While I was running content I created a framework for thinking about how agencies should think about making content.
This is that framework.
Good morning, this is a thread.
Agencies don’t really want attention. Agencies want revenue. An agency acquires revenue by selling its service. But in order to sell its service for revenue, the agency must first get people to pay attention.
Attention, in this way, is the great differentiator.
So every agency needs to be in the business of getting that attention whether they want to be or not.
A story is an idea you put out into the world. A story can be a case study or a sizzle reel or a quote in Ad Age…
Regardless, you have to put stories out into the world if you want people to pay attention to you.
& publishing a cool case study might get you a client, which will get you noticed by trade press and creatives.
And, because an agency only has so much money and time for its strategic activities, the agency needs to make decisions about which stories to tell.
Wins get you more of work. Work can be submitted for wins. And both wins and work get the attention of creatives, who make the work that gets the wins.
Once there were fewer agencies that offered fewer services. Those agencies serviced fewer customers for longer periods of time. The agencies had pricing power.
Classic acceleration scenario: everything has gotten much faster and more complex.
iqfystage.blob.core.windows.net/files/CUE8taE5…
ideo.com/journal
medium.com/@stevebryant/t…
I regret to inform you: There’s no right answer. But…
They work for agencies. They work for brands. They’ll work for you. They are, and simply:
Who are the people we want to speak to?
What do they need?
How is what they need connected to what we sell?
How can we help them see our value by helping them realize theirs?
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