SPEAKER NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
Thank you for all your nominations.
We are on a hunt.
We are on the hunt for those agencies that are experiencing growth - and have done so by reinventing their agency.
Call them innovators. Call them visionaries. Call them rule-breakers. Call them bulldogs in their determination to grow. They will be front and center at The 2010 Mirren Business Development Conference in New York this April.
Whether it's creating new revenue streams, experimenting with pricing models, launching new services, tapping social media or a completely new approach to business development... [Read More]
Our Training Event team, along with Adweek, has been working (what already feels like around the clock) on the planning of our next national new business conference.
We continue to focus on delivering cutting-edge new business strategy that is practical, relevant and immediately applied. To that end, we have a few surprises we'll be announcing in the coming weeks. From format to subject matter to speakers, we'll be introducing a few twists to ensure we continue to deliver meaningful insight.
Content will address key issues that agency principals and new business [Read More]
This posting from Jill Konrath is quite relevant to agencies in their positioning, pitching and prospecting efforts.
Below are the highlights. You can read her full posting here.
How to Create Strong Value Propositions that Lead to Sales
By Jill Konrath
In order to get customers to consider changing, you have to give them a good reason-a really good reason. They need to know about the tangible business results they'll get from using your product or service.
One of best ways to wake a prospective customer out of his "everything is okay" slumber [Read More]
Edcappa, per your request... a review of your web site: www.aghealthcare.com
At first glance, this looks like it could be the ideal agency web site. Beautiful design, good navigation, compelling copy. However, beneath the surface there are issues we see common to most agency sites.
I'll break down my point of view into seven elements:
1. What are the objectives of the site? What role is it playing in the overall new business/marketing mix?
It appears that the objective behind your site is to position Adair Greene McCann as the [Read More]
As a new business director, the project I feared most... undertaking a redesign of the agency web site. What message do we communicate now? What is our positioning this week? And, why can't anyone on the management team agree?
As part of Mirren's on-site training, we occasionally interview clients of the agencies we're working with (those from pitches they won and lost). Over the last few years, we've conducted [Read More]
Well their positioning appears to be: cheaper than freelance, better than interns.
Can't say I knew there was a business opportunity in the middle earth that exists between these two levels of talent. It gets better. The client will pay whatever they think the work is worth.
Here's how they describe their approach:
1. You submit a work request form
2. We perform the duties you require within the time you specify
3. When our assignment is done, you decide what it is [Read More]
Agencies complain about clients saying one thing, but then doing another. However, do agencies treat their own marketing the same way?
At the latest Mirren New Business Conference on April 6 - 8, 2009, 325 attendees took in the latest thinking from 35 speakers in 30 sessions over 3 days. Speakers included every major search consultant, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Goodby Silverstein, R/GA, Razorfish, Anomaly, to name a few.
158 agencies participated in a basic survey about their new business practices and the impact of [Read More]
As requested by many of you who attended the conference, below are several of the handouts (often a condensed version of what was actually presented). Simply click on the link to download each PDF.
Please Note: these will be available for download only until Fri, June 12th.
What Clients Want: Mary Ann Packo, Millward Brown
Where the Spending Is: Krista Faron, Mintel International
Keynote: 25 Things About Pitching To Win: Jason Whiting, AKQA
Breaking Into New Categories: Brent Hodgins, Mirren
[Read More]
Although the industry prides itself on cutting-edge creativity and innovation, it can be one of the best cliche factories known to mankind.
Case in point, here's copy from one agency web site:
"Times have changed. You can no longer talk at consumers. We are a new type of agency; we use a unique fully-integrated, idea-driven approach that builds a dialog with consumers. Driven by passionate people, powerful creative, medium-neutral solutions and a relentless results-driven focus, we activate brands, turning consumers into advocates."
I have a personal [Read More]
