Their recent post, The Value of Super Bowl Advertising, shown in it entirety below, looks at Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI game and discusses the value of a $3.5 Million investment in a 30 second commercial.

As a student of marketing I think this is an interesting recap, but as a student of the game with a BIG rooting interest in the Giants, I know my eyes will be glued to the TV and there will be no switching away at commercial breaks. I find it interesting that both head coaches, the Giants Tom Coughlin and the Patriots Bill Belichick, are both “old school” disciplinarians, and were assistants under Bill Parcells for the Giants in their youth. They learned early the Lessons in Leadership and have applied them well.

Here is the MayoSeitz Media analysis of the value of Super Bowl advertising. Good stuff from smart people. Go G-Men.

After two thrilling Conference Championship games, the teams are set for the Super Bowl. Giants vs. Patriots.  A repeat of the 2008 Super Bowl when the Giants upset the undefeated Patriots and won their 3^rdSuper Bowl. The Patriots are no doubt looking to erase the memory of that game and there would be no better way for them to do so than to crush the G-Men. Let the hype begin. This year’s game, Super Bowl XLVI, will be played on February 5 in Indianapolis, and will be broadcast on NBC with a 6:30 pm kick-off. We have days of over-analysis before the game is played. One of those much chatted about topics are the ads that will run in the game, their cost,  and the value of airing spots in the highest priced media buy of the year.

Each year, regardless of the quality of the game, advertisers pay handsomely for the opportunity to expose their messages during this premier broadcast event. There appears to be no ceiling on cost as exposure within the game this year will cost $3.5 Million for each 30-second announcement. There are many advertisers, heavily skewed to auto makers, who are gladly ponying up the millions to play in the Super Bowl of advertising, including:

American Honda, Anheuser-Busch, Audi, Best Buy, Bridgestone, CareerBuilder, Cars.com, Century 21, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Dannon Yogurt, Dorito’s, E-Trade, General Motors, GoDaddy.com, H&M, Hyundai, Kia, Mars, Paramount Pictures, Pepsi, Relativity Media, Samsung, Skechers, Teleflora, Toyota, Universal Pictures, Volkswagen, Walt Disney Pictures, and 2^nd Start Software.

As we examine the pros and cons of advertising in the Super Bowl, a little historical perspective is helpful. Here are some interesting historical Super Bowl factoids for those who need a refresher:

1. The first “Super Bowl” was played on January 15, 1967 featuring the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers against the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Historians will remind us that the two rival leagues had not merged as yet and would not do so until after the third Super Bowl. Green Bay, led by legendary Coach Vince Lombardi, easily won by a score of 35-10

2. The first “Super Bowl” wasn’t even “super”. It was merely called the AFL-NFL World Championship game and was played at a neutral site, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

There was less than a sold-out crowd, despite modest ticket prices ($12) and a local TV blackout. The term “Super Bowl” was an off handed comment made by Chiefs owner, Lamar Hunt based on his granddaughter’s love of the “super ball” toy. The Super Bowl name stuck and it took on the official name after the third game.

3. The first game was broadcast on two networks, CBS, which carried NFL games, and NBC, which carried AFL games.

CBS charged $85,000 for a 60 second commercial, NBC charged $75,000. The game achieved a combined 41 household rating with 51 million viewers.

Fast forward to today and advertisers will be paying roughly $3.5 million for each 30 second commercial, more than $100,000 per second. This is more than 4 times greater than the cost just 20 years ago, and roughly 85 times greater than the comparable cost in the initial Super Bowl. Today the game’s household rating is comparable to that of the initial game. But the audience is now significantly larger. Last year, the average game audience was 111 million people, which set a record for viewership for an American television program. Expectations for this year is that viewership will approach or exceed that level again. Regardless, the increase in cost far exceeds inflation and audience growth.

Simple math tells you the audience delivery, however significant, can not possibly justify the financial outlay compared to other premium programming and certainly not in comparison to advertising in past Super Bowls, when it was a “relative bargain”.

So advertising in the Super Bowl couldn’t possibly be “worth it”…..or is it? Actually it depends.

There are some mitigating factors when considering the value of an ad in the Super Bowl:

1. There is no comparable event to reach such a significant mass audience. In today’s segmented media world there is no single program capable of delivering the audience that the Super Bowl does. There are very few “water cooler” events on TV with a similar impact.

2. The Super Bowl is far more than a game that delivers a large audience. It’s a happening. That carries with it a value far greater than mere exposure. What makes advertising in the Super Bowl more powerful today is that the commercials are usually part of an elaborate campaign that also includes social media—Facebook,  Twitter and You Tube. Interestingly Chevy is introducing the Chevy Game Time app that can be used during the game to play games, interact through Twitter and win prizes.

The real “value” of Super Bowl advertising is not found solely in the mathematical CPM. There is no event where the ads are often as noteworthy as the game itself, where millions of Americans gather with friends and family to critique the ads as they appear. To advertisers, this represents an enormous opportunity to introduce a mega-commercial that is often part of a new mega-campaign.

What this means is that if you are going to be a Super Bowl advertiser, then the spot needs to be great—not just good. Because there’s nothing worse than spending $3.5 Million and then getting slammed on Monday for airing a weak commercial. And your spot needs to be more than merely effective. To justify the hype, it needs to be a “mini-film” that others will want to view again and again. Therefore talking babies, animals, big production, celebrity talent, etc. should be part of the plan.

But if you hit creative pay-dirt and create a spot that’s a big as the Super Bowl itself, and really want the bang of reaching the widest possible audience then $3.5 Million may be a price worth paying.

We’ll be watching.

Go Giants!

There comes a time for all great players when they realize, often grudgingly, that they can no longer perform at the same level. Sometimes the player beats father time and retires “prematurely” (Jim Brown in football is a great example). Sometimes a former star hangs around merely to collect a paycheck (alas my boyhood idol, Mickey Mantle, is an example here). Sometimes the former star bounces around a bunch of teams (Steve Carlton) desperately trying to hang on. I do not begrudge any player for trying to extend their career as long as they can. Because once it’s over, it’s over.

Earlier this week, 40 year-old Jorge Posada, the Yankee catcher since the mid 90s announced his retirement. The Yankees had already realized that Jorge, an extraordinary hitting catcher, but average defensively, could no longer catch. They had moved him to DH last year. He had his ups and downs in 2011, but ironically was a shining light in the disappointing elimination in the divisional series in the 2011 playoffs. He knew well that his days with the Yankees (and his contract) were done. He flirted with the idea of hooking up with another team. He could have done so, but decided it was indeed time to leave.

Our daughter, Carolyn, who writes a blog, Ladies Love Sports 2, wrote about it earlier this week. I find it interesting that she now has seen the full cycle of a player coming up as a rookie, have a brilliant & long career, and then fade & retire. Unfortunately she’ll learn those lessons again with Jeter and Mo in the near future. Here are her thoughts from her blog post, Jorge Posada: A Yankee for Life

Today is an incredibly emotional day, a day where one of the greatest Yankees of all time officially said goodbye to the game of baseball. It is another mark of an ending era in Yankees baseball, and in my life. Jorge Posada was a staple of my childhood, one of the faces I remember from when I first started to understand and love the game of baseball and sports in general. It was those Yankee teams of the mid-late 90s that ignited my passion in sports, and it was that passion that eventually inspired my decision to pursue a career in sports, and I consider Jorge a huge part of that.

Watching Jorge in the press conference this morning was really tough and surreal for me. Watching him get emotional when speaking about his family, and his Yankee family and brotherhood with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, I could not help but cry (Luckily, my puppy Jeter was there to lick away my tears, he was sad too). But I was not at all surprised to see Jorge so emotional, because that’s who Jorge is. He played with an unparalleled fire and passion and wore his emotions on his sleeve always. He was consistently real and honest with the media and the fans, one of the many reasons he is so loved and admired by all who followed his career.

Today I want to congratulate Jorge Posada on a phenomenal career worthy of heavy HOF consideration, and I want to thank him for all the moments: that bloop double in the 2003 ALCS, placing the tag on the flip play, talking smack to Pedro from the dugout, hitting the first homer in the new Yankee Stadium, to his final postseason where he was the only Yankee to show up for every last at-bat. Thank you Jorge for the countless number of wonderful Yankee memories that I will cherish forever, and thank you for being a true Yankee from beginning to end.

Well said, sweetie.

The Dave Clark Five were really big stuff in 1964. Obviously you need to be 55+ to remember this, but they were considered a rival band to The Beatles (I guess that didn’t last). I remember buying a Beatles vs. Dave Clark Five magazine with photos of the rival bands and pithy quotes like George saying, “Five against four isn’t fair”

The Dave Clark Five (also called the DC5) had the second most hits in 1964-1966, second to that other British band. The Dave Clark Five’s United States singles hits in 1964 and 1965 included:

Bits and Pieces (No.4, May 1964)

Can’t You See That She’s Mine? (No.4, July 1964)

Because (No.3, August/September 1964),

Anyway You Want It (No.14, December 1964),

I Like It Like That (No.7, July 1965),

Catch Us If You Can (No.4, October 1965),

Over And Over (No.1, December 25, 1965)

I remind Strumings readers that Dave Clark was the drummer, not the lead singer. The lead singer was the late Mike Smith, whose name hardly is remembered in rock history other than for his untimely passing less than two weeks prior to the induction of the Dave Clark Five into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

This concert was the first of what I guess is more than a thousand concerts that I have attended during my lifetime. Though I still see shows, my attendance was heavily skewed to my youth, Rutgers/NYU years and early post college years. The band I’ve seen the most is the Grateful Dead including various incarnations including Furthur, the Other Ones, the Dead, the Jerry Garcia Band, Kingfish, Rat Dog, New Riders etc. I know I’ve attended 50+ Dead shows but alas I have not specifically counted.

Having worked in Central Park in the summers of 1971 and 1972 I was fortunate enough to have seen countless shows at the then Schaefer Music Festival (later the Dr. Pepper Music Festival). If you’re interested in the shows I saw in 1971check out the Struming, The Summer of 1971 I was fortunate to have seen the Allman Brothers Band when there were brothers, Greg and Duane, playing together. Cost of ticket $2.

I also saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band there on August 3, 1974.  I recall tickets had gone up to $2.50 in 1974. Bruce was the second of three acts that evening. The opener was Brewer & Shipley (“One Toke Over the Line”), Bruce & E Street band followed and were an unbelievable combination of great new music and energy. I did not stay to see the headliner, Anne Murray (I couldn’t make this up!). Most of the crowd was there to see Bruce and left when he did. I suspect the remaining crowd  probably “Bruuuuuuuuced” Anne Murray all night. I wonder whether Bruce came back on stage to do a Snow Bird duet with Anne. I suspect not.

I wish I had kept the tickets from all the concerts over the years. It would make for an incredible scrap book of memories. But this big wind up of concert memories is a precursor to ask today’s Struming question:

Why are almost all of today’s biggest tours feautre older bands?

I don’t want to sound like an old codger claiming that music was only great in my youth, but it’s awful that the most of the biggest tours are “classic bands” not new ones. According to Pollstar, of the 6 top tours in North America 2011 of $50Million+ three were older acts, U2, Bon Jovi & Elton John (The other three were Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Lady Gaga). And this year among the biggest concerts will be the Van Halen tour (with David Lee Roth on lead), the Beach Boys (touring again with Brian Wilson in support of their 50^th anniversary), Black Sabbath with Ozzy, Madonna, Roger Waters, and a new tour from Bruce and the E Street Band (alas no Anne Murray on the bill–guess she refused to sing Rosalita with Bruce). There are also rumors of a Stones tour in support of their 50^th anniversary.

50^th anniversary! Where is the new music? Why are mostly older bands playing the larger venues on big tours?  God knows I like much of the music from the acts above, and I admit to being a Deadhead, and they are hardly a new band, but why are the arenas filled with the classic acts while the newer bands, with some exceptions, playing the smaller venues. Fast forward 20 years when all the classic acts above will be gone, the question will be who will be playing the big venues then?

I regret that, given Mike Smith’s passing in 2008, there will be no 50^th anniversary Dave Clark Five tour. But let’s hope that some of tomorrow’s bigger shows will be newer acts, and not the same bands over and over and over again or this dance is going to be a drag. Do you agree?

BTW: While of no relevance to this post–LET’S  GO  GIANTS !

The Giants improbable 37-20 victory over the Packers puts them into the NFC Championship game.

Just a few weeks ago there were modest expectations for the Giants season based on player defections, key injuries, and the seeming inability to sign higher profile free agents (which perhaps was a blessing). The Giants finished the regular season with a modest record of 9 victories, 7 losses, but won the NFC East. Now 2 playoff games later they remain Super Bowl contenders. Whether they become Super Bowl Champs again or fall short, I am proud to be a fan of the Giants.

The Giants are led by Coach Tom Coughlin, an old fashioned, “my way or highway” disciplinarian. There’s nothing warm and cuddly about him, though he has softened a bit over the years. He is focused, consistent, demanding and, despite his stern demeanor, is a true leader. The Giants have had ups and downs in his 8-year tenure as Coach. Their second half performances are typically weaker than the first half, which has brought pressure on himself and the organization. But Tom has a ring and ultimately the respect of the players, despite occasional grumbling. And the Giants now travel to SF to play in the NFC Championship. Win or lose, they are a team to be admired led by a humble coach who understands leadership.

The Jets are led by their Coach, Rex Ryan, who is different in almost all ways. He is younger, brazen and boastful. He is crude, profane, obese, and out of control. Many of the players love him for those qualities (perhaps because they are the same way). The performance of the team in the first 2 years of his tenure was strong—appearances in 2 AFC Championship Games. On the basis of those performances, combined with an overinflated ego, he foolishly predicted that the Jets would be Super Bowl Champions this year. The reality is they lost their last 3 regular season games, including the final one to a weak Dolphins team and did not even make the playoffs. Bottom line is that the Jets were an underachieving team of disunity and disappointment.

The Jets team is now a train wreck of finger pointing and dissension. Players brazenly call out the organization and its quarterback. Ironically no one has called out their beloved Coach, but it is at his doorstep that the disunity lies. When your Coach crudely tells a fan to “Go F*%k yourself” he sets the tone for appropriate behavior, or misbehavior. The tone is vulgarity and disrespect. We all learn from our parents. Rex Ryan is no different. He learned his behavior from his dad, the “legendary” (and equally crude) Buddy Ryan, who once suggested that members the opposing team would be carried out of the field in “body bags”. Nice, Buddy. Just as his son Rex, Buddy was also a brilliant defensive coordinator who fell short when given the spotlight of being the head man.

I am proud of the Giants and their coach and players. I am proud to be a lifelong fan and feel their organization from its ownership, front office, coaches and players are ones a fan can respect. In every aspect, the Jets are inferior—in performance, in integrity and results.

Two leaders–one strict, old fashioned and old school, while the other is new school, trash talking and boastful. I’ll take old school every time.

Rex, you are correct that your team is not  the “little brother” of the Giants. The Jets are an ugly distant cousin.

Epilog: Super Bowl XLVI will be great. A rematch of Giants vs. Pats. Former Giants assistant coaches of yesteryear who learned “old school” from Bill Parcells. Go G-Men.

Improving your search rankings is the holy grail of digital marketing. I recently read a smart piece from Lauren Hobson, President of Five Sparrows called Beyond Your Website: 5 Ways to Improve Search Rankings. Five Sparrows provides smart, effective website and marketing services to small businesses and non-profits. Though I don’t know her or her firm directly I think Lauren is a smart lady and she discusses 5 simple suggestions on improving website rankings. They are logical, make sense and with discipline are easy to implement. Here are Lauren’s thoughts:

A few years ago, standard SEO techniques such as on-page keyword densities and link-building programs were very effective in helping small business websites improve their rankings in the search results. Today, however, optimizing your website using only standard techniques is just not enough – the search engines now evaluate a multitude of additional factors to determine whether your website will be listed on page 1 or page 101 (or worse!).

So what does this mean for your business? It means that Google and the other search engines look for ranking signals not only from your optimized website, they also look at other sources all over the web.

So what can your small business do to build a stronger online presence? Here are 5 things to try:

1. Get Social Now!

Search engines now use social “content” in search results (e.g., “sharing” on Facebook, re-tweets on Twitter, etc.). However – don’t just slap together a business profile or two on the social sites! To be truly effective, your social profiles should match your existing branding (colors, logo, message), and you must have a solid going-forward strategy for providing valuable content and connecting with customers. A social profile that just sits there (or spews pre-canned robo-posts) provides little value to visitors or to the search engines trying to evaluate your online relevance.

2. Get Blogging

Blogs are great for attracting search engines, since they are updated often and contain lots of content for search engine spiders to index. Blogs are also extremely popular with users, and can be a great source of additional web traffic and new leads. In addition to posting on your own blog, be sure to visit other industry blogs and participate in those conversations as well. Leave comments and feedback, and always include a link back to your own blog in your signature. Remember, however, you need to add something useful – don’t self-promote or advertise your business on someone else’s blog.

3. Build a Content Pipeline

Create a “Content Pipeline” (similar to a sales pipeline or editorial calendar) and fill it with pre-planned marketing activities. Start by adding at least one online marketing activity per week; e.g., post an article on your blog, post a useful tip on your Facebook wall, tweet a link to your monthly special, etc. Keep your content pipeline filled so your customers and the search engines will always find fresh, new, useful information across all your online “properties” on a regular basis.

4. Send Out Press Releases

Today, online press outlets accept press release submissions from all types of businesses, large and small. One of the key benefits of using online outlets for press releases is that even if your news isn’t “picked up” by a major news site, it can still generate some new, high-quality inbound links back to your website. It also gets your business name and message out to a variety of quality websites, improving your overall visibility and credibility online.

5. Integrate Your Online Marketing

Integrating your website, social profiles, blog, etc. is really the key to creating and maintaining an effective online presence for your business. Be sure to add your social networking links to your website, create custom pages in Facebook, use widgets and apps that allow you to cross-promote, take advantage of RSS feeds, etc. All of your online properties should form one seamless, branded experience for visitors (and search engines) that shows your business is relevant, engaging, and visible online through more than just your website.

Thanks for the info Lauren. Good stuff.

…Or the end of the world as we know it?

I am not an economic forecaster of any kind. I have no access to economic data other than what is reported. Truth of the matter is that the “data” economists analyze is much like the Doppler weather data. It’s good for telling you the weather yesterday and today, but has marginal value for the weather next week.

So with that caveat, here’s my economic forecast for 2012: Partly Cloudy. I guess that’s better than 2009 which was rainy all year.

There are small signs that we may be moving forward. It starts with jobs, a real indicator of economic health. Joblessness is declining slowly. The unemployment rate of 8.6% is the lowest since 2009 and hopefully will trend marginally downward this year to the lower 8s. The number of people applying for unemployment has dropped to the lowest levels in almost 4 years. However it’s important to know that there’s a large segment of the population that is “underemployed” working in positions at lesser pay than their previous one and/or working part-time when full time work is desired. Also there’s a segment, whose size is not fully understood, which has given up seeking employment altogether.

On a broader perspective, I believe we have reason to worry about world economic conditions, as they are not unrelated  issues without any impact on us. We are a domino in the world economy, albeit a large one, but when other dominoes fall, it impacts us too. The instability of the European economy surely impacts us as well.

As an American public we have gotten wiser about our previous habits of spending beyond our means. Buying on credit has fallen during this Recession (which continues regardless of any economic definitions of what a Recession is). Loans, both business and personal, are far more difficult to obtain. Virtually everyone is “tightening their belts” in ways large and small. Frugality is not evil, in fact it is to be admired;however, lesser spending by the American public stymies an economic rebound.

We are also far less mobile than ever.  Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey of March 2011 paints a picture of the least amount of mobility since World War II, with only 11.6% of the nation’s population moving to a new home in the last year. This is a dramatic decline over the past 25 years from the 80’s – during which almost 20% of the nation moved. Obviously the pain in the real estate market has a major impact here. Young adults are staying home longer, and marrying later. And seniors and aging Baby Boomers are staying put and not moving to Florida & Arizona as they might have in the past.

The past 3 years have been a readjustment of expectations and no one is expecting a rosy future in short term. Marginal improvement, “partly cloudy”, is probably the best we can hope for. So my hope is that 2012 will be a turning point for our economy with brighter years in the future. Then again there are those which say that December 12, 2012 will be the end of the world. If so, I surely pray that the Yankees will win their 28^th and final Championship in late October. Always best to go out as a winner. If the Yankees win again for the final World Championship, and it truly is the end of the world as we know it, I will feel fine.

I am always pleased to get feedback on Strumings and am truly gratified when readers comment on posts. Strumings is my way of sharing thoughts and experiences and the following are the “best of 2011″ Strumings as determined by readership.

I left out posts about my beloved New York Yankees, which admitedly are polarizing, Yankees fans love them, and alas non-Yankees fans not so much. But Strumings readers understand that writing about the Yankees is a true passion.

So here the “best of”  as determined by Strumings readers:

1. 3 Myths About Baby Boomers–This looks at the many misperceptions surrounding the 77 Million Boomers of which I am proudly one

2. The Changing U.S. Population–Examines U.S. population trends

3. Confessions of a Shopkick Addict–Yes, I am an addict and I explain why

4. The American Workforce: Boomer Blockade–We Boomers are not ready (or willing) to retire.

5. 10 Mistakes Small Business Make–Read ‘em & ask yourself if you are guilty of any of these mistakes.

Let me know if I missed any of your faves. All my best to Strumings readers for a happy & healthy 2012. Go Yankees.

Obviously smartphones are not new and have existed for a decade. So why would I call the smartphone the product of the year?

That’s because 2011 is the year when smartphones became ubiquitous and their use now exceeds traditional cell phones. As we look back on 2011, this year was the tipping point of when mobile usage changed and with it comes larger implications of how the American public accesses the internet.

In terms of the changing mobile phone world, I challenge any Strumings reader to visit a Verizon or AT&T store and find more than a handful of traditional cell phones without a data plan. Obviously some of this is self serving as Verizon and AT&T, the mobile industry’s biggest players, encourage their subscribers to pony up to smartphones along with their higher margin $30 monthly data plans. At the same time, they do so with the understanding of the general public’s insatiable desire for access (and often addiction) to their email and the internet.

In May 2011 the Pew Research Center conducted a national study of 2,277 adults about smartphone ownership & usage. The findings indicated that 83% of Adults own a cell phone of some kind and of those 42% own a smartphone.  This is reinforced by 3rd Quarter Nielsen data just released which indicates that 44% of mobile subscribers have smartphones, with a projection of 50% by year end. Not surprisingly, adults in wealthier households with $75,000+ household income (59%) and young adults, 25-54 (58%) have greater smartphone penetration as well.

The explosion of Android devices and the evolution of the iPhone have usurped the smartphone market leadership from BlackBerry devices which had led the original growth of smartphones last decade. In terms of mobile apps, obviously Android and iOS  dominate with 49% and 34% respective shares of recent downloads according to Nielsen.

What’s also interesting about smartphones is that in a recent study conducted by Consumer Cellular, the exclusive cell phone provider for AARP members, is that seniors and Boomers use their cell phones to connect with family and friends more than ever. (See 3 Myths About Boomers which exposes the myth that Boomers are technologically lame). 9 of 10 respondents say that they taught themselves how to use their smartphones and the majority said email was the #1 tool used. There are some gender differences as men visited sports apps more than women while women accessed social media apps more frequently.

What does mean for marketers?

1. It reinforces the need for business to have a mobile web site since it is becoming more likely that it will be accessed via a mobile device.

2. Mobile e-commerce is exploding and apps and information to make it easier for smartphone consumers to buy stuff is critical

3. Apps which offer immediate value and information such as Groupon, Living Social, ShopKick, Yelp, and others will continue to grow despite my personal disappointment with the digital deal leaders–see Digital Deal Deluge.

4. Social media will be driven by mobile phone usage. The real time posting of photos and status updates is facilitated by smartphones.

What will be the product of 2012? It’s too early to tell, but much as it took the maturation of the mobile phone business to reach the tipping point for smartphones, perhaps the growth of tablets, the Holiday gift of 2011, will similarly enhance increased American mobility in 2012. Time will tell.

Happy holidays and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year. Strumings will be back on Wednesday January 4. Yankees will reign in 2012. #28 straight ahead.

..And 5 Reasons Why You Should.

Having worked with literally hundreds of clients in previous life as an ad agency CEO (and many more in the 12-year history of the Strum Consulting Group), I have a strong perspective on the merits and demerits of moving to a new communications agency. With the wisdom of hindsight, where we all know who won the NFL games last Sunday, it is clear to me the circumstances when agencies deserve to get the axe, and those when they did not.

First of all, in evaluating a relationship with a communications agency, a company needs to first determine whether an “agency of record” relationship has value or whether their needs are better suited to a project relationship. If the needs are for a finite project with a defined scope of work that will begin and end, a project relationship would be best.

But if ongoing strategic guidance is desired (and hopefully delivered by the agency) a retained relationship makes more sense. So for purposes of this Struming, let’s assume Company A is in an agency of record (AOR) relationship with Agency XY& Z. This can be for a full service relationship or an agency of record for a particular discipline, which is more likely in today’s business world.

If you are thinking of moving your account, here are 5 reasons you should continue to work with your current firm and not move your business, and conversely, 5 reasons why you should move on.

5 Reasons not to move:

1. The new CMO wants to bring in his/her old shop.

The new CMO may be gone in 18-24 months. They need to demonstrate to his/her satisfaction that the incumbent resource is not ideal. The #1 reason (often unjustified) business moves is to satisfy the new CMO.

2. You have a long term relationship with your agency, but there have been recent problems.

Perhaps the new rep at the agency is not strong, or their recent work substandard. Talk to them. Tell them of your dissatisfaction in direct terms. Give them a reasonable, yet immediate, opportunity to address the issues and fix the problem. Listen to their ideas as well.

3. Sales are weak for reasons having not to do with marketing, yet you want to make a move to show action to others. Fix the real problem!

 4. You want to get a cheaper agency.

Obviously cost is always an issue, but value is more important. You can reduce cost easily and a new agency seeking the new account , may charge less in the short term. But every firm is in business to earn a fair profit. Your new agency will be unhappy soon enough if they took the account on the cheap. If you want to reduce cost, tell the agency the parameters and ask them to come back with a staffing/service solution that meets those parameters.

5. Your weak marketing staff is ineffective in communicating and providing leadership.

You need to reassess your own staff. A new agency will not fix an internal issue.

Nonetheless there may be good reasons to move on. Here are 5 good reasons to move:

1. You don’t trust your agency.

This one is obvious. If there’s no trust, there’s no relationship. Move on.

2. The agency creates “stuff” but adds little value.

If the agency merely is an executor of marketing deliverables, then you needn’t have an AOR relationship anyhow. Often in this case, the agency may be “mailing it in”, i.e. going through the motions and showing no initiative.

3. The agency is a pain to work with.

If every discussion is painful and they argue with you on every occasion, something is really wrong. You don’t need “yes men”, but constant bickering doesn’t work either.  Some tension is actually OK, but if there’s constant tension, there’s something wrong (it might be you too).

4. Your sales are weak and marketing is a contributing factor.

If the agency lacks the ideas or firepower to make a real impact, then it’s time for a change.

5. Your agency does not “play well” with the other agencies you work with, and consistently looks to blame others instead of solving problems.

There are many more reasons to either stay with or conversely to leave your current agency. One thing is always clear. Choosing a new resource is costly in time and effort. As in any relationship, whether it’s business or personal, it’s always better to try to fix the problems if at all possible. If you have really passed the point of no return, be forthright, and act swiftly, with integrity and deeply consider what role your played in the relationship’s demise because if you don’t, you’ll be going down the same road with your next agency.

Hungry? Alas it’s now too late to take advantage of this super-sized deal. However, Living Social says that 291,676 people bought this deal. God knows I have nothing against fast food, but do we really need the 5 Big Mac/5 Fries deal? Guess I understand why our waistlines are increasing.  Perhaps they should have called this deal Really Supersize Me.

In this spirit  this Wedneday’s Struming is about the “deluge of the digital deal”. I love a deal. Those who know me would say I’m frugal (perhaps some would call me a cheapskate). I have 12 promotional cards in my wallet—Dunkin Donuts, Wawa, the local car wash, Game Stop, CVS, Panera Bread, Office Depot, Modell’s, Finish Line as well as Marriott, Hyatt and USAirways cards. It’s no wonder my rear left pocket, which holds my wallet,  protrudes. I am clearly a first-hand student of promotional marketing. Nothing better than being a consumer and having a front row seat to the marketing efforts of others to gain an understanding of their strategies.

Last year I was excited when Groupon first appeared. Living Social as well. Whoa, how cool. High value deals sent directly to me so I can nab the ones which made sense to me.

But something happened along the way. I am now overwhelmed and annoyed. The deals don’t stop. There appears to be no pattern, strategy and little targeting of the deals. Last Friday Dec 2, Living Social hit a new low and McDonald’s helped them get there. 5 Big Macs and 5 Fries for $13. Such a deal!  How glutinous have we become?

In this same email were several irrelevant deals including, among others:

1. One-Year Subscription to Us Weekly Magazine

2. Custom-Embroidered Stocking

3. Two Rain-X Package External Car Washes in Delaware

4. Intro to Rock Climbing Package in western Philadelphia burbs

5. Three-Hour Acting Workshop

6. Glamour Photo Shoot

7. Pediatric Dental Exam, X-Ray, and Cleaning

8. 90-Minute Fused Glass Class with Supplies

 9. Five Eco-Friendly Designer Bags

10. Two-Hour Boudoir Photo Shoot

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Riddle me this? What in the world are these offers about and what possible relevance do they have to me? Most have no appeal and are for goods and services 50 or more miles from where I live. I thought the concept of these deals were to deliver high value offers relevant to subscribers  in geographic proximity to the user. Alas they are now killing the golden goose.

It takes a lot to over-promote to a guy with 12 promotion cards in his wallet. Congrats to Living Social. They’ve succeeded. Way to take a good idea and turn it into spam.