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1-Page Summary of Confessions of An Advertising Man
Overview
An advertising agency in its infancy must take on any client that comes along. However, it needs to be picky and grow gradually by cultivating a select number of large clients. A limiting factor on growth is the ability to train new employees to handle accounts—a process that takes about two years. The demand for excellence is always higher than the supply, so an agency can afford to be selective when choosing clients. First of all, you need to feel comfortable working with them because your relationship will become very intimate. Find out why they’re leaving their former agency; could it be because no one can tolerate them?
First, you and your client need to have a long-term relationship. It’s not worth it for advertising agencies to work with clients who don’t give them enough profit.
Some clients change agencies a lot. Avoid them, because you can’t fix their infidelity. You should also avoid taking on products that are either brand new or dying, since they’re both risky and expensive to advertise for. Some companies announce which advertising agencies they’re considering for their account; if this happens to you, withdraw voluntarily rather than risk failing publicly.
To avoid the risk of losing a major client, never add one that is too big for you to lose. Also, choose your clients carefully and cultivate long-term relationships with them.
Big Idea #1: Build your business by being a lasting, valuable partner to your clients.
Creating a new advertising business is tough, but it’s possible if you have some luck and put in the effort. Getting new clients is exhilarating, but don’t take it too seriously. Have high goals for your agency; Ogilvy named five giant companies to target right away on day 2 of starting his agency, which all became his clients later on.
Landing new clients is exciting, but losing existing ones is not. One defecting client can lead others to leave as well. Therefore, always have your best people working on existing accounts and make yourself indispensable to them so that you’ll never be fired. No one kills the goose that lays golden eggs.
If you want to become irreplaceable in your field, get to know your clients well. Use their products and buy some of their shares; this will help you understand the industry better. During meetings, let them do most of the talking while you learn more about them and seem thoughtful and wise.
Clients change agencies every seven years, and that can be a very difficult experience. They also change their internal advertising managers more frequently than they do agency representatives, which means you need to make sure your clients like you at all levels of the company.
It’s important to build a business by being loyal to your clients.
Big Idea #2: Be honest in your advertisements and your business dealings – you’ll do better in the long run.
Advertising is often associated with lies and deception, but that’s short-sighted. Dishonesty will hurt your company in the long run because it won’t get repeat business from customers who were lied to or deceived.
As a result, you should only advertise products that you believe in. If not, then don’t advertise them. When advertising something, provide all the facts about it so consumers can make informed decisions. Don’t insult their intelligence by using empty slogans to sell your product. The more information provided about a product, the better chance it has of being sold successfully.
Just as you wouldn’t lie to your spouse, don’t lie in advertising because it can damage both you and the company. For example, if a client asks for something that’s impossible to do, then tell them so instead of making up an excuse. Similarly, never accept an account unless you’re confident that you’ll be able to provide better service than the previous agency.
