If you go to the APA site - http://www.a-p-a.net/, and scroll down the Home page until you reach 'Celebrating Adland'. Have a look at the video - it is really really good. It covers many of the old and new characters that we see in this wonderful world of advertising that we live and work in.
A nice thing to watch to remind ourselves of what great creative work looks like. Hope you enjoy it.
30 March 2010
29 March 2010
If you have some money...
Just seen that the CIPS 2010 Conference is now open for bookings, with an early bird special price of £200.
With me bemoaning about the behaviour at that local event I went to, the Annual Conference is usually very good with an interesting mix of both public and private people attending. John Timpson (key and shoe repair man) and Michael Portillo (MP - not sure where he was on the old expenses scandal front).
Here is the URL for it - if you would like to attend - http://www.cipsannualconference.com/
With me bemoaning about the behaviour at that local event I went to, the Annual Conference is usually very good with an interesting mix of both public and private people attending. John Timpson (key and shoe repair man) and Michael Portillo (MP - not sure where he was on the old expenses scandal front).
Here is the URL for it - if you would like to attend - http://www.cipsannualconference.com/
19 March 2010
This last 2 weeks I have mainly been....
attending a breakfast, conference, a local women's forum and 1 CIPS Branch meeting (more of that later!). Bit of a long post here so bear with me.
I attended the Iris Procurement breakfast the week before last. There was a really good turnout and the topic was Payment By Results, with the panelists being from my old company - Orange and ISBA. The debate was lively with some good points being raised but I suggested that perhaps PBR is a bit dated. It has been around for many years and ISBA are about to publish their 4th study I think of their most recent study on PBR at clients. Don't get me wrong, I think it works well where there is a direct measure of the results of the work in place e.g. media savings, increase in sales, a well managed and objective client satisfaction survey. But I quite like some of these new fee models that newer agencies are talking about - areas like revenue share, getting paid xx pence for every new call to the new directory enquiries company. That is both investing in the marketing activity and if it works both the client and the agency get rewarded. I am aware of one agency that didn't charge a new client any fees but took a xx pence model and got a cheque for £1m. That is some incentive as long as the client pays up for course. Let's all try and be a bit braver on both sides and try and find a few areas where we can try a new model and see what the results are.
The ISBA Conference was interesting. There weren't that many purchasing folk there which I was surprised about. Conferences like this really help you understand the categories that we all work in and help you perhaps challenge and provoke debate with existing and may be new agencies on different ways of working to achieve efficiencies etc. Worth attending next year if the training budgets get reinstated. One comment to end on was the lack of women speakers - there was one. Come on Women in Marketing - let's see more of us next year (for once there was a queue at the men's loo not the ladies!)
Following on from the above theme - I am a cynic of all 'wimmin' things but attended a local 'Wimmins' Forum this week. It helped it was at a local chocolate making shop / school. All networking over a chocolate bon bon must be good. As most of my work comes from clients in London I rarely find this of interest but this one was really good. A very relaxed format, encouragement to speak to everyone there, no pressure to stand up and try and explain what you do (my Mother still thinks I buy pencils for a living !) and a genuine interest in what you do. I suggested a few high profile women speakers that live locally to them and hope to attend the next one which is entitled 'The Trials and Tribulations of a Women Entrepreneur' by HSBC - not sure of the HSBC connection.
And now onto my last event the local CIPS (Purchasing body) Branch event. Again I have only been to one before and that was fairly bad. Both in terms of content, attendees and lack of energy in the room. But as I chair the CIPS group on Marketing thought I would give it a good. The topic was of interest and a good speaker. Other attendees were mainly public sector and gave me a bit of up and down look as I was in 'casual advertising dress' e.g. jeans, shirt and my converses !. Everyone was polite but not that open to chatting to everyone, people kept themselves to themselves. But the main issue for me was afterwards with the speaker. Fair enough he had a product to sell - his training. But he then rang me up afterwards as I am sure that he contacted everyone and really kept going on about coming into see me and my company. I am sure that my two cats (Boston and Madsie) would be delighted to serve him tea and cakes if I am out at a client meeting. Mate - it is just me, and no I am not interested in training, no I am not interested in a meeting and no, no, no to everything else. It was a really hard sell and where in the small print did it say that he could contact me ? I have made my feelings known when they asked for feedback this week. So perhaps I won't get another invite but I just felt that the after sales activity as it were, was badly managed. That is my rant over with.
As usual, all comments welcome (and no blatant advertising as the comment was on my last blog post !).
I attended the Iris Procurement breakfast the week before last. There was a really good turnout and the topic was Payment By Results, with the panelists being from my old company - Orange and ISBA. The debate was lively with some good points being raised but I suggested that perhaps PBR is a bit dated. It has been around for many years and ISBA are about to publish their 4th study I think of their most recent study on PBR at clients. Don't get me wrong, I think it works well where there is a direct measure of the results of the work in place e.g. media savings, increase in sales, a well managed and objective client satisfaction survey. But I quite like some of these new fee models that newer agencies are talking about - areas like revenue share, getting paid xx pence for every new call to the new directory enquiries company. That is both investing in the marketing activity and if it works both the client and the agency get rewarded. I am aware of one agency that didn't charge a new client any fees but took a xx pence model and got a cheque for £1m. That is some incentive as long as the client pays up for course. Let's all try and be a bit braver on both sides and try and find a few areas where we can try a new model and see what the results are.
The ISBA Conference was interesting. There weren't that many purchasing folk there which I was surprised about. Conferences like this really help you understand the categories that we all work in and help you perhaps challenge and provoke debate with existing and may be new agencies on different ways of working to achieve efficiencies etc. Worth attending next year if the training budgets get reinstated. One comment to end on was the lack of women speakers - there was one. Come on Women in Marketing - let's see more of us next year (for once there was a queue at the men's loo not the ladies!)
Following on from the above theme - I am a cynic of all 'wimmin' things but attended a local 'Wimmins' Forum this week. It helped it was at a local chocolate making shop / school. All networking over a chocolate bon bon must be good. As most of my work comes from clients in London I rarely find this of interest but this one was really good. A very relaxed format, encouragement to speak to everyone there, no pressure to stand up and try and explain what you do (my Mother still thinks I buy pencils for a living !) and a genuine interest in what you do. I suggested a few high profile women speakers that live locally to them and hope to attend the next one which is entitled 'The Trials and Tribulations of a Women Entrepreneur' by HSBC - not sure of the HSBC connection.
And now onto my last event the local CIPS (Purchasing body) Branch event. Again I have only been to one before and that was fairly bad. Both in terms of content, attendees and lack of energy in the room. But as I chair the CIPS group on Marketing thought I would give it a good. The topic was of interest and a good speaker. Other attendees were mainly public sector and gave me a bit of up and down look as I was in 'casual advertising dress' e.g. jeans, shirt and my converses !. Everyone was polite but not that open to chatting to everyone, people kept themselves to themselves. But the main issue for me was afterwards with the speaker. Fair enough he had a product to sell - his training. But he then rang me up afterwards as I am sure that he contacted everyone and really kept going on about coming into see me and my company. I am sure that my two cats (Boston and Madsie) would be delighted to serve him tea and cakes if I am out at a client meeting. Mate - it is just me, and no I am not interested in training, no I am not interested in a meeting and no, no, no to everything else. It was a really hard sell and where in the small print did it say that he could contact me ? I have made my feelings known when they asked for feedback this week. So perhaps I won't get another invite but I just felt that the after sales activity as it were, was badly managed. That is my rant over with.
As usual, all comments welcome (and no blatant advertising as the comment was on my last blog post !).
09 March 2010
Dentist negotiation
Thanks to Craig for sending this to me. This is about negotiating with your dentist in a businesslike way and discussing the prices and the services that could possibly be cut out to reduce the prices. Makes my eyes water just thinking about no pain relief !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9c2ocJOx4
But interesting good for thought as for me it is about agreeing the Scope of Work upfront first (one of my missions for 2010) and then discussing the resource needed to supply against that, and then the costs. It is not just all about looking at reducing a rate card.
Enjoy the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9c2ocJOx4
But interesting good for thought as for me it is about agreeing the Scope of Work upfront first (one of my missions for 2010) and then discussing the resource needed to supply against that, and then the costs. It is not just all about looking at reducing a rate card.
Enjoy the video
04 March 2010
Classic quote of the week
Ten minutes into a negotiation with an agency this week, the Marketing person said "Oh yes and at client name (obviously removed to protect the innocent!) we have loads of money floating around". That is quite a hard comment to then start discussing production and fee costs with an agency that is under pressure to deliver creative work as soon as possible.
You have to laugh and it is part of what makes working in Marketing Procurement so much fun.
But the morale of the story is preparation and planning. Knowing what you want to get out of the meeting and agreeing roles and responsibilities (I did try to do that - honest!)
Has anyone got any howlers (from any side of the fence) that they want to share?
You have to laugh and it is part of what makes working in Marketing Procurement so much fun.
But the morale of the story is preparation and planning. Knowing what you want to get out of the meeting and agreeing roles and responsibilities (I did try to do that - honest!)
Has anyone got any howlers (from any side of the fence) that they want to share?
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