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This week’s Ad Industry Innovator is Jim Harenchar from Richmond, Virginia based RightMinds.

I first became acquainted with Right Minds through LinkedIn and began emailing EVP, Jim Harenchar, as I was moving through the planning phase of launching Hitch.

RightMinds instantly intrigued me:  here were a bunch of smart, seasoned advertising people who were innovating by turning the traditional agency model on its ear.

Jim and my initial emails centered on RightMinds’ premise that “the traditional agency model is broken, if not dead”.  In Jim’s words “we’re about getting work done, out the door and at a competitive price point.

“RightMinds is made up of senior level marketing experts engaged under a common brand, vision, and empowerment system. More agile and effective than a traditional agency or marketing firm. More inspired than the smallest shops, and more fearless and prolific than the largest. Our tag line is, ‘You Can Do Anything When You Put Our Minds To It.’™”

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

After we give birth to every RFP, there’s a moment that may not be an “aha” moment as much as an “uh what” moment. You realize that agencies are asked to do much more free work than firms in other industries. That’s not to say that spec work should be avoided. But, it’s incredibly difficult to focus on existing clients and keep a number of RFPs in the air at the same time. If you take a step back and look at it objectively, no internal marketing team is staffed to cover all the bases. And, the idea of integrated marketing continues to expand. It just makes sense to broaden your offering without becoming so vertically integrated that you collapse under the weight of it all. A more virtual approach allows you to assemble a team that’s integrated for a particular client’s needs. That approach can often be more tactical than anything an agency of record could offer.

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

  • Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide
  • Sway
  • David Meerman Scott’s World Wide Rave
  • Matthew Leach’s St. Louis Cardinal blog, “Obviously you’re not a golfer”

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

The Burger King Facebook campaign was laser sharp. Dump your friends for a whopper? Perfectly viral. CP+B is looking like what a non-agency should be. If there’s such a thing as horizontal integration, they’ve achieved it.

The Dunkin Donuts campaign that is integrating every channel and medium to connect with “the common man” and drive share versus Starbucks. The ROI on that campaign is incredible and the marketing learning is priceless. Kudos to Hill Holiday.

Microsoft’s recent Lauren campaign which combats the Mac spots and really resonates with us in this current economy.

4. 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?

The death of RFPs may be preceded by the death of AORs. As long as clients seek agencies of record, there will be RFPs. The irony is that the RFP process often makes the result irrelevant by the time itís completed. Things are moving too fast for RFPs. Really sharp marketing executives find a stable of partners and buy ideas on a much shorter cycle within an overall brand strategy. That ís where agencies like ours come in.  We’re fostering relationships where the CMO comes to us as a resource to initiate the inspiration process – not just a creative execution partner. Why pay for retained resources when youíre really not satisfied with the team youíve got?  We’ve moved towards an incubator of consulting, creativity and implementation and it’s being embraced by the market.

5. What does the agency of the future look like?

The agency of the future looks less structured and more agile. The large agency networks are assembling smaller groups of specialists instead of trying to incorporate them all under an agency brand. In the future, individuals and ideas will be more important. After all, it’s a relationship business that’s all about the work.

6. What do marketers need that agencies are not giving them?

Two key things;

1. Attention. Constant attention. The chain of communication between clients and agencies needs to be simplified. It’s going to be ever more important for one person to be both creative and strategic so that the client can go direct to the source instead of passing information along through account executives. We’re facing a much shorter idea cycle and tighter budgets. Efficiency is key.

2. Relevance. I don’t think most agencies are always providing relevant solutions. Everyone wants to jump on the new media, social bandwagon but the solutions that they are providing aren’t always grounded. Too often the solution is based on what’s cool or new instead of what’s going to be effective, and the solutions aren’t integrated in a way that maximizes the power of each media.

I had a drink with a friend the other night who works in the marketing department of a large international company that serves over 25 countries. He made the statement that his boss was all over social media and was focusing a lot of their efforts in Facebook and other social networks. Sounds great until you think about it – they are a mostly b to c company with very little name recognition. Without some kind of brand building campaign their efforts are likely going to fall flat.

7. Who do you admire and why?

I just read a story on Ray Kroc. And, while many folks swear they will never, ever eat another McDonalds hamburger, he was a great marketer. He bought the founders out for a million a piece and proceeded to turn the brand into the largest global consumer brand.

Bill Gates is amazing to me as well. Pretty good success for a college dropout. I re-read The Road Ahead recently and was blown away by the vision and the foresight he had. His philanthropic and humanitarian work stands to leave a more lasting legacy than his work with Microsoft.