is the reason I’m in advertising. It’s all about being understanding how people consume media and utilizing various media to affect the way people think and act. Media planning is analytical and sometimes a bit more numbers and graphs than glam but just as important as the creative.

New Business was never something that even crossed my mind when I started in this industry. And when I was first asked to pitch in with the New Business department I was extremely hesitant, I was not excited for cold calls and presentations. Is anyone really into that stuff?

But I’ve learned that there are a lot of perks to this department and I actually like quite a bit of it.

• I get to totally immersing myself in a project and learn about completely new and different industries (right now I’m becoming an Urban Planning expert for a pitch next week).
• Its about selling the agency not selling a product/service and its a constant reinforcement of why I work where I do.
• New Business is about coming up with creative solutions to a the challenges facing a client, without having to deal with a client relationship.
• There is always an end, a definitive close to the project. Either we get a No or we win the contract and I get to pass the client along to an Account Executive.
• New Business has the ability to steer the direction of the agency; focusing on industries or new regions that interest us and can challenge the team to be innovative and creative.

Now while there are some perks, it still can be an overwhelming and disappointing department. But anyone who is an agency should definitely work on at least a couple of new business pitches.