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Your agency in 30 seconds
Presented by Tim Williamsignition consulting groupwww.ignitiongroup.com
The four questions that define agency positioning strategy
We’re full service! We’re integrated! We have a wide range of experience! We’re creative! We’re strategic! We’re nimble! We’re media neutral! We’re dedicated! We’re your marketing partner! We assign only senior people! We get results! We’re fun!
What makes us different?
The “red ocean” of agency claims
CONFIRMATION BIAS
“Our offering is highly differentiated.”
Percent of company executives who agree: 80%Percent of customers who agree: 8%
“I wish that the agencies would stick to what they are good at. They try to do everything, and they would be better served to narrow their focus.
You can’t do everything, and if you try to do everything, you do nothing. It drives me crazy when the agency is trying to pitch you every single service available.”
WHAT CLIENTS THINK
“The common failing among agencies seeking new business is their inability or unwillingness to name what they stand for.”
Bob Lundin
WHAT CONSULTANTS THINK
WHAT THE PRESS THINKS
“Telling an effective agency brand story should be easy for companies that are in the business of telling brand stories, right? I can tell you, after perusing many an agency website, that fewer than you’d think have figured it out. Very few take stands.
All this has made the agency landscape feel too flat and featureless, and that is exacerbating the commoditization of the business.”
Matt CreamerAdvertising Age
How would a prospect find your agency in a Google search?
“full service advertising agency”
Focus Diversification Complexity
THE COMPLEXITY TAX
PRODUCT CODES (SKUs)60 15,000
“I’m more proud of what we haven’t done than what we have done.”
Steve Jobs
Apple
THE DIVERSIFICATION DISCOUNT
① There’s really no such thing as “full service”
② Clients don’t hire you for “everything” but for something.
③ “Full service” simply doesn’t scale
Full service doesn’t scale
Focus does scale
① People, competencies, and systems constantly improve.② Time and money are directed toward a coherent strategy.③ Expertise can be deployed across a large client base.④ Alignment between your strategy and day-to-day decisions.
① Clear criteria for identifying the types of clients who want you for what you do best.
② A stronger win ratio in new business, because you’re playing to your strengths.
③ Clear hiring standards for the kind of people you need to deliver on your strategy.
④ A self-promotion program based on a meaningful, unifying theme.
⑤ More pricing leverage because you’re offering more differentiated services.
⑥ A clearer direction for how you should spend your limited time and resources.
Fear of focusBenefits of focus
You can be good at something, but you can’t be good at everything
Positioning =
Michael Porter
Harvard Business School
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
Deciding what not to do
Positioning = Deciding what not to do
Source: Jan Rivkin, Harvard Business School
Positioning = Trade-offs
Positioning = Trade-offs
“What makes a great museum is the stuff that’s not on the walls.”
Seth Godin
Positioning = Curating
Positioning = Curating
Positioning = Letting your clients outgrow you
“Companies need to be true to a type of customer more than a specific individual customer with changing needs.”
Jason Fried
37 Signals
Positioning = Letting your clients outgrow you
Positioning = A reliable way to repeat success
Positioning = A reliable way to repeat success
Positioning = Letting clients outgrow you
“Companies need to be true to a type of customer more than a specific individual customer with changing needs.”
Jason Fried37 Signals
“A business strategy is about deciding where to play, and how to win.”
A.G. Lafley CEO, Procter & Gamble
Three Main Models Today’s clients use to work with agencies
Client
1.
Best-of-Breed Model
YOUR FIRM IN 30 SECONDS
Source: Millward Brown Study on Agency New Business
① Desire to focus on best-in-class specialists② Lagging business results③ Creative failed to perform as expected④ Agency’s failure to update capabilities⑤ Creative differences⑥ Lack of team chemistry⑦ Poor service⑧ Agency’s poor project management⑨ Agency’s lack of cost efficiency⑩ Agency’s lack of desire to facilitate integration
Top reasons clients search for a new agency
Clayton ChristensenHarvard Business School
Author and leading thinker on disruptive innovation
“We are seeing a shift in the competitive dynamic from the primacy of integrated solution shops, which are designed to conduct all aspects of the client engagement, to modular providers, which specialize in supplying one specific link in the value chain.”
“Marketing organizations traditionally have been populated by generalists, but particularly with the rise of social and digital marketing, a profusion of new specialist roles are emerging.” Keith Weed, CMO, Unilever
Marc de Swaan Arons and Frank van den Driest, Effective Brands
AORAgency of Record
AOCAgency of Collaboration
Agency
2.
Single Source Model
Client
Lead Agency
3.
Service Integrator Model
Client
3.
Service Integrator Model
Brand Agency Leader
CLIENT SIZE
AGENCY FOCUS
Best-of-Breed Firms
Larger national clients
“Generalist” Firms
Smaller regional clients
+ Has higher fees
+ Has broader market area
+ Has fewer competitors
Power is with the specialist.
NARROW is not the same as small
The four questions that define positioning strategy
What we do
How we do itWho we do it for
Why we do it
Your positioning strategy in 30 seconds
For (Who) ___________________________
We (What) ___________________________
By (How) ___________________________
Because (Why) _______________________
What are our core competencies? In which areas are we truly best in class?
¡ Services we offer ¡ Skills we possess ¡ Communications channels we know ¡ Customer points of contact we know ¡ Strategic assets we own ¡ Value chains we know ¡ How and where customers buy our client’s brands ¡ Outcomes are clients are seeking ¡ Client benefits we deliver
What
Areas of exploration
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Examples of positionings based on
What we do
Who is our best customer? What markets or audiences do we know best?
¡ Categories we know ¡ Distribution and delivery channels we know ¡ Internal and external stakeholders we know ¡ Audiences and market segments we know ¡ Types of brands we know
Areas of exploration
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Who
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Who
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Who
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
TYPE OF AUDIENCE
TYPE OF BRAND
Examples of positionings based on
Who we do it for
TYPE OF CATEGORY
How are we different in the way we think? Do we have distinguishing approaches or philosophies?
¡ Philosophies or beliefs we have ¡ Methods and approaches we use ¡ Our firsts and milestones ¡ Access to specialized resources ¡ Beliefs about organization, structure, work environment
Areas of exploration
Examples of positionings based on
How we do it
Examples of positionings based on
How we do it
Examples of positionings based on
How we do it
Examples of positionings based on
How we do it
Examples of positionings based on
How we do it
¡ Beyond making money, what is the purpose of our
organization? ¡ What are the things we will always do? What are the
things we will never do? ¡ What do we preach? What are we crusading against?
What do we fight for? ¡ If our people were volunteers instead of employees,
what would they be volunteering for? ¡ What would we want to achieve if we knew we could
not fail?
Areas of exploration
Why are we in business? Do we have a purpose that transcends making money?
Why we do it
Why we do it
“Profit is not the purpose of a company, but rather a test of its validity.”
Peter Drucker
Overdeveloped ServicesOverserved MarketsSatisfied Client Needs
Underdeveloped ServicesUnderserved Markets
Unsatisfied Client Needs
Low marginMany providers
Positioning = An opportunity to find a more valuable spot on the client value chain
High marginFew providers
Overdeveloped ServicesOverserved MarketsSatisfied Client Needs
Underdeveloped ServicesUnderserved Markets
Unsatisfied Client Needs
A new positioning strategy is an opportunity to be not just
authentic, but aspirational
“Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum strong enough, and I can move the world.”
Archimedes
Bringing your positioning strategy to life
Reputational capital, by itself, doesn’t make your firm a differentiated brand.
“If you stand for something, you will always find some people for you and some against you.
“If you stand for nothing, you will find nobody against you, and nobody for you.”
Bill Bernbach
“It’s not good enough to be the best at what you do; you need to be the only one who does it.”
Jean-Marie DruTBWA/Chiat/Day
www.IgnitionGroup.com
@TimWilliamsICG
www.linkedin.com/in/TimWilliamsICG LinkedIn Influencer
“Positioning for Professionals” by Tim Williams
Propulsion Blogwww.IgnitionPropulsion.com