The Innovative Agency

What happens when you can no longer scale up? Or your core business just got commoditized and now everybody thinks they can DIY it on the cheap? Keith Scandone, creator of 03 World, a digital product agency, found his company in just that place about eight years ago. After building websites for traditional marketing agencies and their clients, 03 World suddenly faced unexpected competition from Wordpress. Who needed an agency to build a website anymore? Keith knew he'd have to innovate if 03 World was to stay open. But while everyone likes to talk about innovation, who knows what it means? Or how to do it? Keith tells us all about how to innovate in the face of technological change right here on The Innovative Agency Podcast.

The design of a content marketing program seems simple - most agencies do it every day. But it creates challenging questions for agencies and clients: What metrics of success should be used? How are we going to collaborate? How does each piece of content fit into a client's broader marketing strategy? These are questions every agency has faced, and Xenia Muntean knew these issues far too well at her digital marketing agency. So, she founded Planable — a tech company designed to help approve and create content. On this episode, Xenia gives agencies 4 ways they can ensure a smooth content creation process with their clients. Xenia is the CEO & Co-Founder of Planable and a Forbes 30 Under 30. We talked about 4 pillars of content marketing for agencies: (1) Set KPIs/metrics with each client, (2) Map out the strategy at the beginning, (3) Determine how you are going to communicate, (4) Get feedback early. To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

The marketplace has shifted. Retainers/AORs are becoming less common, and brands are moving toward project-based client/agency relationships. But that shouldn't worry agency owners, because there's plenty of opportunity within that trend. Just ask Rudy Fernandez. Rudy founded his entire agency, Creative Outhouse, on the idea of project-based work in October 2001. He's managed to successfully grow his agency without a single AOR contract in almost 2 decades. He came on The Innovative Agency podcast to highlight 7 ways agency owners can leverage the trend towards transactional-based client relationships. What we talked about: (1) Monetize the idea rather than the production (2) Find pockets of money (even at larger brands) (3) Leverage the shorter lifespan of CMOs (4) Collab with larger agencies by leveraging your niche (5) Have some 'Street Fighter' (6) Maintain robust freelancer relationships (7) Recognize referrals as the main business driver Bonus friendly reminder: leave your creatives alone To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Agency owners constantly worry about the threat of in-house agencies. David Freedman has a few tips on what agencies can do to compete, and the good news is, none of them are based on price. David is the co-founder of Freestar, a company that helps publishing websites with monetization. What we talked about: Programmatic, Ad spend, Digital ad spend, Finding a niche To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

"If I had time to take photographs, I wouldn't have hired a PR agency." — Every non-agency business owner, ever. Business owners don't care how the social media sausage is made. They just want it done, they want it posted, and they want results. On this episode, we invited Lauralie Levy, CEO of Crowd Siren, to share her social media expertise. What we talked about: Social media platforms Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp How business owners don't have time, they just want it done Why you'll almost always be collaborating with other agencies Short-form videos aren't going anywhere To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Are you an entrepreneur that didn't plan on being one? This exact scenario actually plays out more than you might expect. It's what happened to Indra Gardiner Bowers, the co-founder and CEO of i.d.e.a. She shares her story of resiliency and adaptability with us on the latest episode of The Innovative Agency. We discuss: How to handle evolutions in your agency Learning when to take risks and scale back Forecasting in an ever-changing landscape Complying to new legislation concerning employees Resources mentioned in this episode: The ABC test for independent contractors in California theideabrand.com This blogpost is based on an interview with Indra Gardiner Bowers from i.d.e.a. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Just like a tree grows toward the best sunlight, your agency needs to be open to innovation in order to survive. This is how it worked out for David Searns and his agency, Haley Marketing. Due to the evolving landscape of his market, David found himself in a very particular niche. On this episode, David and I discuss: Looking for opportunities to pivot Adjusting to demands in your market Optimizing your assets Finding a narrow niche To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Agencies are typically known for lacking in internal communication and being resistant to change. However, today's guest on the Innovative Agency podcast, Mark Gale CEO of Charleston Orwig sits down to share with us how his agency is doing things differently. Charleston Orwig has been around for nearly three decades. Because of their familiarity with clients they need to be nimble to shed the legacy that can sometimes lead other agencies to become complacent or stagnant. Instead, they work very hard to stay relevant in the ever-changing food and agriculture space. Marketing and Advertising in a category that doesn't really reflect the reality of how nuanced the work they do is. A testament to that is the fact that their top concern is talent, and in order to keep that talent they've employed a visionary tactic of using ESOP. Few people know this as well as Mark, who is also the ESOP Board Director at Charleston Orwig. In the beginning they financed 100% of the ESOP plan for their employees at Charleston Orwig. Agencies are typically really bad at communicating within themselves. Charleston Orwig is not. They are really pushing to be transparent about things such as billable hours, how they make money, and how they make decisions.

Every single person on the planet can and should do what they love to do. That's a tall order, but if we all took the time to discover our purpose, we'd be that much closer to accomplishing it. On this episode, I interview Roy Abdo, CEO of Digital Revamp Marketing Agency: What we talked about: How entrepreneurs can translate personal experiences into building a business Roy's inspiring citizenship story 3 things you need to convert your experience into entrepreneurship The importance of finding your why Checkout these resources we mentioned during the podcast: Start with Why by Simon Sinek Gallup's StrengthsFinder 2.0 To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

The creative agency industry is constantly evolving. For this reason, it's good to keep your agency's strategy fresh. Founder and CEO of Big Sea, Andi Graham, fills us in on why the agile approach isn't just a software development strategy anymore. We also cover: Educating your team about agile Embracing the discomfort of change Developing a feedback loop Real-time collaboration Resources mentioned in this episode include: "Manifesto for Agile" Scrum Methodology "Transforming to Agile: How We're Doing It" This blogpost is based on an interview with Andi Graham from Big Sea. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.