Casting for Big Ideas

In Casting for Big Ideas, Andrew Jaffe, industry veteran and Director of the Clio Awards, details important lessons on the management and growth of advertising agencies. He shows how the forty-year-old agency business model is breaking down because the work is becoming marginalized, as clients cut back ad budgets and hire outside marketing services and strategy firms. If agencies are to survive, Jaffe says, they must become idea-focused again and, instead of just making ads, master the art of devising the kind of non-advertising-type promotions that more quickly move a brand into the culture. Based on his long experience in the advertising industry, Jaffe offers practical advice and important lessons for agency heads who want their businesses to stand the test of time. This one-of-a-kind resource covers a subject often ignored-the business side of running an ad agency.
Andrew Jaffe (New Canaan, CT) is the founding Publishing Director of Wiley's Adweek and Brandweek books imprints. He is also the Executive Director of the Clio Awards, one of the largest and most famous advertising awards programs in the world, with over 18,000 pieces submitted from agencies and production facilities in fifty-nine countries."Casting for Big Ideas" ist das einzige Buch zum Thema Werbung, das sich mit der Leitung einer Werbeagentur auseinandersetzt.

Es basiert auf der langjährigen Praxiserfahrung und dem engen Netz persönlicher Kontakte des Autors.

Andrew Jaffe - Altvater der Werbebranche - präsentiert hier wichtige Lektionen zu Management und Erfolg einer Werbeagentur.

Er macht deutlich, dass das Geschäftsmodell von vor 40 Jahren heute ausgedient hat, in einer Zeit, in der Kürzungen des Werbebudgets an der Tagesordnung sind und immer neue Formen externer Marketing Services und Strategien gefragt sind.

Anhand der Metapher des Fliegenfischens beschreibt er einen Ansatz für langfristiges und beständiges Wachstum in dieser äußerst wettbewerbsintensiven und wechselhaften Branche, die ja gerade von kurzfristigen Erfolgen profitiert.

Das Buch behandelt das Thema von einer Management-orientierten Perspektive unter dem Motto 'Zurück zu den Ideen', das von führenden modernen Autoren, wie Sergio Zyman und Mark Earls bereits postuliert wird.

Enthalten sind Interviews mit führenden Köpfen von Top-Werbeagenturen wie z.B. Bob Schmetterer von Euro RSCG, Lazarus von Ogilvy und Jean-Marie Dru von TWBA.

"Casting for Big Ideas": Der ultimative Ratgeber für Agenturchefs, die sich im modernen Geschäftsumfeld behaupten wollen.

Foreword by Neil French, Worldwide Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising vii

Introduction: The Call for a New, Smarter Agency Architecture 1

Part 1 Agency Architecture

Chapter 1 Agency Architecture: Getting It Right from the Beginning 15

Chapter 2 The Pitch: Matching the Hatch and Deciding What Would Make the Client Bite Down on Your Lure 41

Chapter 3 Creative Department: How Long Can It Survive as Idea Central? 67

Chapter 4 Media Department: Can It Replace Creative as the Primary Source for Brand-Building Ideas? 83

Chapter 5 The Internet and the Agency 103

Chapter 6 Prioritizing Strategic Planning 119

Part 2 Management Lessons

Chapter 7 Growing Your Agency 137

Chapter 8 Smart Ownership Principles 155

Chapter 9 Integrating and Refocusing the Agency Network 167

Chapter 10 The Future 187

Appendix A Advertising’s Invisible Values 205

Appendix B A Big Future for Big ideas 215

Appendix C The IDEO Difference 225

Notes 231

Acknowledgments 237

Index 239

“…This is a very readable overview for those wanting a broader appreciation of the business reality…” (Marketing, 13 November 2003)

ANDREW JAFFE is the Executive Director of the Clio Awards, which salutes the best efforts in advertising every year. He is also the President of Compass Consulting of Norwalk, Connecticut, a consulting group that advises advertising agencies on organizational and management issues and conducts agency searches for clients. He is a former editorial director and vice president at Adweek.

Managing an advertising agency in today’s environment is a challenge. Market saturation, the decreasing effectiveness of traditional advertising, an ever more skeptical consumer, and the introduction of new media outlets have all made connecting with customers more difficult than ever. It’s no wonder then that clients now demand more bang for their advertising buck.

For agency leaders, hooking new clients is like fly fishing: it takes patience, the right bait, and a deep understanding of your environment and your prey. With fewer fish to catch, the agencies that succeed in tough times will be those that lure their clients with the most effective bait. Casting for Big Ideas shows agency leaders how to transform their organization in order to foster the creative thinking that can reel in new accounts.

Andrew Jaffe, an advertising veteran and Executive Director of the Clio Awards, argues that the structure and business model of most agencies fail to meet the demands of the current environment. He says it’s time to rethink the central purpose of the ad agency, as concentrating solely on making ads will quickly make you obsolete. Casting for Big Ideas will show you how to restructure your agency for advertising’s new reality, breaking down organizational walls and refocusing on creative ideas that go far beyond traditional advertising.

Drawing on his years of personal experience working with the world’s most successful agencies and their leaders, Jaffe offers a practical plan for rebuilding your agency or for building a new agency from the ground up. You’ll learn how to balance creativity against financial viability, change your focus from traditional media planning to strategic “channel” planning, improve your account management, and make a more dynamic pitch to prospective clients. Packed with important lessons on agency management and growth, Casting for Big Ideas offers a blueprint for the agency of the twenty-first century.

To learn more, visit www.casting4bigideas.com