Wed, 30 March 2016
How to Create a Winning Agency Environment that Grabs Attention of Big Brands with Mike Sutton | Ep #106
When building an agency, having big brand clients can elevate your agency to a whole other level. This is where the challenge comes in of how do you grab the attention of those big brands? In this episode, we’ll cover:
Don’t be a “me too” agencyMike says the agency’s Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Zak Mroueh, has always made it their mission to capture the attention of big brands and get to the next level. He says agencies are always telling their clients to stand out, be different, and do things that are uncomfortable. However, they don’t “walk the walk” and follow their own advice. For example, ever notice how agency websites all look the same? That’s why Zulu’s website is one of the most entertaining agency site you’ll see. It pokes fun at the agency industry’s cliches and stereotypes. It’s edgy, it’s funny, and it’s one example of Zulu walking the walk. (I’m telling you that you’ve got to check out their site - it’s pretty awesome.) 5 Steps to creating a winning environment
As you grow, structure your agency for greatnessSo wait... the Founder is NOT the President? That’s right. After about one year juggling the roles of Founder and President, Zak Mroueh, realized he’d rather be working IN the business than ON the business. Zak hired Mike Sutton as agency President to deal with all the “business stuff” that was getting in his way of being creative. Today Zak is the Chief Creative Officer and uses his experience and technical skills to oversee all aspects of creative, while Mike is the President overseeing contracts, billing, scopes, and other business details. Beneath the top tier of agency leadership, each department has 4-5 layers much like a traditionally structure agency. Moral of the story: know your strengths. Know your team’s strengths. Be the best at one thing. Hire people to do what you can’t (or don’t want to) do. That’s all great advice but what with the name?Why Zulu Alpha Kilo? It stems from the global Nato Phonetic Alphabet, the widely known language often used by pilots (aka: the “Alpha Bravo Charlie” alphabet). It’s symbolic of the agency’s dedication to clarity of communication. And it just so happens to spell Z-A-K, which is the founder’s first name :) By the way - here’s another super cool example of Zulu pushing themselves outside their comfort zone: http://creativity-online.com/work/zulu-alpha-kilo-zulu-blank-canvas/45173 Challenge: What are YOU doing to stand out? Comment below and share how you separate yourself from the pack. Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster. Bringing Your Agency to a New LevelLanding big brands for clients can really bring your agency to a new level but also improve how you reach out to prospective clients moving forward. I hope you found this beneficial but I know there are other potential struggles you are experiencing in your agency and I can help. I can give you advice on recognising these new potential client opportunities to creating the best marketing proposal to land these new potential leads. Issues with growing your agency? I’ve broken down the different phases of growth within your agency and how performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business. And let's not forget the three questions you need to be asking yourself to sell more! Learn all about my career and different experiences as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.
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Category:#PODCAST -- posted at: 5:00am MST |