an agency from scratch...

An agency from scratch

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Strategy before operations – why most digital agencies can do better…

I haven't yet worked in a digital agency which has a decent strategy process to use with its clients.

They’ll tell you they have one – but where’s the bits of paper? Who in the organisation has a strategic training and spends time on it? And more importantly – when was the last time they actually used it and followed it though?

Only by developing a solid strategy (vision of the future) can brands then figure out what they really want to achieve - and from there – what to build / design / launch to get there.

It’s understandable in many ways. Human nature suggests that having won an account, the temptation to jump into operational mode and prove you are delivering something often means a strategic look isn't taken as clearly, or for as long, as perhaps it should be.

Something I I've picked up from years of working with the people at strategic thinking group, is without a clear, tangible process that enables people to paint a simple vision of what they think the future will look like - good things come harder.

My own ideas are coming soon….

instead of running ads - improve your product

I was talking to a friend who runs a startup technology company. A web2.0 application, which frankly needs some work - both in its functionality and look and feel.

He's a wealthy guy and he knows a thing or too about business but he's never run a tech startup. We got talking about his marketing strategy and he told me in some detail the number of people he had working on this project and that, what he would be spending on PPC, this much on below the line etc.

He was making the classic start up error. Spending on marketing instead of your product. Having got out of beta, it is so tempting to start spending on "marketing" - the analytics suddenly look good, the investors are pleased something is happening

And then.....

Nothing.

Takes a lot of courage to continue to look honestly at your product, your technical development plans and your internal systems. To listen to your customers and address their concerns.

Money spent on developing your product is never wasted. Cash spent on old skool marketing too early often makes the directors and shareholders feel better in the short term but rarely produces the long term users and revenue it was designed to.

the dove "make over" viral

Its been around for ages and talked about at length, but in a meeting this morning the dove "make over" viral was mentioned and we took 3 minutes to watch it again. If you've not seen it already the clip is here

Every time I watch this I'm blown away by it.

In its simplicity and execution it educates, informs and entertains the viewer - I am more likely to buy a dove product because of this.

The clip is everything inbound marketing should be - forget finding your audience as a PR, there are too many people to keep a track of and in touch with. instead rely on your ingenuity and creativity to come up with a brilliant idea and let an audience find you.

Getting our heads round the digital channel - corporate incongruence

From experience way less than 50% of businesses are truly engaging in what we might call web 2.0.

Many are struggling with 1.0 and its hardly surprising. What the hell is a folksonomy? And more to the point, how the hell is knowing what one is, going to help me sell more wigits next quarter?

The web landscape is changing so rapidly that even as someone who makes it their business to be informed, I'm faced, pretty much daily, with a new bit of technology or concept I need to get my head round - its bewildering and scary. A lot of senior marketeers appear to be getting left behind.

There are brands, who, like annoying younger siblings, seem to be at ease with the web - Avis, HP, Dell. So what are these companies doing that others aren't?

Well, for one, they've realised the need to re-engineer pretty much their entire corporate structure to take account of what their customers want. They are listening like never before - and that takes courage and time.

A brand I was talking to a couple of weeks ago was convinced that they wanted to talk about being green. I showed them online where people were screeming at them that the environmentally friendly options on their products were buried deep in the menu structure of their machines. They weren't being congruent. Their corporate body was saying one thing but the body language was saying another.

If you're a senior marketeer who wants a daily 5 minute tutorial on the web and how you can use it. I hope you bookmark my blog.