About Us

Creating More Value

Our approach is based on the premise that in order to capture more value, agencies must first create more value. Ignition works with marketing communications firms to create a more clearly defined focus and differentiating business strategy that will give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace, a higher-profile reputation, and an improved ability to attract and win the clients they really want. Tim Williams’ book “Take a Stand for Your Brand” (ranked in the top 10 books on brand building on Amazon) is considered a standard in agency brand development.

Capturing More Value

Ignition is at the forefront of helping agencies develop a value-based approach to pricing and compensation. We have worked closely with organizations such as the AAAA and ANA to take value-based compensation beyond theory to reality, with leading-edge models that agencies can put to use today. Our approach is highlighted in a recent Advertising Age article co-authored by Ignition associates Tim Williams and Ron Baker.

Tim Williams - President

Tim Williams is founder of Ignition. As a recognized thought leader in the advertising and marketing business, he is a frequent speaker and presenter for organizations such as the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers, American Advertising Federation, and agency and business networks throughout North America and Europe.

He is the author of the book, “Take a Stand for Your Brand” currently ranked by Amazon as one of the top ten books on brand building.  His management series booklet “Defining the Agency Brand,” published by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, is considered to be standard for agency brand development. Tim is also a Senior Fellow of the VeraSage Institute, a think tank devoted to transforming the way professional service firms price and value their services.  As an adviser in this area, he has worked with major agencies, agency holding companies, Fortune 500 companies, and national and international associations.

Tim is a regular contributor to leading trade and business publications, including Advertising Age, Adweek, Admap, and Communications Arts.  He also authors “Creating Value,” a quarterly publication dedicated to changing the paradigm of how agencies provide value to their clients.

Before forming Ignition, Tim was president of nationally-ranked R&R Partners (creators of the “What happens here, stays here” campaign for Las Vegas) and was also co-founder of his own firm, Williams & Rockwood, now known as Richter 7.  The agencies under Tim’s leadership have earned recognition in top national and international competitions including The One Show, the Communications Arts Advertising and Design Annuals, the Clio Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the National Addy’s.

He spent his early career in New York and Houston working at multi-national agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and Marsteller, and has led efforts for a variety of well-known brands such as Compaq, CBS, American Express, IBM, National Public Radio, Hummer, and Novell.

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phone: 801-582-7297

Norm MacMaster - Assessments

Norm MacMaster is a career agency professional who spent most of his advertising career with the J Walter Thompson Company. He began in account management and has had general management responsibilities in Toronto, New York and Japan, regional responsibilities in Asia and global responsibilities for two of JWT’s top five clients. Norm was a member of the agency’s board of directors and also served on the Worldwide Executive Committee.

He began his career in Canada as an account manager first with MacLaren Advertising and then with the J Walter Thompson Company. He moved to the U. S. to work in the New York office of Ogilvy & Mather on the General Foods business.

Norm returned to Toronto in 1979 when he was appointed president of Foote, Cone and Belding, Canada. At the time, the agency handled such accounts as British Airways, S.C. Johnson, Kraft Foods, The Bermuda Department of Tourism and Sears Canada. Norm then returned to the U.S. where he was appointed Deputy General Manager of the New York office. Subsequently he was made an executive vice president and worked in tandem with FCB’s chairman John O’Toole to establish a beachhead for the agency in Japan.

Norm later re-joined JWT as president and chief executive of the J Walter Thompson Japan Group. Major clients included Unilever, DeBeers Diamonds, Kellogg’s, and Exxon Japan, which the agency won during Norm’s tenure. After his five-year stint in Japan, Norm became an agency board member and took on regional responsibilities for the agency’s offices in Korea, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in addition to Japan. He was also a member of JWT’s twelve-person Worldwide Executive Group.

Today Norm resides in Rye, New York, where he works as an associate of Ignition Consulting Group focused in the area of agency-client assessments.

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phone: 914-708-7821

Ron Baker - Value Pricing

Ron Baker is one of the world’s thought leaders in the area of pricing professional services. He is the founder of VeraSage Institute, a think tank dedicated to teaching value-based pricing to professionals around the world.

As a frequent speaker at events and conferences, and a consultant to professional service firms on implementing value-based pricing, his work takes him around the world. He has authored a number of courses for professionals, including: How to Build a Successful Practice with Total Quality Service; The Shift From Hourly Billing to Value Pricing; Value Pricing Graduate Seminar; You Are What You Charge For: Success in Today’s Emerging Experience Economy (with Daniel Morris); Alternatives to the Federal Income Tax; Trashing the Timesheet: A Declaration of Independence; Everyday Economics; The Firm of the Future; Everyday Ethics: Doing Well by Doing Good (with Daniel Morris); The New Business Equation for Industry Executives; Specialists Make More Money (with Michelle Golden); and When Debits Don’t Equal Credits and Other Future Trends in the Accounting Profession (with Daniel Morris).

He is the author of the best-selling marketing book ever written specifically for the professions, Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing. The book has been ranked #1 on amazon.com in Australia and New Zealand. Also, Burying the Billable Hour, Trashing the Timesheet, and You Are Your Customer List, published by The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the United Kingdom. His book, The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional Services, co-authored with Paul Dunn, is the 2003 Book of the Year on SmartPros.com. His book, Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value, was published in 2006. His latest book, Measure What Matters to Customers: Using Key Predictive Indicators, was published in October, 2006.

Ron has toured the world, spreading his Value Pricing message to over 70,000 professionals. He has been appointed to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant’s Group of One Hundred, a think tank of leaders to address the future of the profession, named on Accounting Today’s 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession, and received the 2003 Award for Instructor Excellence from the California CPA Education Foundation.

He is a member of the Professional Pricing Society and presently resides in Petaluma, California.

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Ignition’s services and intellectual capital can be accessed in a number of ways:

• Consulting engagements tailored to meet the needs of agencies or other marketing organizations.
• Seminars and workshops held throughout the year.
• Online workshops that can be delivered on a custom basis.
• Online content including Ignition’s quarterly digital magazine and knowledge base.