Copacino & Fujikado is a mainstay in the Seattle agency world.  If you’re a marketer in or around the Pacific northwest, you’ve heard of them, or at least their work.  They were REI’s agency of record for years and years.  For the Seattle Aquarium, the agency created the saga of Leonard, a disgruntled pet store goldfish who isn’t cool or exotic enough to be on display in the Aquarium. The campaign was designed to spark a grassroots, viral movement to “Let Leonard In.”  There’s a lot more where that came from, once you start looking into this long time Seattle shop.

Their approach is solidly aimed at using marketing as solutions to business problems.  “We think of ourselves as creative business people and businesslike creative people,” says Copacino. “We’re all about using imagination as a strategic tool to solve real-life business problems.”

The approach is working. The agency has had 47 consecutive profitable quarters since its inception—and has never had a nickel of debt.”  Says Copacino, “If we can’t run a smart, profitable business, why should our clients come to us for business advice?”

Hard to argue with that.  And 47 consecutive profitable quarters with zero debt?  What business wouldn’t kill (ok maim) for results like that?  Don’t.  Just hire Copacino & Fujikado.

I asked Jim to give me his answers to my 7 questions:

What was the aha-moment when you realized “our company needs to be doing things differently than we have been.”?

The Burger King “Subservient Chicken” phenomenon opened my eyes to the possibility and power of interactive digital communications. For me, it snapped everything into focus—technology, community, experience, engagement. The fact that it was a brilliant digital interpretation of the 30-year-old “Have It Your Way” positioning vividly illustrated the difference between 20^th and 21^st century communications.

What books are on your nightstand or great blogs on your Google reader?

My nightstand is piled high with magazines: The Economist, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone. I’m not an avid reader of business books, though I just finished A.E. Hotchner’s In Pursuit Of The Common Good—the story of how he and Paul Newman ignored every rule of business to build a multi-million dollar food business, with all profits going to charity. The most powerful thing I’ve read recently is Rodeo in Joliet by Glenn Rockowitz, a Seattle copywriter.  It’s a harrowing account of his battle with cancer. I like Seth Godin’s blog because his entries are short, smart and useful. Plus he doesn’t allow posts and feedback—which spares his readers a lot of idiotic commentary. AdFreak.com is on my reader as well; Tim Nudd is a terrifically droll commentator.

Give me an example of marketing you think is brilliant and why?

The Obama campaign. He started with a compelling message of Hope and Change. He branded it elegantly. Then he segmented the marketplace and skillfully integrated the message using every relevant medium to win hearts and minds. Whether it was a Facebook post or a direct mail piece, everything was on brand. The whole vibe was one of controlled urgency—staying one step ahead of the 24-hour news cycle, but never appearing to be frantic or ruffled. He surrounded his prospects with the message and always respected their intelligence. By contrast, John McCain looked like a confused old man standing on the corner wearing a sandwich board reading “Vote for me.”

We’ve all read that the pitch/RFP process is broken. Many agencies aren’t even interested in competing in pitches. Do you see an alternative to this process?

There’s a very bright guy in British Columbia named Blair Enns who runs a company and website, Win Without Pitching. He has some helpful advice as to how agencies can avoid the RFP gauntlet.  At Copacino+Fujikado, about half of our new business comes from existing clients and non-pitch referrals—which is an efficient, cost-effective way to grow.  That said, few agencies have the luxury of spurning competitive pitches requiring spec work. And let’s face it, the agency victory parties are waaaay better when you’ve won a hotly contested pitch.

What does the agency of the future look like?

I think it’s going to be less about size and footprint. Instead it’s going to be more about leveraging imagination to solve thorny business problems and getting paid handsomely for it. Increasingly, you see big marketers turning to smaller companies in search of specific, discreet, creative solutions. It’s a return to what the essence of the ad business: big ideas versus big organizations. The best idea wins.

One other observation: The agency of the future will be more in control of the intellectual property it creates. There will be more emphasis on developing proprietary ideas that can be licensed.  We have a big push on at our agency to develop IP that we own and control.

What do marketers need that agencies aren’t giving them?

Leadership. Somewhere along the line, agencies stopped working with people in the c-suite and started working with people in cubicles. It’s the whole consultant-to-vendor syndrome we’ve all read so much about. Much of the fault lies with agencies that ceded the role of advisor because there was a lot of money to be made in the Eighties and Nineties as vendors. At the same time, too many marketers stopped believing in the power of ideas and vision, and started bargain shopping for marketing vendors through their procurement departments. Our challenge as an industry is to get off our knees and lead.

Who do you admire and why?

Two New Jersey guys: Philip Roth and Bruce Springsteen. They’re both sons of ethnic, working class families who became important American voices. What I admire most is how they’ve never stopped growing artistically. Roth is 76 but he continues to create deeply nuanced and imaginative novels. Springsteen is 60 and his craftsmanship has never been more impressive. Age has honed their skills, not blunted them.  As an old guy myself, this is important!

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