Make Hay While the Sun Shines –Bigger Budgets and Agency New Business
In his timeless book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey identifies the first habit as “Be Proactive”. Always true in agency new business, it’s particularly important to remember when times are comparatively good: to be ultra-proactive – to make hay while the sun shines.
In this recently posted video, RSW/US Owner and President, Mark Sneider highlights findings from the 2016 New Year Outlook Survey that focus on Marketer spending forecasts for the upcoming year.
In the 10 year history of this survey, Marketers projected the one of the largest year-to-year increases in marketing spending: 62% of Marketers reported their marketing budgets for the year ahead were somewhat or significantly higher than prior year. This is up 11 percentage points from 2015, when 51% of Marketers offered their forecast.
The finding is reinforced by a report by Marketing Charts, based on research conducted by StrongView.
Certainly, this news has a shelf-life as economic and business outlooks change over time.
However, the implications for agency new business activity endure: higher spending does NOT automatically translate into greater ease in landing new clients.
Competition for agency new business intensifies every year, whether marketer budgets are expanding or contracting. As Mark stresses in the video, a year when Marketers are investing more in marketing is one to keep pushing – even harder – on landing new clients.
So, “make hay while the sun shines”…and in agency new business… keep the press on during all the other times too.
Mark Sneider
Mark is a 30-year veteran of the consumer packaged goods, advertising, and marketing service industry. Mark started his career at DDB Needham in Chicago prior to earning his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Business School at Northwestern where he majored in Marketing and Economics. Prior to starting RSW/US in 2005, Mark was General Manager for AcuPOLL, a global research consultancy. Sneider worked in Marketing for S.C. Johnson and KAO Brands. Sneider has been invited to speak at numerous Agency events and network conferences domestically and internationally including the 4A’s, Magnet, NAMA, TAAN, and MCAN. Sneider has been featured in prominent industry publications including Adweek, Media Post, e-Marketer, and Forbes. When not working (which often seems like not often), Mark likes to run miles, go to church, and just chill with a hard copy issue of Fast Company.
