Ad Agency New Business & the ROI-Driven Finance Jockeys

We triumphantly returned from the 2011 Mirren New Business Conference this week with a head full of knowledge. We enjoyed being a sponsor and thanks to all those agency folks we talked to, it was a very good conference.

The post title came from what was probably one of my favorite quotes of the week, a week that reflected a lot of the optimism that’s been missing the past few years but also reflected in equal amounts the frustration inherent in the way the agency world has changed.

We plan to write a few posts next week on some of the bigger takeaways from the conference, with the hope being you gain some of the same benefits we did if you weren’t able to attend. But as we’re settling back into the office, a few quick highlights in anticipation of next week’s posts:

-If you even whispered the word procurement at the conference there was a high probability of a beat down. (Only halfway kidding)

-One Marketer from the Client Marketing Chief Panel on Day2 mentioned she spent 50% of her time every day speaking with her four agencies.  Reaffirming the fact that if you’re trying to become one of those four agencies, you’ve got to be interesting, consistent and above all, patient-these folks are busy.

-If it hasn’t been said enough, measurement and analytics are must-haves.

-Agencies often talk integration, but Marketers find quite a few of those claiming it not truly having the ability to integrate across all channels.

-Also from the Client Marketing Chief Panel, execution couldn’t be stressed enough, specifically in two examples: 1) pointing at those agencies who claim they can do whatever you need (but in many cases can’t) and then those boutique agencies with brilliant ideas but no realistic way to execute them (leading to a larger group being responsible for the execution.)

-Agencies can’t and shouldn’t try to be everything to everyone.  Focus on your passion and expertise and whenever possible, walk away from work that’s not the right fit.

-From a marketer at the panel, “Lunch is great but those days are over: show the expertise, results and thought leadership.”

Just a few thoughts for the moment, and more to come next week.