10 Things You Pay for From Traditional Marketing Agencies

In today’s business world, it’s no longer the big fish that eats the small fish; it’s the fast fish that eats the slow fish.

In the same way the information revolution has changed how customers and market share are won, it has also reshaped the old systems that once governed how companies operate and how people work. The future of business is more flexible, faster, leaner and smarter.

This is not just about adopting a telecommuting policy or forgoing the purchase of that expensive copier. It’s about changing how business is done, both in philosophy and in execution.

The penalty of clinging to old business practices is losing clients that no longer can justify bills with unneeded overhead baked into them. As leaner and smarter companies emerge, the old juggernauts who are slow to change are quickly dying.

Marketing agencies

At the top of the scale of corporate bloat are marketing and advertising agencies. While not all industries can shed their physical offices and adopt a virtual model, the dominance of digital marketing coupled with the very nature of marketing’s day-to-day business operations afford these agencies a clear-cut path to modern efficiency.

However, in reality, few have changed. The majority of marketing firms hang on to these old systems of operations, passing on the burden of their expenses to their clients.

The traditional marketing firm still maintains an expensive posture to attract its clients.Why? Most find changing their methods of operations to be just as hard as adapting to today’s Web culture and the new rules of doing business. Too much has changed too quickly. In clinging to old methods – even those of its own self-promotion – the traditional marketing firm still maintains an expensive posture to attract its clients with their lavish offices and costly travel. These companies force work into physical locations, perpetuating the punching of clocks and shuffling of paper, while carrying years of old business operations in the form of debt, all of which must ultimately be paid for by the client.

There’s a reason why marketing companies are dying left and right, beyond becoming irrelevant in the digital age. Today's clients no longer accept invoices inflated by bloated operations, particularly when virtual companies can do more at a fraction of the cost.

The rise of the virtual company

It took time for companies like Amazon, Netflix and Apple to revolutionize and overtake industries that were once based in bricks and mortar. Replacing the physical form was a challenge in reconditioning the mind of the consumer and in reshaping traditional systems, such as fulfillment, customer service and exception handling.

2010 will see the emergence of the virtual company in full force.These initial obstacles were quickly overcome as consumers realized the advantage of lower prices by way of lower overhead, mutually beneficial partnerships and geographical barriers being torn down and giving way to an expanded market. Today, that same virtual model that started strong in the retail sector is being adopted throughout all applicable industries. As a result, virtual companies are growing at record pace.

2010 will see the emergence of the virtual company in full force. The convergence of technology, communication, new service-based companies and systems that meet the demands of companies that no longer carry the burden of bloated operations will allow more companies to work smarter, faster and from anywhere.

As virtual companies continue to refine their systems and clients continue to realize the value in receiving better service for less money, the virtual company will gain strength and overtake the outmoded traditional business models. This not only improves efficiencies but tears down geographical barriers to markets and talent.

As we enter the age of the virtual company, let’s review ten things you pay for from traditional marketing agencies:

1. Facilities

Office space is typically the largest expense on the books for marketing agencies. These obligations range from rented space in a shared office park to owning (and owing for) real estate, freestanding buildings and parking facilities.

Virtual marketing companies shed this expense because the nature of the business simply doesn’t require it anymore. Marketing is digital, and print is dying. All the infrastructure that was once housed in a physical location is now replaced by a range of new digital services. Communication is conducted through e-mail, mobile devices, video conferencing and client dashboards rather than on-site meetings and client lunches, the costs of which are ultimately passed back to the client.

The marketplace demands geographic barriers be removed to hire, collaborate and partner with the best talent in the industry. The virtual company’s employees work remotely within a virtual space that accomplishes anything that a physical location provides and more. They are mobile and available at a moment’s notice to meet with clients. Even remote offices, meeting spaces and presentation rooms can be rented by the day or hour, as needed, so as not to waste money on a fixed building that sits there to house all the bloated systems and conventions the traditional marketing company clings to.

2. On-site employees and physical work systems

For many office-based companies, the days of having people gathered in a building to work is gone. For these businesses, the act of keeping people around was just another form of time card punching, rooted in old systems founded on the demand for people to be present and available to coworkers and customers from 9 to 5.

Happy employees do better work, particularly the ones responsible for great creative work.Virtual companies don’t operate according to fixed 9-to-5 schedules. Instead, their systems and employees are faster, more flexible, working within tighter deadlines and using new, more robust project management conventions.

Telecommuting is more prevalent today than ever, for reasons that go beyond avoiding the cost of expensive office space. Happy employees are ones that are not trapped in cubicles, hustling through traffic, burning 30-40 hours and hundreds of dollars a month in commuting to a fixed place to do work that can be done anywhere. The fact is, happy employees do better work, particularly the ones responsible for great creative work.

Moreover, work systems based on having everyone in a centralized office all day are terribly inefficient. To see this, you have to look beyond hard costs and expenditures and consider the man hours wasted on meetings, scheduling, water cooler talk, Web surfing – the list goes on and on.

Replacing the physical office environment are proven virtual office management and collaboration systems like Basecamp, video conferencing, cloud computing and mobile Internet connectivity. Most importantly, the philosophy behind the work is based on maximizing project development efficiencies rather than filling up a 40-hour work week simply for the sake of adhering to convention.

3. Utilities

From security systems, electricity, heating and A/C to cleaning and facility repairs, the auxiliary costs of maintaining a facility can be extraordinary. This is an expense that virtual companies leave behind and don’t pass on to their clients.

4. Landline phone systems

In an age where business is a 24-hour, anywhere and everywhere proposition, corporate phone systems are an enormous waste. Everyone has a cell phone, and most working professionals carry smartphones. For many, the superfluous office phone collects dust, and voicemail systems are rarely used. In a time when most households are shedding the costs of landlines in favor of more flexible and leaner mobile options, many businesses still lag behind.

Agencies that continue to operate from a physical facility must pay to maintain and upgrade expensive landline systems, adding yet more extraneous dollars per hour to their clients’ bills.

5. Office furnishings

Expensive offices, conference room tables, desks, chairs, bathrooms, kitchens, interior decoration and even trophy cases displaying purchased accolades are omitted from the overhead costs of all virtual companies.

6. Computing infrastructure and LANs

So many companies still keep gobs of file and printer servers along with data backup systems, server redundancies, uninterrupted power supplies, routers, switches, cabling, internal e-mail systems – the list goes on.

For virtual companies, the idea of a LAN (local area network) has been replaced by cloud computing, with Web-based service providers, project management, collaboration systems, and applications. These systems are accessible from anywhere in the world, offer true collaboration with anyone and are always backed up and protected.

What’s more, project management in the virtual space allows for new and innovative work habits that promote speed, efficiency and flexibility in ways old companies employing old work systems simply cannot keep pace with.

7. Paper

So many of the slow, dying companies we see today still live in an office with paper circulating all the time. Believe it or not, nowhere is this more true than at your local marketing agency. Also included in this paper-filled world are printers, copiers, fax machines, shredders and a never-ending variety of supplies, all in support of paper trails that lead from the office to the client and back again before ending in nicely climate-controlled filing cabinets.

Virtual companies exist in a paperless world, and the best work circles around those that stay in a paper-driven office. The benefits of going (and staying) completely digital are immense. Digital documents are searchable, sharable, versioned, more secure and viewable on nearly any device. The more files that are kept, used and cataloged in digital format, the more efficiencies will increase overall.

8. Support staff and personnel

When agencies pay for an office, furnishings, phone systems, computing infrastructure and everything in between, they also require additional personnel, time and resources to support those systems, including office managers, receptionists, IT staff, cleaning crews, landscapers and security, to name a few. Thus, these already excessive expenses are further exacerbated and passed on to the client.

9. Restricted geographical barriers

If there’s one thing the Internet has brought to the economy, it’s the expanded marketplace. The business systems of virtual companies are not only set up to take on clients without most of the additional expenses suffered by traditional companies but to hire the best talent available anywhere.

Truth is, many marketing agencies are restricted to their local markets. While these firms would in theory jump on a plane to take on a client nearly anywhere, most find in practice that only local clients are cost-effective given the traditional systems still employed.

10. Debt

The result of all of this expense in a world that is quickly shifting to leaner and smarter operations is that this much of the excess is carried forward in debt that comes at a premium paid to a bank in interest. That ongoing obligation is passed to clients along with the cost of all other inefficiencies.

Virtual companies that start fresh, using smart, lean and flexible systems of operation don’t carry years of bad investments in outmoded, expensive systems on their backs. In fact, as traditional marketing agencies continue to lose clients and market share to these more adept modern firms, the additional debt taken on to stay alive will eventually lead to the extinction of the slow, bloated traditional marketing company as we know it.

photos: Flickr: Christ0ff, chrisdlugosz

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An Oasis of Personality in the Desert of Website Design

It’s a question every business – no matter the industry or niche – must answer: How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? You can try to do it with your products or your prices, but anyone can come along with a similar product or service offering, and fighting a battle based solely on price almost always a losing proposition. Differentiating yourself through the level of customer service you provide is a great idea, but the trick is that you have to draw someone in before you can win them over with your stellar service. So then the question remains: how do you stand apart from the crowd and draw positive attention to your business? The reality is that all of the factors mentioned above – products, prices and client service – do play a role both in how you attract new customers and how you keep your existing customer base loyal. Another differentiator that’s often overlooked, however, is your company’s personality – all of those intangible factors that are encompassed in your brand (think Apple vs. Microsoft) – and your website is the perfect platform to showcase that personality.

Nothing to fear

In the buttoned-up, suit-and-tie corporate world, the idea of showing personality can be a scary proposition, and many companies are afraid to try it for fear of alienating customers. Present a personality that’s too casual and lighthearted, and you risk turning away clients looking for a more serious tone. Present a very conservative, serious face, and you may come across as unfriendly and drive off those seeking a more personal approach. This fear of alienating segments of your potential audience is why many companies seek the safety of the middle ground and institute a neutral, inoffensive design that they believe will appeal to everyone. What this really does, however, is cause both the company and their website to be perceived as unremarkable and unmemorable. By trying to appeal to everyone, they appeal to no one in particular. As scary as it may seem, the risks of letting your company’s personality shine on your website are far outweighed by the benefits of creating a memorable experience for your customers.

Hey – I remember you!

When it comes to growing and promoting your business, blending in is never the right strategy. Make your website look and act just like everyone else’s, and you may not alienate anyone, but you won’t stick out in anyone’s mind, either. Customers (and potential customers) who come to your site visit hundreds of other websites in any given week. The vast majority of them are driven by features and functionality to the point that if you took away the company logo, one would hardly be distinguishable from the next. On the other hand, if your website offers something different and unexpected – whether in its imagery and visual design or in the tone and approach of the content – it will be like an oasis in the desert, a welcome change from the boring and bland. When it’s time to make a purchase decision, who will they remember – the ones that did the same thing as everyone else or the one that marched to their own beat and had a unique voice? Of course, your site and your company need to deliver the services and value that your audience is looking for, but making a powerful first impression upon your visitors and getting them to remember you is step one in winning their business. This approach can also help filter out clients that are right from those that may not be a good fit for your company to work with.

Finding the right fit

Even though your services may be applicable to a large and diverse audience, it’s important to ask yourself what your ideal customer looks like. An ideal customer is one that not only has a need for your products or services but whose preferences for how those products or services are delivered mesh well with your organization. How can you expect to find that right fit if you’re not being “you”? Let’s say your company is quirky and fun. If you do not embrace this personality in your marketing and on your website, you may appeal to a broader audience, but you will also attract potential clients who ultimately do not want to work with a company like yours. In those cases, you will either lose their business when they realize you are not the type of organization they are seeking, or even worse, they will continue on with you but the relationship will be strained because your company is trying to be something they are not. Instead of hoping to court everyone, try being yourself to attract customers that want to work with a company like yours. In the end, those engagements will be better suited, and often more profitable, for all parties involved.

Don't forget your internal audience

Maintaining a consistent personality between your website and how the company itself actually operates will also benefit your internal audience – that is, your employees. By being true your company’s personality and being willing to show that personality to the world, you prove to your employees that you are committed to, and unashamed of, the culture you have created. By doing this, your employees will feel more connected to the company and will enjoy a sense of pride in the organization that they’re part of. This allows them to be comfortable in speaking about the company without fear that they will saying something contrary to what the “marketing engine” is putting out there. By being true to your personality, you encourage every employee to become an advocate for your message in a way that is genuine and real.

Website designs with personality: A gallery

To show just how effective designing with personality can be, let’s take a look at a few examples of companies that have truly embraced these principles and wear their brand’s personality on their sleeves (or screens, as the case may be).

Northfield Savings Bank

Banking websites are probably the last ones you’d associate with personality or fun, but the site for Northfield Savings Bank uses both expertly on their site to set their institution apart. From their playful “flying pig” logo to their story about those flying pigs, the website demonstrates unequivocally that this is no ordinary bank. For a customer who’s looking for a personal touch in their local bank – as opposed to a massive, faceless global institution – this site is surely a breath of fresh air.

Wishbone

Non‐profit organizations are committed to their missions. This is good, but too often that dedication and seriousness translates into a boring, and therefore unmemorable, approach on their website. Wishbone is an organization that sends “at-risk high school students to after school and summer programs.” The website certainly shows their passion for that mission, but it does so through the use of real photos of and personal stories from the students as well as fun animations that illustrate their process, which creates a very enjoyable, and ultimately very memorable, user experience.

Dollar Shave Club

Normally, a “memorable” shaving experience is a bad thing, because it likely means something went horribly wrong. But DollarShaveClub.com offers a very memorable (and good) experience, welcoming new visitors with a wonderful and humorous video and carrying this playful approach throughout their entire site. Rather than spending big bucks on endorsements from pro athletes or celebrities and presenting a high‐tech feel like their competitors do, Dollar Shave Club opts for a very real-world feel with textures of wood and torn paper. Compare those earthy textures and their comedic tone with Gillette, for example, and you’ll see just how starkly different this approach is. In this case, doing something different has not only created a memorable experience, but one that also promotes sharing. Dozens of friends and colleagues sent me the link to Dollar Shave Club’s website after it went viral. So while this fun and kitschy approach may not be right for everyone who buys razors, it has captured the attention of many who not only appreciate its quirkiness but also happily share their love of the brand with others in their social circles. Need more proof? Just compare the two companies’ videos on YouTube. As of this writing, Dollar Shave Club’s "Our Blades Are F***ing Great" video is approaching 5 million views while Gillette’s “Masters of Style” video, featuring celebrities Andre 3000, Adrien Brody and Gale Garcia Bernal, has yet to cross the quarter-million mark.

MailChimp

MailChimp’s lead user experience designer Aarron Walter has been touting the benefits of adding emotion and personality to websites for some time through his writing and speaking engagements, and that approach is very evident throughout the entire experience of MailChimp.com. Compare their site, which is loaded with unique personality, to other email marketing providers such as Constant Contact, Emma or VerticalResponse, and you will see the difference right away. Those email marketing providers, and many others you will find, all employ a very similar approach on their website – one that quickly becomes unexciting and forgettable. Go to the MailChimp website, however, and the giant illustration of company mascot Freddie von Chimpenheimer IV is one that’s sure to make a lasting impression. Delve still deeper into the site, and into their service, and you will discover just how unique MailChimp is – because anyone that can make email marketing enjoyable is definitely doing something right!

Run For Your Lives

My father and my wife are both runners, so I’ve seen my share of websites for road races. When I heard about the Run For Your Lives Race, which is part running race and part obstacle course – all while hordes of mindless zombies chase after you to try to turn you into one of them – I knew I had to check out their website. The race itself is certainly memorable, as anyone who has run it will surely tell you, and the organizers made sure that the same approach was used on the website. From dark textures and visuals used to complement the race’s zombie theme, to promotions like their contest to “win an all‐expense-paid funeral,” the site is perfectly on-brand, and like Dollar Shave Club, its unique approach promotes viral sharing. No matter how many race websites you’ve visited before, I guarantee you’ve never seen one like this, and you won’t soon forget it!

GE

Humor and fun and zombies are not the only ways to make a lasting impression on website visitors. GE has created an incredibly memorable experience on their site by focusing not only on the company’s technology and innovations but also on the people behind the brand and the impact they’re making in the real world. Through powerful imagery, videos and personal stories, they have put a very human face on what could easily be a brand devoid of any type of emotional connection. In the process, they show that their company stands for much more than what they do or the products and services they offer.

Be memorable. Be yourself.

Be true to your company’s personality and embrace what makes you unique. Stand boldly apart from the crowd and make a lasting impression knowing that your message may turn away some customers that aren’t really a good fit anyway, but it will also help you attract more of the ones that are right for you. Or, to borrow the wise words of renowned business expert Dr. Seuss: “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter.”

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