Advertising people are advisors and consultants to CEOs and CMOs. We also make things, but that follows the discovery and strategic planning phases.
Right now, in the face of a global pandemic, there’s a new kind of advice emerging. Lots of people are genuinely offering to help others in distress, while others are working to find new models to support themselves.
Let’s take a look…
David Angelo, founder of David&Goliath is all in on optimism.
The opportunity for how we evolve depends on what we do now and the role we play.
For the people in our industry, there has never been a better time to evolve how we do business.
…So when the storm leaves, and it will, let’s not revert to our old ways.
Let’s not look at this as a temporary adjustment to address the challenge at hand, but as an ongoing evolution that will usher in a better industry and a new world order.
Unchecked idealism? Or, inspiring realism?
You decide.
Arthur Sadoun Speaks
Publicis Groupe chairman and chief executive Arthur Sadoun has announced that the agency will rigorously manage operating costs, including the postponement of some expenses, in order to get through the current situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Levitan for Free
Former agency owner, Peter Levitan, is offering free one-to-one consulting.
In unrelated, but related news, Levitan recently wrote about how a Dallas agency that is not well known nationally ranks the highest in Google searches for Dallas ad agencies. He suggests, “Know where a prospective client will look for your agency and make sure you are there.”
The Davids
David Baker, a consultant to agency owners, is offering a new live “Ask Me Anything” session.
Not acting decisively enough is the primary reason why firms don’t thrive again on the other side of a disruption, so let’s get ahead of this and talk about the right timing, how deep, who to protect and who to flex, and why a company-wide reduction in pay isn’t always the answer.
There’s also a lot of spitballing about how working from home could revolutionize the industry. For the ad pros in the audience who already work from home, it’s either laughable or a turning point, and which one is impossible to tell.
It’s pretty wild to see all the ad people clamoring for new models that embrace Working from Home.
I believe as recently as last week that people in the industry with home offices and remote teams were marginal, at best. And suspect, at worst.
— David Burn (@davidburn) March 20, 2020
Coaches Blowing Whistles
Then there’s the coaching class! Did you know that now is the perfect time to write a book in eight weeks? There’s a class for that. There’s a class for everything and plenty of experts at the ready.
I saw another coach (on LinkedIn) drop the prices for her course by 70 percent. It’s a nice gesture and yet it exposes the inflated prices that people and firms pay for advice.
Disruption is the New Norm
Twenty plus years ago, digital disruption upended the communications industry as we knew it. Now, COVID-19 and the closing of the doors that result is going to make digital disruption look like a puppy that chews things.
This disease-fueled disruption is about to rock the business community—and the people who feed it—to the core.
There are always survivors who find opportunity in disruption. It’s right and good that we seek new solutions now. We need them badly. There are predictions aplenty for the storm to come, but one that jumps out is the possibility of unemployment at Great Depression levels or higher. “Our unemployment system is among the worst in the advanced world in terms of coverage,” Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said.
As more information workers are let go from their once cushy Jay-Oh-Bees, there will be an immense amount of talent on the street. Who can harness it for good? Who can deliver marketing services at the highest level without all the meetings, the expensive real estate, the award show vanities, the outrageous lunches, and box seats? My bet is on the entrepreneurs (like myself) who are already invested in this path.
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