The 4As year conference, TransformationLA http://transformationla.com/ this past week was a tremendous success. It was an honor to share the stage with so many industry heavy-hitters.

Not surprisingly, my Winning Large Multi-agency Pitches session let to some spirited conversation. While pitches can dominate an agency exec’s schedule, the session was a rare opportunity to have an open discussion about the new business process without the specter of a pitch deadline looming.

It was great to catch up with some friends.

Regards,

Mark Schnurman
President – Filament Inc.

A new blog post on Pitch Therapy about the Pistachios Super Bowl spot and rules that govern creative work.
For a while now, I have been working with agencies and watching TV wondering if our industry is truly creative or is it simply following a set of rules laid down by our advertising forefathers.  There is plenty of work that is incredibly creative but sometimes I feel like the work is being bogged down with outdated rules.  The two rules that I question the most are branding colors and calls to action.  The pistachio ad brilliantly lampooned both creative laws in two, perfect 15 second spots….

As part of Filament Inc’s ongoing work with AAAA, Brian Schnurman will be conducting How to Sell Creative Work to Clients Workshops in the following locations.
October 12, 2012 – Charlotte, NC
October 23, 2012 – Orlando, FL
The challenge with getting clients to accept great creative work is that the client often cannot see what makes the creative great.  This workshop will give you tools and language necessary to generate enthusiasm for your ideas and most importantly, help you get clients to willingly and enthusiastically follow your recommendations.

This webinar is designed to insure that your best ideas are accepted and not watered down through multiple trips back to the drawing board.  The end result is better work, less negotiation over executional details and less time spent implementing client’s suggestions.

The ICA, the Canadian Institute of Communications Agencies has asked Filament Inc. to present our Selling Creative Work to Clients Workshop in Toronto June 13, 2012. This is our first opportunity to work with the ICA and we look forward to meeting our Canadian counterparts.

ICA is the not-for-profit association for Canadian communication agencies, representing 75%+ of all national advertising. Their mission is to champion commercial creativity, amplify the industry’s economic impact, and to embrace and drive change.

Visit their website at www.icacanada.ca

The following is a blog post taken from Filament Inc’s Pitch Therapy blog, a blog dedicated to the art of winning new business.

Maybe I need a break from new business pitches because I am starting to see parallels in the most peculiar places. The most recent parallel was in last night’s Super Bowl Halftime show.

It seemed as if Madonna, in an effort to be FCC-friendly and inclusive, strayed from her irreverent style and settled smack dab in the middle of mediocrity. In an effort to make the show less lame, she added Trojan warriors, a high-tech stage, LMFAO, Cee Lo Green and M.I.A. All of which made the show busier but no less interesting. How often are the advertising equivalent of Trojan warriors added to your pitch? The result is the same… a busier, but no more compelling pitch.

Just like bells and whistles don’t make a boring halftime show any less boring, those same bells and whistles also don’t help to make a new business presentation any more compelling…

Click here to read the entire article.
http://www.pitchtherapy.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_archive.html

The 4As has asked Brian Schnurman to conduct Filament’s Selling Creative Work to Clients Workshop in Columbus, OH on March 6, 2012. Presenting creative work to clients or prospects is not as much about presentation skills as it about selling skills. Clients need to be transformed from “creative evaluators” to “creative champions.” If your clients are discussing the color and font, they are still in creative evaluator mode and this workshop will help you to turn clients into champions of your creative work instead of killers of great ideas.

This all day workshop, conducted by Brian Schnurman of Filament, Inc., explores how to turn creative staff from presenters of work to proponents of work, and how to sell the big idea instead of the details.
Topics to be covered include:

• Getting clients excited about the creative (both traditional and digital), so they are willing to take a risk;
• Helping clients understand the role of digital and viral campaigns;
• Creating more “theater of the mind” through set up, and physical delivery of concepts;
• Establishing your credibility with the client;
• Presenting ideas with greater impact, clarity and focus;
• Helping all types of clients understand and personally relate to the creative;
• Becoming more persuasive;
• Projecting enthusiasm for all work (not just their own work);
• Holding the listener’s attention and become more engaging;
• Handling difficult client objections and questions without becoming defensive;
• Presenting effectively as a team.

Schedule
8:30am Registration and Continental Breakfast (included in registration fee)
9:00am Workshop begins
12:00pm Lunch (included in registration fee)
4:30pm Workshop adjourns

Registration Fees
$250 per person, 4A’s members; $375 per person, Non 4A’s members

Click here for more information about the conference.
https://www.aaaa.org/pages/events.aspx?webcode=EventInfo&RegPath=EventRegFees&REg_evt_key=4f9bdd58-1610-4b47-a03f-d2864235fbe3

The following article entitled All Hands on Deck was published in the recent issue of Med Ad News. Mark Schnurman writes a monthly column entitled Pitch Therapy for Med Ad News about pitching new business.

When I am with a new client working on a pitch, I am usually asked how other agencies handle the responsibilities of writing the deck. While revealing how a particular agency handles deck writing would be like revealing Kentucky Fried Chicken’s secret recipe, there are basically two different philosophies of deck writing represented by a deck dictator versus a deck democracy.

The deck dictator scenario is where one person writes every deck. The biggest advantage of the pitch dictator is that the agency is assured of a consistent flow and cadence to the deck with a low chance of inconsistencies. This typically makes it much easier for the audience to track with the presenters and follow the story. While this is the only significant advantage, the advantage is enormous and should not be overlooked.

The disadvantages of the pitch dictator are numerous. The most obvious is…

Click here to read the entire article.
http://www.pitchtherapy.blogspot.com/2011/07/all-hand-on-deck.html

Catch up on the latest Pitch Therapy blog post. This post comes to Pitch Therapy from Jim Joseph’s blog, Jim is President of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications and author of the book The Experience Effect. Jim discusses what he considers is Every Presenters Nightmare.=

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I lasted all these years without it ever happening to me. But yesterday it did. The moment I have dreaded for years … the moment that all public speakers dread.

I was speaking at the MDPA marketing conference just outside Washington, DC … talking about the evolution of social media especially as it relates to wellness. The MC of the conference makes a very articulate introduction for me and I confidently walk up onto stage. I say “Good Morning” with all the gusto I’ve got and hit the button to advance the next slide …

Nothing happens.

I click again, I point it at the screen, I click again … Nothing happens. Thinking that maybe something will save me I click again … Nothing happens.

I decide to give an intro to the slides while the IT folks figure out what’s going on — to buy myself some time … Nothing happens.

By the look on the IT guy’s face, I quickly realize that I am hanging out there on my own….

Click here to read the entire article.
http://www.pitchtherapy.blogspot.com/2011/09/every-presenters-nightmare.html

Filament President, Mark Schnurman will be speaking at the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) Conference this October in Miami. Mark has been asked to give an in depth look at the new business challenges facing agencies in today’s market.

Filament Inc.’s new business seminar is definitely not a beginner course on the ABC’s of pitching; it’s an in-depth, often critical, look at what experienced new business staff should be doing differently to help the agency win more accounts. In the session, you’ll learn how to break your agency of its bad, ineffective habits and make sure your agency takes home the prize.

Click here for more information about the conference.