Better! Faster! Cheaper!: 102 Tips for Improving Agency Performance

Vivek Kuchibhotla

AuthorHouse, Mar 15, 2012 - Business & Economics - 200 pages

The Agency business has been struggling for the last decade and everyone is looking for solutions. In this book you will find 102 different answers. Some are big picture observations. Others are common sense tips. There are thoughtful observations and insightful approaches. Most of all, it is a call to go back to the nuts and bolts of the business in order to find a way forward.

Contents

• If you are not growing you are dying: 3
• Beware the Credentials Template: 4
• Avoid the if only syndrome: 6
• Figure out what the real problem is: 7
• Drive home your differential benefit: 8
• Unleash the power of focus: 10
• Pick your prospects: 12
• Solve their problem with your benefit: 13
• Get it from existing Clients: 15
• Find new ways of getting it: 16
• Do post mortems: 18
• Selling great Ideas is not Mission Impossible: 23
• Dress it for success: 25
• Clearly link the benefit to the Idea: 26
• Dont use storyboards: 27
• Understand how approval happens: 28
• Romance the product: 29
• Stay away from movie language: 30
• Let the best salesman sell: 31
• Do a crime scene investigation: 33
• Understand acts of faith: 34
• Set up the magic moment: 36
• Creativity is not logical: 39
• Say Yes: 40
• Say what else?: 42
• Say what if: 43
• Make it impossible: 45
• Make it illegal: 46
• Make it immoral: 48
• Go for quantity over quality: 50
• Make it fun: 51
• Make it safe: 52
• Avoid Groupthink: 53
• Time to get creative with the brief: 57
• Get rid of the Marketing Jargon: 58
• Play to your Creatives modalities: 59
• Create a Target Journal: 61
• Go where the action is: 63
• Understand category rules: 64
• Play with ideas first: 66
• Stay away from Adland: 67
• Interview your real target: 68
• Ask yourself if it inspires you: 69
• Do a post mortem: 70
• Presentation time is winning time: 73
• Control your body talk: 74
• Talk with a friend: 75
• Think before you Powerpoint: 76
• Remember you are the star: 77
• Make it fun: 78
• Every presentation is a sale: 79
• Make sure you play the part: 80
• Plan for the equipment not to work: 81
• Plan to finish early: 82
• Do real rehearsals: 83
• Doing more with less: 87
• Meetings are not free: 89
• Make efficiency worth my while: 91
• Set clear objectives for everyone: 93
• Lose the losers: 95
• Get a jump on fee negotiation: 96
• Negotiate on your terms: 98
• Properly train Client facing staff: 100
• Create an Idea Bank: 102
• Stay away from mercenaries: 104
• Do Flight simulations: 106
• Move away from FTEs: 108
• Link Compensation to Client sales: 110
• The most misunderstood job in the Agency: 115
• Go from Departments to Brand Teams: 116
• All Clients are not equal: 118
• Deliver your differential benefit: 120
• Write a Marketing Plan for your Account: 122
• Monitor progress against the Plan: 124
• Write Top Gun memos: 126
• Let the Account Plan drive decisions: 128
• Know where your Client really stands: 130
• Build double relationships with Clients: 132
• Even as you get big stay small: 134
• Results outweigh processes: 136
• Dont set bad precedents: 137
• Manage the Agencys image: 138
• Complement your Clients knowledge: 139
• Believe in Murphys Laws: 140
• Dont play the safe vs risky game: 141
• Stay away from you win I lose: 143
• Be a con man: 144
• Dont say it be it: 145
• Make it simple: 146
• Advertising 20 is still about people: 149
• Digital is a competence: 151
• Think interactive first digital second: 153
• Move from Targets to Participants: 155
• Move from Benefits to Passions: 157
• Move from integration to unification: 159
• Make data your friend: 161
• Account for the 3 stages of purchase: 163
• Always have an awareness plan: 165
• Understand how viral really works: 167
• When the work ends it starts: 169
• If the advertising is not right its wrong: 173
• Stay away from the wrong ways: 174
• Know your Target: 176
• Know your challenge: 178
• Understand the benefit: 179
• Properly define the Idea: 181
• Make sure the Idea is big: 183
• Properly evaluate the execution: 185
• Use your Platform Proposition: 187
• Properly evaluate digital executions: 189
• Learn the art of giving feedback: 190
• About the Author: 193

About the author

Vivek Kuchibhotla is the Founder of BFC Ideas, a Consultancy that helps its Clients to get to better Ideas, and to do so faster, and cheaper. Vivek has a unique perspective on the Ideas Business. He has been a “creator”, a “buyer” and a “seller” of Ideas. He has been an “insider” and an “outsider” at major Agencies and Corporations and has a keen understanding of the issues that surround the generation and implementation of Ideas. Vivek has spent the last decade conducting workshops and seminars with hundreds of different Agencies and Advertisers, and on four continents. He has worked with Agencies to help them strengthen their Idea Generation and Selling skills. He has helped them improve their Account Management function. He has helped them fine-tune their strategic thinking skills and their New Business operations. Prior to his work as a Consultant, Vivek spent ten years in Account Management at Leo Burnett, working on major Accounts such as Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s and Kellogg. He also worked on smaller local accounts in different countries. Vivek also worked in Brand Management at Unilever, Kellogg and S.C. Johnson. Vivek and his family live in Chicago, Illinois. He can be contacted at [e-mail] or through the www.bfcideas.com website.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Better! Faster! Cheaper!: 102 Tips for Improving Agency Performance
• Author: Vivek Kuchibhotla
• Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2012
• ISBN: 1468557017, 9781468557015
• Length: 200 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Advertising & Promotion