EndorsementRadio.com

I have to take a detour from radio endorsements for just a second. I just lead a creative review of ad agencies at the company where I work. Here’s what I’ve learned: all you agencies say THE EXACT SAME THING. One literally could swap out the logo on 90% of the presentations with any other agency, and you would never know.

It would probably be efficient for all agencies to share the same powerpoint and only differentiate themselves based on referrals.

Here’s the painful thing. I worked at both huge and micro agencies for 11+ years. AND I USED TO SAY THE EXACT SAME THINGS THAT THESE GUYS ARE SAYING. Ouch. I thought I was being soooooooo innovative and creative…especially because I always handled the media portion of the presentation and you just have to talk about “synergies” of creative and content to seem creative. Guess what. Everyone talks about those synergies. Every one.

I’ve learned my lesson. If I were to ever find myself again in the agency world, I think I’d limit my presentation to about 5 pages and spend the rest of the time asking very detailed questions about how they will measure success…and providing about 10 referrals. And doughnuts.

Without further ado, whether they are good or not, here is what every agency will tell you. Guaranteed.

1. Of course, we won’t know everything about your business. But we know everything about generating results.
2. We think like the entrepreneur.
3. We all come from big agencies and were looking to start something different.
4. We are radically different from the other agencies out there.
5. We don’t care about awards. What matters to us is the client’s success. But in case you’re interested, we’ve won…
6. Our teams work collaboratively. The creatives know what media is doing. Media knows what the account planners are doing. Etc.
7. We want our creatives to sit in an open, fun environment.
8. You want to meet the team that will work on your business? They’re us. We are the team.
9. What’s your budget?
10. We’re always optimizing your campaign.

The one that might drive me the most crazy is ‘what’s your budget?’. To me, that’s the wrong question. To me the best questions are:

1. What do you want to acheive, and
2. Can your business handle it if we do achieve that? Prove it.

So, knowing that everyone says the same thing, I think the ideal presentation focuses on questions to the client, an exploration of that energizing idea that will drive business, and very specific case studies, corraborated by the Advertiser.

I also hate using the word “drive” when it comes to marketing or business. Baby steps.