Positioning

Focused business strategy with well-defined services delivered to a well-defined target client.

All things to all clients.

Product

Digital is a core competency, not a department.

Not just big ideas, but big multi-channels ideas.

Branded content, not just advertising.

Understanding of one-to-one marketing.

Analytics ability.

View consumers as media, not just an audience.

Narrowcasters instead of broadcasters.

Involved with brand experience, not just brand perception.

Institutionalized collaboration.

Adoption of non-paid techniques.

Undifferentiated product offering.

Reliance on production and distribution of advertising.

Failure to reinvent media.

Lack of proprietary knowledge and methods.

People

Willingness to put the right people on the bus.

Willingness and ability to do the management job – regular feedback, performance reviews.

Belief in professional development with minimum training requirements.

Focus on strengths, neutralize weaknesses.

Sink or swim approach to people management.

Undervalue/cut professional development.

Managers doing the same job as employees.

Unwillingness to deal with “bad apples.”

Promotion

Disciplined, self-confident client selection.

Pay constant attention to online reputation management of the agency brand.

Talk benefits instead of features when promoting agency brand.

Still using outmoded business development techniques (cold calling).

No one in charge of marketing the agency brand.

Undefined target prospect.

Undisciplined client selection.

Process

Aggressive outsourcing of commoditized services.

Discuss “Scope of Value” before Scope of Work.

Pricing for value instead of hours.

Emphasis on effectiveness over efficiency.

Disciplined workflow management.

Serious about project management.

Creative (not formulaic) approach to compensation.

Unwillingness to separate strategy and execution when pricing.

Overcharging for commoditized services, undercharging for strategy/concept.

Management sets bad example following process.

Wasted energy around collection and analysis of agency time.

Mistaking cost for value.

Place

Organized digital asset management.

Pay attention to agency brand touch points.

Optimized use of technology for project management, client communication (beyond email).

Balance of privacy and collaboration in office design.

Above average number of workspaces for collaboration.

Portable technology solutions (laptops vs. desktops, mobile devices).

Lingering technophobia.

No policies around use of email, cell phones (multitaskers interrupt effective meetings and workflow).

Unkempt, unsupplied offices.

Too much class distinction in office design.

Myopic view of value of up-to-date software and hardware.