Thanks to Tom and Tallie Fishburne for sending me this cartoon to publish.  Brand Camp has cartoons for any marketing topic you could want.  If you don’t see what you want, contact Tom, he’ll produce it for you.  You can see more of Tom’s work on his Flikr page.  Contact Tallie Fishburne for inquiries on how to license Brand Camp’s content.

Citrus is a northwest ad marketing agency with 26 people with offices in Portland – Bend – Whitefish, MT (yup, handles the Lottery plus) and soon Memphis. Peter Levitan is its founder. I first met Peter in a recent ad agency search I conducted.

In their capabilities presentation, they were the only firm who actually sent in questions for the prospective client to consider. That was impressive. Let’s see if their answers to our 7 questions are equally impressive. I have to admit, I like the answer to question # 4 and no coaching was required! I also loved their “Dear Agency“ self promo piece.

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

We didn’t have an “a ha” moment so much as an “a ha” evolution.

In recent weeks, we have gone thorough an internal agency positioning review. We’re finally taking the time to do for ourselves what we do for our clients. This is not easy in the advertising/marketing/digital space because agencies tend to say the same things. Seems like it’s always the same blah blah. I suspect no one knows this better than Hitch.

During this process, we examined a range of positions that came from our brains as well as from the craniums (crania?) of other agencies. We also did quantitative online research with clients and learned that most think that all agencies are full of it. Just kidding. Well, sort of. Truth is, many clients and prospects think all agencies sound the same—no matter what we say.

So we decided to do something bold. Something different. Something a little crazy. We decided to tell the truth. We decided to tell the world what we really do for our clients: We move people. We move people through rational and emotional messaging. We move people from apathy to emotion, inertia to action (a purchase is among our clients’ favorite actions).

I guess you could say that our “a ha” moment revolves around the concept of MOVE.

What books are on your night stand or great blogs on your Google reader.

I believe I’m part of a dying breed: the magazine reader. I am committed—to the point of being slavish—to reading at least 30% of all New Yorker issues (near-impossible if you work), The Atlantic, The Economist, the last issue of Gourmet and stolen copies of Communication Arts.

The last great book I read was, in fact, a picture book. It was a look at how Avedon shot his famous series and book “In the American West.”

Works from the Blogosphere include Jeff Jarvis’s BuzzMachine (we invented the Internet together), random Blogs from the AdAge Power 150 blog list and “Things marketing people love.”

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

I always admire the speed of New York umbrella salespeople to hit just the right intersections when it starts to rain. Super targeted. Well-timed. Compellingly stated. Isn’t this what we all strive for?

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?

I’d like to make three points on pitching, all of which are derived from years of pitching as director of Saatchi’s business development group and now as the owner of a small agency.

First, most clients don’t have a clue about what they’re really looking for. It’s not their fault. They’re just trying to select an ad agency based on what are ultimately subjective criteria. Do I think that the agency is smart? Do I believe that the work is strong? Do I like them? Unless we’re talking about digital or direct response agencies that can deliver quantitative stories that directly relate sales increases to marketing activities, these traits don’t help selection a whole helluva lot. Ditto most case histories.

Point two: clients should use an agency search consultant. Selecting an ad agency is an important decision. Chances are, Bob in sales or Margo in procurement just aren’t going to cut it. (No offense, Bob and Margo.) Neither will a CMO who does a search every ten years. Hire an expert, please. I beg of you.

Finally, a note to agencies: Get. Over. It. Most industries use RFP’s. Just get past your egos and decide if pitching the potential client is a sound business decision. Determine if you have a chance based on your work and category experience. Look at the odds and decide if it makes financial sense. Did it make any financial or rationale sense for 1,284 agencies to pitch Zappos?

What does the agency of the future look like?

The agency of the future employs robots and goes to meetings in flying cars. Kidding.

Here’s something I’ve been thinking through for a while. I live in Portland. Portland has one of the highest populations of strategists, creative thinkers, copywriters, art directors and digital magicians in the country—maybe the world. What if we found a way to harness this creative and strategic power under the umbrella of brilliant management to deliver the new agency: Portland, Inc. I’d love to pitch Portland against Goodby, Weiden, Crispin and Ogilvy. Why not— they all use Portland freelancers anyway!

What do marketers need that agencies are not giving them?

Marketers need more smart ideas that will drive sales.

This dearth of sales-driven thinking isn’t due to agencies’ oversight. Marketers have made their own bed by deflating agency profit margins and reducing timeframes. (I just had a major hotel chain ask for a proposal to develop a new website for launch “late this year.” Um, its mid-October [when I'm writing this].) Simply put, clients have reduced our ability to spend the time required to develop the big ideas that are required to really win in today’s complex media space. Period.

Who do you admire and why?

Paris Hilton. I mean it. I have never seen someone build such a strong brand on so little. It was magical.

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I started getting to know HL2 in a recent ad agency search I conducted for a client in the Pacific Northwest.  Their clients include HTC, SBC, Microsoft, HR Block, ATT Wireless, Hotels.com

There were a few different long chats with Don Low, one of the founding partners which gave me a lot of insight into this group of 70 creative professionals, but I really started to get HL2 watching the pieces in the 4th chamber–more so than seeing their work.

I’d like to hang out at a Fat Burger or shoot hoops with them (I think I could stuff the TaxCut box) –but apparently they’re also pretty good at that marketing thing.  Founded in 1994, they’re more fun than most 15 year olds you know–and they won’t talk back or steal your car.  OK, they won’t steal your car.

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

My business partner, Tom Horton says, “Only through suffering do we become wise”. While we love new business wins, it usually takes a major loss for us to get pissed off and make dramatic changes. Two years ago we lost a major pitch and in the ‘loser’ call we heard, “We loved HL2 but the other agency just had a stronger analytics methodology”. We now have an analytics group of 8 and every campaign in the office has accompanying KPI’s with a corresponding dashboard for reporting. It’s transformed our business and the new business effort has never been stronger.

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

Soldier of the Great War by Helprin, A Distant Mirror by Tuchman and biographies of Mark Twain and Einstein. My personal reading takes precedent when I get home.  But I’m also working through a book called Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe. At work I spend time with a few key blogs – Seth Godin, the Dachis Group, Ad age and the Web Analytics blog.

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

Sprint is giving it a good go. Coke media is extremely focused and disciplined. I like the traction that Bing is getting as a start up brand.  The Nike+ Join the Race campaign is experiential and inspirational.  Each of these brands has deployed a multi-disciplined approach that spans TV to event promotion and social media.

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

I actually believe that, for many companies, the RFP levels the playing field and brings new agencies to the table. I believe you win the work you deserve. Either you’re digging deep, investing and setting up your agency to win or your coasting. The RFP process has allowed HL2 access to clients we never would have met on our own.

However, all clients don’t need to go through this formal process (especially the clients we’re currently pitching). Meet with 4-6 select agencies, get to know their culture, see their work, learn how they think and narrow to two. Then ask for proposals and presentations. While this is more legwork for the client initially, the long-term relationship is more likely to stick. It makes no sense to sit in a room and review 20 written proposals in today’s marketing world.

What does the ad agency of the future look like?

Lean, mean, smart, resourceful, marketing saavy, focused on the numbers, uber-creative.

Yes. That about sums it up. With a really cool space and an interest in the client that goes beyond billable work.

The agency of the future will need to spend more time looking for ways to tell stories and exploit technology to deliver great experiences, participate in the conversation and bring real value to consumer.

What do marketers need that ad agencies are not giving them?

Love. They’re not giving them love. Unconditional, immutable love. I’m-waking-up-in-the-morning-thinking-about-your-business kind of love. As agencies are working to wean their business model away from large media commissions and making their nut on fees, they are squeezed for talent–creative, account, planning, production, analytics talent. Larger agencies are no longer able to over-service accounts like they used to because there just isn’t enough money there. Clients stop feeling the love. Today’s agency is learning to be more nimble and is working to create a culture where the every employee is working to deliver superior strategy, creative and service.

Whom do you admire and why?

Winston Churchill. Primarily because he is proof that you can lead when you get old…. (Many historians now think he was suffering from pre-senile dementia while he was the PM. I think Winston; either drunk or affected was better than the rest of us with all our wits). Churchill is history’s portrait of resilience. A drive that never quit, unwillingness to compromise and foresight that saved the world.

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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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Last month Hitch was quoted in Michael Estrin’s article for iMedia Connection on “Rethinking the AOR model”.  I was pleased to be quoted alongside such good company!

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