As I continue to consult on advertising agency organizational structures and interview for full -time operational positions for corporate in-house divisions, I'm learning mindsets have not changed. Business is changing at light-speed, but the way of doing business is not.
There is a certain sense of irony in the organizational structure paradigm (oh, that word), especially in the creative environment. Whatever you call it, Creative Services, Advertising, Marketing, Branding, Graphics or Sales Support, the company looks to your area for creative solutions for their lack of revenue. Your department/agency is to solve everything, by producing effective materials. Yet, with the plethora of talent, you can't seem to get a project out, on-time, on-budget. Take a deep look at your division/department structure. Who's running the show?
Most Senior managers of creative areas, and typically all levels above, think having a super creative leading the pack will result in producing the materials they seek. When the area fails to deliver to their expectations, they replace the creative lead. This cycle is repetitive. The next questions is, "why can't we find a good creative lead?"
Let's define lead. Lead what? The creative approach? The creative process? The creative area? Nine times out of ten, it's the entire area. As my pastor would shout, when he wants your attention and wants to get an important point across, "Listen".
Listen:
- Creative people are creative. That's why you hired them.
- Creative people should not manage - process or people, i.e. the area.
- Stop replacing the good ones.
- Change the structure.
There are plenty of industries that develop right/left brain people: architecture, photography, musicians. All these industries require both sides of the brain. Each involve math and vision. Our industry, is no different. Leaders can come from our different disciplines, Account Services, Production, and yes, sometimes Creative. Your job is to recruit and screen for this balance, not "get me another creative person." In the event, this person is not easily found, get two people to complete the required balance. Don't scream, "I can't hire two people for one job."
Listen:
- Change the structure.
Companies has been successful at reducing overhead, increasing creative quality and processes, when they have the right people in the right disciplines in the right structure.
Quit blaming the Creative Director for not producing their best work, when you hired them to run the entire area/department/agency. They were made to be creative, not lead large teams and crunch numbers. Our job as leaders is to give our associates the tools they need to succeed.
Listen:
If you don't know how to do this, get help.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Management Style
During the evolution of my career, I have seen the continuous corrosion of employee/management trust. This lack of trust peaked with egregious top management wealth resulting in the current corporate corruption fallout. Now everyone is paying a high price with record unemployment.
The next Jim Collins or Stephen Covey will be the genius who, like them, can come up with an innovative "corporate management style "du jour" or as I like to call it "de l'année", because the corporate process takes years to implement, if they ever implement at all.
In order to receive a doctorate degree, usually one must write a book on management. Here's my doctoral hypothesis, based on my area of expertise – marketing and operations.
- Operations is not Marketing
- Marketing is not Sales
- Sales is not Advertising
You can apply transitive relationships to this hypothesis. The current economic climate is exacerbating the blurring, of not only these terms, but their functions. Corporations are attempting to hire candidates with any combination of these skill sets (and sometimes one who possesses all of them). Their goal is to save precious payroll expenses. They do not understand these competencies are wholly segregate functional areas, requiring discriminate expertise.
A close friend of mine calls today's management style, "mushroom management." He is referring to their managing in the dark. Top tier managers are so far removed from the line personnel, they have lost focus on who signs their paychecks. I believe this same loss of contact refers to the customer. I have another connotation for "mushroom management", top heavy. There are too many executives at the top, drawing big salaries, again without regard to who actually signs their paychecks, be it employees or customers.
There are some great successful business methodologies that came from W. Edward Demming, Jack Welch, and my favorite, Peter Drucker. Where did we lose touch and where are the business pioneers today?
The next Jim Collins or Stephen Covey will be the genius who, like them, can come up with an innovative "corporate management style "du jour" or as I like to call it "de l'année", because the corporate process takes years to implement, if they ever implement at all.
In order to receive a doctorate degree, usually one must write a book on management. Here's my doctoral hypothesis, based on my area of expertise – marketing and operations.
- Operations is not Marketing
- Marketing is not Sales
- Sales is not Advertising
You can apply transitive relationships to this hypothesis. The current economic climate is exacerbating the blurring, of not only these terms, but their functions. Corporations are attempting to hire candidates with any combination of these skill sets (and sometimes one who possesses all of them). Their goal is to save precious payroll expenses. They do not understand these competencies are wholly segregate functional areas, requiring discriminate expertise.
A close friend of mine calls today's management style, "mushroom management." He is referring to their managing in the dark. Top tier managers are so far removed from the line personnel, they have lost focus on who signs their paychecks. I believe this same loss of contact refers to the customer. I have another connotation for "mushroom management", top heavy. There are too many executives at the top, drawing big salaries, again without regard to who actually signs their paychecks, be it employees or customers.
There are some great successful business methodologies that came from W. Edward Demming, Jack Welch, and my favorite, Peter Drucker. Where did we lose touch and where are the business pioneers today?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Project Cost Containment
Whether your the client or the agency, at one point you're subjected to "scope creep." By definition, the project that won't end and/or elements keep changing. Everyone loses in the end. The agency tries to be PC by balancing cost overruns, between controlling the client and their profit. The client, may or may not, realize the impact of their actions.
Scope creep comes from both agency and client sources. The client may have poor communication channels within the company, i.e. advertising, marketing, R&D, legal, and a plethora of internal department approvals. The agency may not clearly communicate the costs as they occur, back to the client. This is a frightening thought and can/has put smaller agencies out of business.
There are several solutions to avoid the scope creep situation. Although, it may not eliminate its occurance.
- At the project start, have standard documentation that outlines the project's expectation. This can be the creative or marketing brief, quotation or budget approval form.
- Outline in a document, the procedure for additional charges. My agreement called for all costs exceeding 10% of quotation required client approval, prior to execution. There were times when this occured on a photography location shoot and changes required instant approvals to proceed. Be sure an authorized approver is on set or connected to their cell phone/blackberry. Downtime can increase costs exponentially.
Costs can lose control as early as the concept design stage. Be aware, just because the agency designed it, doesn't mean the client will approve it. If concepts are consistently rejected, then review the communications links supplying the client's desires. There is a breakdown somewhere and you must find it. Either the client has not presented their needs properly, the agency representative(s) are not conveying the project accurately or the job initiation process/documentation needs refinement.
All projects should require the following documentations, before anything happens:
- Budget
- Schedule
- Brief (Marketing, Advertising, Creative)
Execution should never start without the following, where applicable:
- Approved creative (layout, storyboard, editorial content)
- Product
- Photography art direction
- Refined budget
- Specifications (print, broadcast, web)
One more area of discussion, level of execution. There are a hundred ways to execute a single layout or storyboard. Talent costs can range from $500 to $10,000 a day for the same skill set, i.e. photographer, model, producer. Be sure everyone on the project understands the pros and cons at each talent level. 99% of the time, the budget will dictate the level of execution. Everyone involved in the campaign execution needs to be clear on the expectation.
Scope creep comes from both agency and client sources. The client may have poor communication channels within the company, i.e. advertising, marketing, R&D, legal, and a plethora of internal department approvals. The agency may not clearly communicate the costs as they occur, back to the client. This is a frightening thought and can/has put smaller agencies out of business.
There are several solutions to avoid the scope creep situation. Although, it may not eliminate its occurance.
- At the project start, have standard documentation that outlines the project's expectation. This can be the creative or marketing brief, quotation or budget approval form.
- Outline in a document, the procedure for additional charges. My agreement called for all costs exceeding 10% of quotation required client approval, prior to execution. There were times when this occured on a photography location shoot and changes required instant approvals to proceed. Be sure an authorized approver is on set or connected to their cell phone/blackberry. Downtime can increase costs exponentially.
Costs can lose control as early as the concept design stage. Be aware, just because the agency designed it, doesn't mean the client will approve it. If concepts are consistently rejected, then review the communications links supplying the client's desires. There is a breakdown somewhere and you must find it. Either the client has not presented their needs properly, the agency representative(s) are not conveying the project accurately or the job initiation process/documentation needs refinement.
All projects should require the following documentations, before anything happens:
- Budget
- Schedule
- Brief (Marketing, Advertising, Creative)
Execution should never start without the following, where applicable:
- Approved creative (layout, storyboard, editorial content)
- Product
- Photography art direction
- Refined budget
- Specifications (print, broadcast, web)
One more area of discussion, level of execution. There are a hundred ways to execute a single layout or storyboard. Talent costs can range from $500 to $10,000 a day for the same skill set, i.e. photographer, model, producer. Be sure everyone on the project understands the pros and cons at each talent level. 99% of the time, the budget will dictate the level of execution. Everyone involved in the campaign execution needs to be clear on the expectation.
Monday, October 15, 2007
First Lesson
My first class, Advertising 101 (not a joke; literally ADV 101), was held in an 300 student auditorium. What seemed to be a mile away, the gray-haired professor stood at the podium and exalted, "You have choosen a great field. When the economy is bad, businesses must advertise to draw customers. When the economy is good, businesses must advertise to beat the competition." What he didn't extol was, "Get used to unemployment."
Marketing and Advertising is a very unstable career. When the economy is bad, companies cut their marketing and advertising budgets. When the economy is good, companies may bulk up on staffing for a temporary ride. In the 21st Century, lean operations is the norm. I read in "48 Days to the Work You Love", by Dan Miller, the average job lasts 3.2 years. Advertising Age indicates the average CMO position lasts 18 months.
Don't be discourageed, by these stats. Marketing and Advertising can be a fun career, if you like a fast-paced, changing environments. During one of my unemployment stints, I received company sponsored out-placement services. This service teaches you how to "transfer" your skill sets. I didn't want to "transfer" my skill sets. I enjoyed my industry. Working at several companies can really broaden your skills, as well as provide steady growth. The key to survival is tolerance and tenacity. Your company turnover should not be too high, unless you're really unfortunate to pick companies with short life spans.
Marketing and Advertising is a very unstable career. When the economy is bad, companies cut their marketing and advertising budgets. When the economy is good, companies may bulk up on staffing for a temporary ride. In the 21st Century, lean operations is the norm. I read in "48 Days to the Work You Love", by Dan Miller, the average job lasts 3.2 years. Advertising Age indicates the average CMO position lasts 18 months.
Don't be discourageed, by these stats. Marketing and Advertising can be a fun career, if you like a fast-paced, changing environments. During one of my unemployment stints, I received company sponsored out-placement services. This service teaches you how to "transfer" your skill sets. I didn't want to "transfer" my skill sets. I enjoyed my industry. Working at several companies can really broaden your skills, as well as provide steady growth. The key to survival is tolerance and tenacity. Your company turnover should not be too high, unless you're really unfortunate to pick companies with short life spans.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Initial Thoughts on differentiating between Advertising and Marketing
It seems in the 21st Century, companies do not understand the difference between marketing and advertising. With their goal to reduce costs, they have combined the two disciplines into one.
Traditional Marketing involves the four “P”s: Product, Price, Place, Promotion
Advertising involves how to reach and communicate with the customer
They collaborate in determining product Features (marketing) and Benefits (advertising); target customer
I believe the industry itself has blurred the lines between marketing and advertising. Marketing should be weighted towards product development. Advertising should be weighted towards developing and executing the brand communication voice. The two disciplines interface on strategic direction.
The 21st Century has also lost focus on the customer and develop strategic plans that fill their own needs (i.e. company profit goals, meaning build it and they will come). Advertising has become competitive in manipulative methods to get the consumer to buy. They use countless data points and then develop an esoteric message, like cars driving on the edge of a building. Fine work for the CG team, but most people buy a car to drive on real roads not those in Second Life. This is not to stifle creativity, but the message must connect the consumer to the product.
Under the “Features and Benefits” school, advertising should appeal to filling a consumer need, real or perceived. From the customer’s point of view, it’s called, “what’s in it for me?” Both disciplines need to think like consumers.
Marketing should research and define the customer needs and develop the appropriate products. These products must be better than the competition. If they can’t be better, then they must differentiate themselves from the competition.
Marketing will define the target market. Advertising must do the research on how best to reach this market, speak their language and determine the channel(s) of communication. They must be creative, without missing the message. There is definitely a partnership and synergy between advertising and marketing.
Companies need to engage or reengage both disciplines.
Traditional Marketing involves the four “P”s: Product, Price, Place, Promotion
Advertising involves how to reach and communicate with the customer
They collaborate in determining product Features (marketing) and Benefits (advertising); target customer
I believe the industry itself has blurred the lines between marketing and advertising. Marketing should be weighted towards product development. Advertising should be weighted towards developing and executing the brand communication voice. The two disciplines interface on strategic direction.
The 21st Century has also lost focus on the customer and develop strategic plans that fill their own needs (i.e. company profit goals, meaning build it and they will come). Advertising has become competitive in manipulative methods to get the consumer to buy. They use countless data points and then develop an esoteric message, like cars driving on the edge of a building. Fine work for the CG team, but most people buy a car to drive on real roads not those in Second Life. This is not to stifle creativity, but the message must connect the consumer to the product.
Under the “Features and Benefits” school, advertising should appeal to filling a consumer need, real or perceived. From the customer’s point of view, it’s called, “what’s in it for me?” Both disciplines need to think like consumers.
Marketing should research and define the customer needs and develop the appropriate products. These products must be better than the competition. If they can’t be better, then they must differentiate themselves from the competition.
Marketing will define the target market. Advertising must do the research on how best to reach this market, speak their language and determine the channel(s) of communication. They must be creative, without missing the message. There is definitely a partnership and synergy between advertising and marketing.
Companies need to engage or reengage both disciplines.
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