Today’s Ad Industry Innovator comes from New Marketing Labs, which you may know better if I tell you the name of its founder, Chris Brogan. Chris is the author of the NYT best seller Trust Agents and he’s in the top 3 on AdAge’s Power150.  Being some of the most recognizable social media marketers, these guys have a nice niche. Awesome alliteration, ay?

It’s fun to profile a group like New Marketing Labs because they represent those specialists who have stepped in to challenge the traditional agency model and offer unique and much needed services to brands. Anyway, Hanes, Sony, Citrix, Comcast, Molson Coors, PepsiCo, AMD and Microsoft seem to think so.

This is not Brogan!

I spoke to New Marketing Labs’ General Manager, Justin Levy about what makes their firm stand out in the marketplace. Besides his many duties keeping everyone rowing in the same direction, he is the co-organizer of their Inbound Marketing Summit and Inbound Marketing Bootcamp.  Prior to joining Brogan’s group Justin was Managing Director at an SEO public relations firm and President of Talent Network.  His answer to question # 7 practically had me weeping.  In all, it was a pleasure to get the perspective of such a well-rounded gent.

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

New Marketing Labs didn’t go through that period because we were founded to help medium and large businesses either figure out that aha moment or navigate their way through it .  We assist our clients with using these online tools to move the needles that are important to them.  We help them to enhance their communications, marketing, customer service and PR plans by using these new media tools to reach their prospects, customers and fans.

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

I am an avid reader and information junkie.  At any given time I am subscribed to a few hundred RSS feeds, read a few books per month and read the Washington Post, Boston Globe, NY Times and Wall St. Journal on a daily basis.  I love the consumption of information!

Right now I have about 15 books waiting to be read but I am currently reading the following books:

The Audacity to Win by David Plouffe
Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel
The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam

You’ll usually find me reading about marketing, business, lifestyle design, politics, productivity or food related books.

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

Dell has been doing an excellent job at using online tools to help them market to, learn from and listen to their prospects and customers.  From generating $2 million dollars with just one of their Twitter accounts, to IdeaStorm, a website where Dell allows their customers to generate new ideas for the company and then vote those ideas up and down, to how Dell uses the listening and monitoring company, Radian6, to help them be involved in conversations taking place around the web.  Dell has also done a great job at showing that they’re human.  Dell uses both corporate accounts (e.g. DellLatitude) and personal Twitter accounts with their staff (e.g. RichardatDell).  Using the employee name in the Twitter account helps to show the human side of the company and in turn, that makes stronger bonds with their customer base.

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 pitch/RFP process still serves a purpose in that it provides structure and the ability for the prospective client to walk down a check list to compare potential agencies who they’re interested in working with.  Where the pitch and RFP process suffer is that they don’t usually showcase the human side of both the agency and prospective client.  We have a natural tendency to want to do business with friends.  Therefore, I think agencies need to take opportunities to develop relationships with the people who make up the corporations.  Try being helpful to them in some way or connecting with them by sending a hand written note.

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

The agency of the future is more of a partner with the company that they’re working with instead of a typical agency/client relationship.  The agency of the future will need to ensure that they’re delivering value to their clients and will need to provide hard data to quantify and prove that data.  That’s not to suggest that agencies currently aren’t providing value to their clients.  But, with budgets continuing to tighten, companies are looking at what hard value they’re receiving from their vendors and agencies.  There is a difference in using new media tools that can provide hard data versus data that suggests that an approximate audience size probably saw your message.

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

Marketers need data that will help show them the value of what they’re investing their time and budget in.  Marketers need an agency that understands the complexities of their responsibilities, their department, their company and their industry and have the tools available to help navigate through it all.  Marketers want agencies that provide education, both internally and externally to help them and their staff to grow.

7. Who do you admire and why?

I admire a variety of people from many different industries and for different reasons.   If I had to choose one person though, I would choose my mom.  Unfortunately my mother lost a long battle with Lupus during my senior year in high school.  For the better part of my life my mother struggled to deal with a disabling disease.  Lupus, as well as some other factors, closed many doors for my mom at an early age.  Even while struggling with a disease that was constantly kicking her while she was down, she did everything in her power to see that her son, me, had everything I could ever need to help position me to be successful now.  Whether it was hand-written math books to work on over the Summer, pressuring me to apply myself in school, teaching me how to deal with hardship at a young age, or any of the may other life lessons she taught me.

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Hitch is a consultancy that helps marketers hire the right marketing agency.

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I’ve been reading Seth Godin‘s new book, Linchpin.

His blog post today came right from the book and was about how busy doesn’t mean productive. I have to say, I agree with him 100%.  So I’ve really tried to be disciplined about when I’m on these sites.

“I’d like to posit that for idea workers, misusing Twitter, Facebook and various forms of digital networking are the ultimate expression of procrastination. You can be busy, very busy, forever [but] busy does not equal important. Measured doesn’t mean mattered.”

But I had to laugh at the   s of the article and the invitation to share it on Facebook!
I guess we’re all hypocrites in one way or another.

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If you like Meatball Sundae, Purple Cow or any other of Seth Godin’s books.  Or even if you’ve never read any of his books, his latest is an ebook called What Matters Now and it’s free.

I like Seth’s writing, it’s always inspiring, insightful or inspirational.

Good way to start off 2010.

For those keeping tabs, Seth also has a book book coming out too.

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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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