Mad Men: What Can An Ad Agency Do For Me?

AMC's hit show "Mad Men" presents ad agencies in the glamorous, often uncomfortable light of the 1960s.  Though entertaining, it can muddle the common man's opinion of what an ad agency can do for his business.  That brings the question to the table:  what CAN they do for you?

Whether you’re a big or small business, you can and should investigate working with a reputable ad agency or professional. The additional expense you’ll add will most often be minimal to the money you’ll lose making mistakes on your own. If it’s important enough, such as health, legal or accounting, you’ll seek professional help. Advertising is certainly important enough to seek professional help with.

Ad agencies come in all sizes, from working out of their spare bedroom to Madison Avenue high-rises. Although most tout themselves as a “full service agency”, most usually work in one of six primary areas:

• Graphic Design
• Audio/Video Production
• Media Planning
• Web Design & Development
• Consulting
• Public Relations

A true full-service agency does all of these service but they are far more rare. One big advantage of working with a full service agency is that they can offer better brand maintenance because it’s all handled in-house. This also gives you better cost efficiency than farming all the components out to individual production shops.

I think another advantage is that their clients get more honest and un-biased counseling because the agencies services are not limited to any single production they must sell to generate income, i.e., video, graphics, etc. The best solutions can be freely recommended because the full service agency will be paid either way.

The basic thing that an agency should for you is help you plan your program, assemble the creative and production, place the media and (sometimes) monitor the results.

Advertising agencies are paid several ways: retainer, hourly fees, by project, for media placement, etc. An agency can even be in-house, meaning they work exclusively for one firm.

Working with an advertising agency should be considered if your business’s advertising volume is substantial. Planning, adjusting and running large ongoing multimedia promotion can be very distracting from your normal business tasks, and should be left to the advertising professionals.

Red Crow Marketing covers every area mentioned above;  if you have any questions about what we can do for you as an advertising agency, please contact us at 417-889-1658 or info@RedCrowMarketing.com.

Guest Blog: SEO vs SEM - What's the Difference?

SEO and SEM are currently quagmires in the field of marketing and design.  Lines are often blurred between the two practices, guidelines are thrown out and invented daily, and it can seem that no one really knows what they're talking about.

This blog by KM Rashid breaks it down for the common man, describing the pros and cons of each.  It's a nice, brief overview of Search Engine Optimization vs Search Engine Marketing, and we wanted to share it with you.

Read Rashid's SEO vs SEM article here.

Get Real: Being Realistic About Expectations

Every business owner has to invest in their company. They use capital to purchase more inventories, buy company truck, hire more help, or any other way you would improve your company’s growth.

Typically, before they spend their money on any of these items, they would research first, then make a reasonable projection of what return they would get on their investment (ROI). Most managers don’t have as much difficulty in realistically assessing these.

Advertising is also an investment. However, when it comes to projecting the return, many new and inexperienced advertisers often set unrealistic expectations of what their advertising should return. They will commonly overestimate the income it will produce, bet the farm on it, and lose the farm.
Here are two rules that will help you from falling into that trap:

1. Do everything you can to set your business up to survive without relying on advertising. Give great service, make your store shine, give good value for your products or services. Let these carry you business as much as possible.

2. Remember that advertising is a long-term investment. View it more like a savings bond than a lottery ticket.

What Can Advertising Really Do?

Advertising Can:
· make prospects aware that you exist.
· inform and educate.
· create interest and desire.
· compel people to action.
· remind people about your products and services.
· brand you or create a unique position in prospects minds.

The degree of effectiveness for any advertising is predicated on several things. For example:
· Market demand for the product or service
· Your competition’s position and marketing/advertising programs
· Your understanding of your target demo
· Selection of the right media to reach the right target audience
· The noticeably, credibility, and compelling quality of the message
· The relevance of the offer
· The frequency of the message that is required to create a lasting and favorable impression on the audience


In this market, business owners must understand their limitations and expectations -- and be prepared to hand over the controls to folks like us, the marketing team at Red Crow.  You want to make money, and we want to make sure your brand is in the eyes of the public.  It's a win-win.

Most Businesses FAIL: The Importance of Marketing & Advertising

“If cash flow is the lifeblood of a business,
good marketing is the heart that keeps it pumping through the veins.”

Most businesses fail.  The primary reason they fail is poor cash flow.

This is typically because they underestimated their projected expenses, or just as commonly, they overstated their projected income.

This is because they didn’t have enough customers, or they didn’t have the type of customers they needed.

And this is often the result of bad marketing and advertising.

Who needs to advertise?  Simple - anybody who doesn’t get enough customers without it.  If you generate sales through referrals or if you have a great location with ample foot traffic, congratulations!  You may not need to advertise.  So, leave the money on the bottom line and retire sooner.

But for others, effective advertising is required to provide our need for new prospects, as well as compelling our previous customers to return again and more often.  Even businesses that have established major brands such as Toyota, Wal-Mart, Pepsi, McDonalds, need to continue to advertise like everybody else.  They know that if they stop, competitors will soon take their place in the public mind causing customers and cash to cease to flow.

Our audience, those potential customers or clients we are trying to reach, present a moving target.  All of their needs, opinions, and their perceptions are constantly undergoing change.  What do teenage girls wear today that they we’re wearing say, five years ago?  If you were going to buy a brand new car, would you expect to find cars that look like the one you drove eight years ago?  Do you read the same books or watch exactly the same television shows you did three years ago?  Probably not.

To stay on top of your game, you need to stay aware of changes in public or segment opinion and perception.  And it is often not easy to keep your eye on them, or predict where their preferences are headed.

This is why marketing and advertising is not an exact science.  There is no one way you should advertise or market you; if there was, we’d all look exactly alike.  In this arena, unique approaches are often rewarded simply because they are noticed more than what everyone else is doing.

In spite of all this unpredictable chaos, there are fundamental steps you can use to improve your odds of success in your advertising.  These steps involve research, planning, careful monitoring and adjustment. 

These are the things we at Red Crow Marketing perform on a daily basis.  If you need sales boosts and you're lost in the muddle of options, give us a call.  We'll help you sort it out and get your business back on track.