Ad Agency

CVS Health has selected Miami based ALMA as their Hispanic agency of record.

The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) recently published its “2020/21 Agency Performance & Outlook Study.” It covers a broad range of topics, including hiring plans, managing project budgets, operational concerns, and finance team challenges, which I will not address here. Instead, I am cherry-picking some takeaways from the report specific to agency new business and profitability to share, along with some observations.  By Mark Duval – The Duval Partnership

Alma announced the promotion of Michelle Headley, Angela Battistini, Leo Peet and Angela Rodriguez within its executive leadership team. These promotions come on the heels of a year in which the agency saw significant new business growth, adding 11 new brand partners and effectively growing its roster by 44%.

In this role, Roberto will lead initiatives that drive growth for Captura Group and its roster of clients. Roberto will further develop Captura Group’s Hispanic and digital-first capabilities that will enable its clients to effectively engage with and reach multicultural consumers.

CCOMGROUP won big at the 2020 American Advertising Awards presented by AAFMiami, taking home a total of 15 ADDY Awards— five gold and 10 silver.

Why Advertisers Can’t Afford To Stop Advertising

How often does your agency revisit its new business strategy? (Dare I ask…does it have a proper new business strategy, to begin with?)  By Mark Duval –  The Duval Partnership

Walmart subsidiary Sam’s Club has appointed VMLY&R its first agency of record following a competitive pitch.

Client Heads endure the daily combat of client-agency relationships. They get no glory for their efforts or sacrifices. They suffer the consequences of scope of work increases, fee reductions, inadequate resources and relationship threats. They hold the line and try to keep things from getting worse. They’re on their own. This is not right — agency transformations depend on Client Head successes in battle. Client Heads are receiving inadequate support from their leaders.

Surviving major, unexpected change requires planning for the worst, especially when you’re thriving.

SoDA conducted three tracking studies in 2020 to better understand how agencies were navigating the disruption, areas of operational readiness, financial performance for the year, and the initial outlook for 2021.

The past year has hastened the evolution of the agency new business landscape. As larger pieces of business disintegrate into smaller opportunities and more projects are undertaken with speed, the path to new business has changed.  Competitive reviews don’t make sense for smaller projects. Decisions for smaller projects are typically made faster. There is increasing diversity in the way agency prospects make new business decisions. That is reason enough for agencies to revisit their buyer journeys — and specifically, how their websites support the modern B2B buying experience. But it’s certainly not the only one.  By Mark Duval / The Duval Partnership

To be fair, most agencies I see do give at least a head nod to results and outcomes, but too many give a disproportionate amount of attention to what they do and how they do it. It’s out of balance. As a group, agencies haven’t done the best job of communicating what they do in terms that hold value for prospective clients.  By Mark Duval – The Duval Partnership

I’ve always found extremes uncomfortable. Back in the day, when everything in advertising agencies bent to the latest whims of the creatives, us media guys chuntered on.  By Brian Jacobs – The Cog

Global creative agencies are among the most decentralized business organizations in the world. Office heads and the client heads within their offices have complete independence in the way they manage their operations. Client heads are virtually unsupervised — no one above them knows what work they are leading and whether or not fees and resources are appropriate for the work. C-suite executives focus more on the hunt for new business than on the management of their fragmented organizations. This makes agency transformations particularly tricky.

Quick question. When an agency is in serious financial trouble, where’s one of the first places their owners turn? If you guessed “agency new business consultants,” you’re not wrong.  By Mark Duval – The Duval Partnership

Most of us were happy to turn the page on 2020 and discover what comes next. What that will be is still uncertain, but we know it won’t be a return to our pre-pandemic normal. With that in mind, let’s explore how agencies will win business this year.  By Mark Duval – The Duval Agency

Ingrid Otero-Smart, President/CEO of Casanova//McCann, announced the promotion of Ms. Carla Noriega to Vice President, Group Account Director effective immediately.

sociedAD has gone independent from parent company Campbell Ewald! Partners Jorge Moya and Carla Mercado will lead the new Hispanic marketing agency, bringing decades of experience harnessing the power of Hispanic insights to craft effective communications driving growth, innovation, and competitive advantages for clients.

How clients and agencies can avoid the heightened risk of relationships failing during the stormy pandemic crisis.