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Whether you work at an agency, are a client of Lessing-Flynn, considering an ad agency or simply a marketer on the prowl for content, I encourage you to read this list. The Agency of the Future Survey, sponsored by Sapient provides the results of a national survey that was recently released providing insight into what marketers want from their agencies in the next 12 months. Thanks to our friend Michael Gass at Fuel Lines for uncovering this.

1. A greater knowledge of digital space
2. More use of “pull interactions”
3. Leverage virtual communities
4. Agency executives using the technology they are recommending
5. Chief Digital Officers make agencies more appealing
6. Web 2.0 and social media savvy
7. Agencies that understand consumer behavior
8. Demonstrate strategic thinking
9. Branding and creative capabilities
10. Ability to measure success

When we started AdMavericks we set out to write for our clients and to give people considering an ad agency to look our way. Along the way, we’ve acquired some readers from other ad agencies, some direct competition locally and some national and regional firms. Whether we planned to or not, the content we have created is appealing to our agency peers for a number of reasons.

1. We write about marketing. They’re marketers.
2. A 102 year old agency in Des Moines is blogging with a Top Gun themed blog is innovative, interesting and perhaps a little nuts. We hope we’re memorable. It’s amazing what I can get away with over here.
3. Marketing is changing, perhaps Lessing-Flynn and the AdMavericks can shed some light on that.

I think this is the kind of post that suits all audiences of AdMavericks. The agency’s can have that check list they’ve been looking for and clients and prospects can have the ability to check this list and see if their agency measures up.

As for Lessing-Flynn, I think we hit the mark on all these, yet we can always finds way to improve. My favorite check marks on this list for LF are #3 Leverage virtual communities and #4. Agency executives using the technology they are recommending. I’m happy to report you can find all of the execs at Lessing-Flynn blogging, tweeting and embracing social media. The whole “Practice What You Preach” is alive and well at Lessing-Flynn.

Marketers – whether you work with Lessing-Flynn or not make sure that whoever you work with has some game in the social media space and that they are using it to promote their own brand. Better yet, ask them how they are delivering on the 10 things listed above. Your company’s brand depends on it.

Author: Josh Fleming
www.lessingflynn.com
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Earlier this year, the Queensland, Australia Tourism Department launched one of the most unique, successful tourism campaigns ever.

They took out a series of online job site listings and black-and-white help wanted ads in a handful of newspapers around the world – advertising an opening for the “Best Job in the World.”  Interested prospects could apply by submitting a 60-second video.  The winner of the job would be paid $150,000 for six months and have a rent-free condo on the remote island – where they are expected to blog weekly on life there.

The campaign launched this winter with a $1.2 million budget.  The results?  35,000 entries from 201 countries (and you thought the job market was competitive here?).  450,000 votes.  601 hours of video content.  48 million website page views.  And, $100 million in unpaid media coverage.  And that’s just the start.

Congratulations to Ben Southall, winner of the position.  He’s set to start his new position July 1.  Congrats also to Queensland Tourism for taking a chance on an extremely out-of-the-box marketing campaign – and to their ad agency – CumminsNitro, who just happens to have a local office right there in Queensland!

Amazing how powerful a little bit of creative, outside-the-box thinking can be!

Author: Tom Flynn III

Ok, let me start this post out by saying we did not submit a proposal to provide the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) with marketing and public relations services.  We didn’t feel we had the experience, size and, most importantly, political connections needed to earn that business.  We also didn’t have time to read through a 27-page RFP (request for proposal) document that forbade you from even meeting with the people you could potentially be working with for the next one-to-three years. So, no sour grapes in this post!

Typically, we’ve waited until Friday to post our “Worst of the Week”.  Not this week!  We couldn’t see anything trumping the Iowa Department of Economic Development’s decision late last week to hire a Public Relations firm headquartered in TEXAS to help recruit and develop more business within the state of IOWA.

Feel free to read that again.

The company chosen by the Iowa Department of Economic Development to represent the state in growing and recruiting new businesses and new employees for IOWA is Burson-Marsteller, an international PR firm with offices around the globe (but none in Iowa, according to their website).  The decision means at least several dozen Iowans, the same Iowans who pay taxes that the state uses to help recruit new employees and businesses to relocate to our state, will now be out jobs because the IDED helped move those jobs to another state!  Good job of economic development there, huh?

So, who is Burson-Marsteller and what can they do for the state of Iowa?  Well, if history proves anything, it should be an interesting ride.  Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, (one of the media outlets that Burson-Marsteller will be looking to spin about Iowa), describes Burson-Marsteller as “the go-to company when EVIL needs a PR firm”.  She lists a whole lineup of Burson-Marsteller’s past clients – Blackwater, silicon breast implants, Philip Morris, Aqua-Dots (the kids’ toy that turned into the date rape drug), Three-Mile Island, Saudi Arabian Government three days after 9/11 – … you get the picture.

But, this rant isn’t about Burson-Marsteller’s qualifications.  It’s about the Iowa Department of Economic Development thumbing its nose at Iowans.

Does IDED truly believed that there isn’t a marketing communications firm within the state that could do a great job of marketing Iowa to employees and businesses?

Does IDED truly believe an out-of-state PR firm can better pitch business editors and reporters as to why companies should move to Iowa than the people who have chosen to live and work here themselves?

Does IDED truly believe being a third-tier client for an international PR firm is better than getting the full attention of an Iowa company’s best talent?

Who made this call and what were they thinking?  Governor Culver, decisions like this are exactly why people have lost all faith in their government.

Congratulations IDED, you’re our Worst of the Week!

Author: Tom Flynn III

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Welcome to Ad Mavericks, Lessing-Flynn’s blog.

We are members of a Des Moines advertising agency that has been in business for over 100 years and we’re blogging because we have something to say. We think our collective experience will provide an interesting point of view on all things marketing. We’ll hit on everything from agricultural marketing to interactive campaigns to things we like and things we don’t. 

We’ll blog about what we know, what we think, and how it impacts your world. Whether you’re a marketer, a farmer, or some kid who found us using Google Image Search, we’re happy you’re here.

The authors of this blog will include:

Tom Flynn, a.k.a. T3 – there are so many Tom’s in this company we’ve started calling some of them Sam. I digress. Tom is our agency president and has done it all: marketing plans and strategies, copywriting, creative development, media planning, public relations, brand-building.

Jess Held – Jess began her ag marketing expertise at Vermeer. A marketing veteran and with experience in public relations, design, marketing planning & strategy and photography. Never short on opinions, you can always count on Jess to always have a point of view!

Josh Fleming – I’m a self described internet enthusiast. I believe interactive strategies should be the focus of almost every campaign, not the add-on. I think Web sites should serve a purpose. Whether that’s generating leads or creating a unique customer experience, Web sites should not just exist to exist. Prior to joining Lessing-Flynn, I spent time at The Integer Group providing Web strategy and project management and at Dice.com in marketing and business development roles.

We encourage your feedback so feel free to comment or email at any time. Just keep it clean and on topic.