Family-Owned and Operated?

That Doesn't Always Matter

Posted by Doug Zanger on 05.16.08 @ 12:59 PM

Doug Zanger

I'm listening to "Primetime" on ESPN Radio 1080 The Fan in Portland today (If you like the witty stuff like Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio, you'll like these guys) and in just about every commercial break, I hear someone talk about how they are "local" or "family-owned and operated." That term could be one of the biggest crutches in the history of the medium and it could also be one of the biggest "faux benefits" of an advertiser.

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2 comments

Mixing up the Business and the Personal

The Best Bet Is to Keep the Lines Clear

Posted by Phil Johnson on 05.15.08 @ 04:27 PM

Phil Johnson

How often have we encountered the statement that a business is like a family? As I once heard someone say, don't compare your company to a family until you start doing performance reviews at home. To anyone who has ever run or worked at a small agency, there is a push and pull between the personal and the business that can be a challenge to reconcile.

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1 comments

Go Topless!

Ban Laptops and Third Screens From Your Meetings

Posted by Marc Brownstein on 05.15.08 @ 11:47 AM

Marc Brownstein

I have written in recent postings about workplace issues such as e-mail etiquette and the need to disconnect at times from our technology. Now I have another related issue that is increasingly getting on my nerves and affecting productivity: laptop distractions.

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10 comments

Who Are You?

A Better Way to Project Your Agency Brand

Posted by Bart Cleveland on 05.13.08 @ 10:53 AM

Bart Cleveland

We recently hired a new person for business development. I'm excited to have her on our team because, though our new-business efforts have been very good to this point, it takes more effort than ever to realize sustained growth.

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2 comments

Radio Creative Can Learn From Google

Throwing Down the Creative Gauntlet Will Encourage Better Content

Posted by Doug Zanger on 05.12.08 @ 02:47 PM

Doug Zanger

I loved reading Abbey Klaassen's article about Google's dabbling in performance-based rate criteria. It's a radical idea, but one that could make a tremendous amount of sense. I've always believed that good, quality work should somehow be rewarded outside of the awards shows. (I also believe that creative/production people at radio stations should be rewarded for good work, but that's a different story altogether.)

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Making Sense of Cultural Dissonance

So What if Your Agency Is From Mars?

Posted by Jennifer Patterson on 05.12.08 @ 10:31 AM

Jennifer Patterson

Does this sound at all familiar?

The agency spends weeks writing a presentation for a client. The agency thinks it's built a clear, concise argument. It thinks the goal is to inspire, think big, reach for the future! It presents the deck. It realizes the romance was for naught. The client's official feedback is: "Really, we only thought slide three was of any use."

Slide three is a flowchart.

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Second Office, Second Chance

Tips for Sinking Roots 3,000 Miles Away

Posted by Phil Johnson on 05.09.08 @ 12:53 PM

Phil Johnson

I walked into our San Francisco office last week for the first time in six months, looking forward to meeting some new people who had joined the company. Fresh off the plane, I know that I had that dazed and confused look as I took note of all the changes since my last visit. As I was settling in, I overheard someone ask who I was, and the resulting answer that I must be the freelance studio guy. So much for my executive presence. Fortunately, my reputation as the scruffiest dresser in advertising remains intact.

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Public Humiliation: A Surefire Way to Guarantee Timesheet Compliance

Or: Yet Another Use for YouTube

Posted by Tom Martin on 05.08.08 @ 12:57 PM

Tom Martin

I hate timesheets. They are a pain and our employees often forget to do them. But alas, they are (for now) a necessary evil. And if we want to get paid, we need our employees to accurately fill them out in a timely fashion. But how do you force compliance in a fun and friendly way?

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12 comments

Picking a Partner: Harmony Is Overrated

Sometimes Loud, Noisy Relationships Work

Posted by Millie Olson on 05.06.08 @ 03:10 PM

Millie Olson

What makes for a successful partnership? As we think about enlarging the leadership team at Amazon, I realize that the answers are obvious mostly in hindsight.

Take the relationship between me and my business partner, a term I belatedly learned to use after a few prospects' eyebrows were raised upon meeting two tall female agency heads calling themselves Amazons.

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The Karma of Pro Bono Work

Charity Helps Your Agency Brand; That's Nothing to Be Ashamed Of

Posted by Marc Brownstein on 05.05.08 @ 12:24 PM

Marc Brownstein

Our local business newsweekly, the Philadelphia Business Journal, recently honored the most philanthropic companies in the Philadelphia/South Jersey/Delaware region. To our surprise and delight, our agency was named the No. 1 Most Charitable Company among all companies up to 100 employees. The metric was for all in-kind and cash contributions to nonprofit causes in a single year.

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