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Selecting San Francisco
Advertising Agencies
by Jay Conrad Levinson
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#1-- Be certain that the
San Francisco Advertising Agency realizes that advertising is
only a small portion of marketing. The agency must demonstrate
that it knows there are many other marketing weapons and that
it is capable of using (or directing the use of) all the appropriate
ones in your potential marketing arsenal. Guerrilla businesses
deserve guerrilla advertising agencies. Don't settle for less.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#2 -- Ascertain that your
account will be considered special and deserving of the agency's
top talent. Be sure that you meet and talk to the people who
will actually be doing your advertising — creative, media,
research, the whole works. See what else the creative people
have created. Ask about the results. Avoid agency figureheads
and get to know the troops who will be serving on your front
line. Is the chemistry right between you? Don't underestimate
the immense power of good chemistry.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#3 -- Be sure that your
agency understands your company's objectives and considers them
reasonable. This understanding will be reflected in the marketing
and advertising strategy that the agency creates for you. If
it's missing, look elsewhere.
- San Francisco Advertising AgenciesTip
#4 -- Check to see that
the people who will be working on your account have the right
credentials, experience, and attitude. See if they are good listeners.
If they haven't worked on a business just like yours, don't worry.
Just make sure that they understand the critical relationship
between profitability and creativity. If it doesn't help you
earn profits, it's not creative.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#5 -- Be positive that
the people you will work with have a knowledge of your business,
an interest in your business, and a knowledge of the competitive
situation. If they've done their homework by the time they present
to you, they'll have these things. If not, you're not interested.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#6 -- Look at the ads and
other marketing materials they have created: theme lines, logos,
signs, telemarketing scripts, brochures, videos, catalogs, newsletters,
Web sites, direct mail letters, postcards, posters, and even
postcard mailers.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#7 -The best advertising
agencies have grown from the growth of their clients and those
clients' ever-increasing marketing investments. That is a better
benchmark than growth coming from new clients. Such agencies
are hard to find. But the search will be worth your time.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#8 -- When selecting a
San Francisco Advertising Agency, ask people from the agency
to make a presentation to you, but don't ask them to spend a
lot of money doing so. Listen to their words, hoping they will
talk more about you than about themselves. Be aware of the emphasis
they place on the importance of a strategy, for that strategy
is crucial to you. See if they know how advertising fits into
the overall marketing mix. Be wary if they speak only of advertising
and nothing about marketing.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#9 -- You must do everything
in your power to know the difference between clever advertising
and effective advertising. Be careful if the agency relies too
much on the use of humor, for humor is often the enemy of effective
advertising. Advertising gains power through repetition, but
humor becomes weaker with repetition. If you're marketing candy
or chewing gum, humor may help. But if you're marketing high-priced
offerings, humor rarely leads to beautiful profit-and-loss statements.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#10 -- Be sure that your
San Francisco Advertising Agency understands the crucial necessity
for follow-up, that they are abreast of the growth of online
marketing, and that they are up-to-date but not too far in advance
of society.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#11 -- You can learn about
agencies, not only by their presentations, but also by walking
around the agencies themselves. Look at their work in progress
for other clients, and see for yourself their staff's passion
and enthusiasm for creating advertising that works.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#12 -- Be especially aware
of advertising the agency has created that has run for a long
time. That's a sure sign that it is successful. Be sure that
the creative people are willing to experiment and test, to create
materials that are timeless. Watch out if they create "vampire"
advertising — the kind where cleverness, jokes, and special
effects draw attention away from your offering.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#13 -- The key to great
advertising is to forget the advertising and be certain that
the product or service is the star. Great advertising agencies
produce advertising that creates a desire to buy. It is not supposed
to make people say, "What wonderful advertising!" Instead,
it is supposed to make people say, "I want that product."
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#14-- Advertising creativity
comes from knowledge. The more knowledge the agency's people
possess, the more creative they can be. That means a powerful
agency asks questions, listens to answers, engages in tireless
research, and never stops learning.
- San Francisco Advertising Agencies Tip
#15 -- Can your San Francisco
Advertising Agency help you engage in fusion marketing arrangements
with others — where you combine marketing efforts to reach
more people, but save money because you are sharing the cost?
A top agency is able to use technology to the utmost but not
rely too much on it. Its advertising begins with your offering
and the reason you are in business in the first place —
not with a snappy jingle or dazzling graphic approach.
Copyright © Jay Conrad
Levinson 2000
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San Francisco advertising
agencies are advertising agencies in San Francisco that understand
what it takes to grow businesses in San Francisco and the Oakland
and Bay Areas. San Francisco advertising agencies are approved
