How Not to Start an Ad Agency

Luke Sullivan is an advertising hero of mine who agreed to talk to me on the podcast. Why? I have no idea. 

He's the author of Hey Whipple Squeeze This, the first book I read when starting out as an advertising creative, and one I've reread multiple times. And I don't reread anything. 

Back in March he released its 6th and final edition so we discussed that, copywriting, and a branding project we were working on. His advice was so good we had to scrap months of work and start from scratch. Damn you Luke!

Enjoy.

Today's episode features multi-agency owner and all around marketing ninja warrior, David Moore. He currently runs two agencies and has done some wild and effective things to generate new business.

One time he sent a long piece of foam board to target decision makers at companies he wanted to work with. The boards were too long to fit in their mailboxes and stuck out, which was the point. On each board were the words, "Want to stick out?".

It worked.

If you enjoyed the last episode with NBZ about generating new business, this is the perfect companion. Have a listen. Enjoy!

"We make cool s**t for brands."

I'd be lying if I said I loved it. It’s a little try hard, and to Simone Oppenheimer and Rachel Segall, it isn't a compelling, sellable point of differentiation.

You see, Simone and Rachel run their own startup. It’s called NBZ. And I admittedly thought they were a consultancy that gave tactical suggestions on how to drum up new business. But they are not. They're so much more than that.

NBZ, in my mind, is a marketing agency for marketing agencies. They take the things we're so good at doing for others, and force us to do it on ourselves. It's like going to Mr. Miyagi to be taught how to punch only to find yourself doing chores for days. Then to look back later and realize you’d suck at punching if you didn’t put in that initial work.

Was that a good analogy? I don’t know. You know what else I don’t know? Whether Gush is a brand about making cool shit. I’ll have to get back to you on that.

In the meantime, listen to them blow up what we built in the best possible way.

Enjoy.

Steve Harrison and I discuss his book "Can't Sell, Won't Sell." It's going to ruffle some of your feathers.

There's definitely been a lot of change this past year to correct the problems in our industry, some of which may have been over corrections. I think Steve believes the latter. Problem is, I'd be lying if I said I didn't agree with him on most of his points, hence the name of the episode. Enjoy?

Quirk Creative has been popping up everywhere as I've gone through this entrepreneurial journey. They're a small agency, like Gush, but  3 years ahead of us. And they've accomplished a ton in that time.

They've gone from 2 to 20 employees. Adweek ranked Meryl in the Creative 100 and Quirk as 2019's 9th fastest growing Agency (globally). They keep landing bigger, higher paying clients. And I want to be like them when I grow up. Learn how as I do.

Angelic Vendette is a master of influencer marketing who shows me how to not suck at doing it myself. She developed and lead campaigns at Sephora, is the current Global Head of Social, Content & Influencer Marketing at StitchFix, and is applying her expertise to her own startup, a fur coat brand called Petit Poussin. Lot's of good nuggets in this one for you to munch on.

Max Johnson is an email marketing ninja warrior. So much so, he was hired by the Hilary Clinton's campaign to do it for them. Now he's applying his black belt knowledge to his own business (Awe Inspired) and divulging his tips and tricks to me. If you're looking to up your email marketing game (and you should be), do what I did, and listen to this man. Enjoy.

Dave Dye got a grocery store owner to agree to something unusual. For over a month, Dave created ads using a sandwich board stanchion thingy on the sidewalk outside the storefront. He chalked really creative ads. Really straightforward ads. Simple ads. Visual ads. Highly targeted ads. Culturally relevant ads. Cheese ads. Coffee ads. All kinds of ads to get people in the store.

Dave then compiled his data and posted it to his blog (listed in comments) for everyone to see. Does creativity matter in advertising? Find out that and more on this week's episode. Enjoy!

After a 3ish month hiatus “…but seriously” is back. And dare I say, bigger than ever.

Why the break? Well we got busy. In a good way. We still are, but I’ve brought on support so I can do the show. Hopefully you continue to get as much out of it as I do.

In this episode, after providing the usual Gush update, I get a branding masterclass from Kenny Haisfield. He’s the founder of Kenny Flowers, a business that’s so much more than Hawaiian shirt company. They're a vacation mindset, which allowed for them to expand into other products and build a community. 

If you want proof that quality branding is essential, here it is. Enjoy.

Jon Bond is the Bond in Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners (KBS today). Regardless of how you feel about KBS now, while Jon was there they turned out better creative, more consistently then anyone at the time. It's how they became the largest independent agency in the country. They pioneered guerilla marketing, popup stores, and other forms of what would eventually come to be known as viral marketing. They made snapple famous. They made Delta famous. They made Michael, Victoria and Tommy famous. So whether it's a drive, walk or break, pop those airpods in and get ready for a knowledge tsunami. 

The art of Business Development and selling has become the most important part of my job. So I spoke to someone who's really good at it. Here are 3 key takeaways from my conversation with the ex Nascar and Redbull executive, Gregory S. Jacobs.

1) For your sales outreach, use the subject line: "Gush, The World's First Comedy Ad Agency – watch this."

2) Within the message, have a 15 second video where I introduce the agency in a humorous way. Why? Leading with content eliminates walls of text, proves that you can create bite sized content, and educates people about your unique selling proposition in a more entertaining, approachable way.

3) End with one line – "If this peeked your interest, we're here."

That's it. Thank you Greg.

The LinkedIn algorithm is ever-changing. Travis Lachner, mastered it. 

Today, he has 30,000 LinkedIn followers, a successful ad agency and consulting firm called South Ventures, and a mustache fit for the roaring 20's. Here are  three key takeaways from this week's podcast episode:

1) If you're writing LinkedIn articles, you're pissing in the wind.

2) Commenting, liking, and engaging with others improves the performance of your own posts. 

3) LinkedIn has other post formats you're likely not aware of, including pdf carousels that could 10x your engagement. 

I started as an account guy, telling clients they were right and pretending to smile. Graham Drew started as a PR guy, ringing the phones and pitching stories with soul-crushing results.

Today, I run a struggling ad agency and Graham is a Global ECD at Grey. But despite his greater success, I felt like I was talking to an equal. Because Graham is unusually humble despite his title. Together we discussed insecurity, ascension, and how to view seemingly negative things in a more positive way.

Enjoy.

This has been a tough week for Gush, and by extension, me. But through the highs and lows this podcast remains an absolute joy.

Today I'm stoked to share my conversation with Marty Karaffa. He's a legendary planner and the former Global Head of International Planning at BDDO. Today he's an Associate Partner at Hofstede Insights, a speaker, researcher, facilitator, semiotician, and decoder of culture for global organizations.

I don't know what semiotician means but I'm pretty sure you should give this episode a semiotician.

If you work in advertising and don't experience a midlife crisis, you might be an alien.

Mychael Owen isn't. He's a man. And a few years ago he left his own agency to pursue a greater purpose in the clothing industry. Nowadays, Mychael has a successful clothing line called Always Wear Red, and is chronicling his 50's with one post a day via his blog 50odd. Today will be his 774th post.

If you're in a rut, or want to meet my Dad's favorite guest, give it a listen.

I don't get strategy.

I don't see why its important, why you can't use your own intuition, why its worth all that money, and why entire floors of agencies are dedicated to that discipline. Briefs are obnoxious and longwinded and insightful insights are scarce. Is there more to what they do?

So, I talked to @Mark Pollard, a strategic ninja warrior who hasn't had a drink in 3 months and recently released the book, "Strategy is Your Words". Mark was able to break it down for me using my real client as an example. As a result, I know am starting to get why this intangible science is so important, and so will you.

I'm sure Mark can charge a gazillion dollars for his consulting, but I got it for free, and now so do you. As thanks I'd like to get a new hashtag trending – #BeLikeMark

Enjoy.

Today's guest is David Angelo, an American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement Inductee, and the founder of David & Goliath.

But, he's much more than that. David is a purpose hunter. To him, an agency should embody what you care about most. To me, that's making the world a happier place using humor. Or so I thought...

If you care about personal branding, self discovery, or me, give it a listen.

Entrepreneurs are:

2x more likely to suffer from depression
6x more likely to have ADHD
3x more likely to struggle with addiction
11x more likely to receive a bipolar diagnosis

Hampus Jakobsson knows this more than most. Over the course of his career Hampus has dealt with the mental quibbles that befall every founder. In addition to being an investor, multi-board member, coach, and General Partner (@Pale Blue Dot), Hampus is a leading voice in entrepreneurial mental health.

He's spoken at Tedx, PODIM, and most recently, for some inexplicable reason, he's spoken to me.

Listen in as Hampus and I uncover the mental obstacles standing in my way.
Check it.

Ok, he's not actually the enemy, just another fellow comedy ad agency founder. A smart, kind, and experienced one at that.

Nicholas Love is a former ESPN broadcaster,  the current Digital Engagement Director at G&S. He's also black man and willing to share his perspective on the industry with someone as clueless as I am. Over the course of the conversation I learn about the unconscious biases within all of us, how to solve racism in the industry, and whether or not I'm being offensive in how I ask questions.

It's a great and timely episode, and I can't thank Nicholas enough for giving me his time and voice. The dude is eloquent as f.

Jeff was BuzzFeed’s first chief creative officer, worked closely with “Zuck” at Facebook to launch Timeline, and wrote for filmmaker Michael Moore. He also is a master of mischief, with stunts that have landed him in the New York Times, Vice, Time, and even Wikipedia. Together we discuss life during quarantine, Casey Neistat, and how to side hustle your way into success.