| What has been your role in the new business efforts of the agency? | |
|---|---|
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | I'm responsible for the growth of business through existing accounts, and to help with new business teams |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Lead Generation, Pitches, Ideation/Creative concepts, building/running of all outward facing marketing communications (website, newsletter, social media properties), press, presentations, education |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | I oversee the management of all of our existing accounts. I am charged with growing these accounts YoY and converting small projects into AOR partnerships. |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | Concepting, pitching, deck creative preparation |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Participate as team member, present and close. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Just hired at Fanscape about 1 month ago, but my goals for new business are to growth on existing accounts (hotels.com and Mars Global) and identification of new opportunities through my personal and professional network. |
| Terry Dry, President | Very active in opening new doors, pursuing new leads, developing new partnerships with other agency partners. Also, been very active at leading the growth of business with current clients |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | First to inherit projects after they are sold through |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | Leading new business for both project and retainer clients, mostly on reactive basis |
| Greg Boles, COO | Vertical focus Proactive focus: ID top brand in verticals (Nifty 50) - first step of proactive Qualification / vetting questions coaching Proposal checklist Identify top 5 ways we win the proposal RFP response - assist with questions team can't do Differentiation - "Why Fanscape" in the proposal response for larger proposals Review forecast of expected results in proposal - is it compelling Overall proposal review Custom scoping - esp for new/emerging services Pricing Packages - how we present options to client (Good, Better, Best) etc. Pricing template - Min GM and Profit thresholds Pricing - larger/complex deals Procurement negotiation Legal negotiation - MSA, SOW Forecasting - new biz pipeline impacting company's P&L |
| What is your background, in terms of agencies, accounts, and client-side experience? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | I have over 12 years on both agency side and client side experience. From project based work to launching titles (entertainment) to brands (Scion car line.) |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Prior to founding Fanscape 14 years ago, I was in the music industry. I was in charge of marketing musicians. I had no agency experience. I was client side in that I worked for a record company that hired agencies. |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | I come from a marketing background. I spent a decade in the music business working as an Account Manager on new releases. Fanscape is the first and only agency with which I have worked. I have been here for about 8 years. |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | I've worked in marketing at major studios, a small digital startup and with agencies in different capacities |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | I have over 12 years experience working on both agency and client side working accounts from entertainment, automotive, cpg and gaming. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Agency (Advertising): Ogilvy & Mather (Cisco, UCLA Anderson) Springbox (PayPal, Disney, AEG Live, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Miramax, Honda/RPA, Toyota/Saatchi) Client Side: Dell Inc:Marketing Manager- Consumer Online Advertising Dell Inc: Marketing Manager- Consumer and Small Business Affiliate Program Education: MBA, McCombs School of Business (UT Austin) |
| Terry Dry, President | My only experience is Fanscape. I had to learn by doing when i quit my job in the music business in 2000 to do Fanscape. So, i've been learning along the way as we work with agencies, accounts, and clients over the past 13 years. |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | The Barbarian Group - Samsung Global account The Barbarian Group - New biz team Clear Channel Entertainment - Iheartradio development, programming and production team |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | Mostly I've been in biz dev both at a traditional agency and now here. I also worked in accounts at a digital start-up. This also involved a lot of project management and hands on marketing. |
| Greg Boles, COO | grew retail marketing / experiential agency from $4M to $40M over 6 years, Promo 100 ranked agency, Inc 500 company. Sold to billion dollar agency in M&A. Was VP Ops, CFO and then COO managing all ops for Fortune 500 AOR & project accounts in Consumer Electronics. 3 years at Fanscape, growing company 3x to record rev and profit, from $2.8M to $12M projected revenue for 2013 with vastly improved Profit to 24%+ from 15% when I started. |
| As if you were writing to a prospective client, describe the agency in no more than 3 sentences: | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | A purely social media agency that's comprised of people who are completely passionate about creating innovative campaigns that are truly social by design. Apart from the rest, we are actually able to put measurement to the creative work that we do, so we can show the results of our efforts. |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | We are the longest running social media marketing agency. We help companies connect with their customers through digital, social, and mobile channels. We specialize in strategy, creative social thinking, comprehensive brand social strategy, and measurement. |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | Fanscape is a pure play social media marketing company. We have 14 years of social experience and have worked on over 2,000 social marketing campaigns. We are experts at social as it is all we do. |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | Fanscape is a social media marketing agency. We only do social media and we've done it longer than anyone else. We utilize smart ideas and well thought out executions to give brands personality and establish two-way dialogue with their consumers. |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Fanscape is dedicated to fostering connections between brands and their target consumers through social media. We embrace the strength of positive word of mouth and use it to ignite powerful bonds between our clients and their customers |
| Terry Dry, President | We are pioneers in the Social Media Marketing space and have an advantage as far as our experience and focused expertise in our core verticals. We do everything from the initial strategy, to the development of creative content, to Social outreach, to community management, and wrap it up with insights, analytics, and measurement. We are consumer engagement specialists that bring value to your brand by fostering positive word of mouth as well as going beyond Social Marketing as we look holistically at how Social impacts every aspect of your business. |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | Fanscape is a group of hard working, enthusiastic social experts who also have a breadth of digital exerpeience. More then just marketers, they are business partners and customer service aficionados. Our commitment to staying ahead of the digital and social curve is inspiring to brands who are struggling to define themselves in the space. |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | We have over 14 years of experience in social media marketing, with 2000+ campaigns under our belt. What does all this experience mean for you? It means: big data; real, forecasted results; and time-tested relationships with the best influencers in nearly every demographic. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Fanscape manages brands through social media. We are a dedicated social media shop which means we're all subject matter experts. |
| Greg Boles, COO | Fanscape is one of the fastest growing mid-size digital agencies in the country, that serves Fortune 500 brands in the CPG, Travel, Auto, Gaming, Entertainment and Retail verticals. We help our clients become #1 or #2 in their industry in terms of social/digital leadership with measurable results and business lift.... often in less than 1 year. Fanscape, as part of the The Marketing Arm, provides the strategic framework to harness the power of a cohesive social/digital/mobile consumer global and US brand strategy and pairs it with the the proven ability to execute nearly all facets of the marketing mix from earned, owned and paid social media to digital content production/apps and sponsorship activation. |
| Stuart Elliott, who covers agencies for the New York Times, decides he is going to write an article about your agency. After spending a day at your offices, and then going back to write the piece.... what would the headline be? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | I'm no copywriter, so here's my effort: A fun place to be! Truly creative people who love what they do, and create innovative work. |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Social Media is Much More than Facebook! |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | Fanscape is a collaborative agency where the different practices and services work closely together to provide a tight-knit and comprehensive social media offering to clients. |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Fanscape: Helping businesses lift their business through social by design practices |
| Terry Dry, President | Something New is Sneaking up on Traditional Advertising Agencies |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | Social Takes New Shapes |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | Booming shop crusading for clients to think social business, not social media. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | The unknown world of social media, and the fun kids you didn't know live there. |
| Greg Boles, COO | Where social/digital/mobile strategy and execution sing together for measurable business lift. |
| Now bring the agency to life. You have certainly been through this exercise, however applying it to your agency agency can be quite revealing in understanding more about your "DNA". If the agency were a car, what kind would it be? What color? Why? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | A luxury car, like a BMW, because we are a best in class service. Unlike all the cars in the parking lot that are mostly grey, black or white, I would say we are a fun color, because what we do is creative and fun! |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | We would be a Tesla, Orange. We are a new way of thinking. We benefit everyone, the business and the customer (Tesla benefits the customer and the environment). We are not the easiest to understand, a bit expensive, but boy do we make your life and your business better. We're Orange because we're a mix between the assertion and acceptance of Red with the trepidation and caution of Yellow. |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | Tesla Roadster - Premium, new, completely different category. Not traditional. Not everyone understands it. Will change annually and likely drastically depending on new technology. Not right for everyone but very right for some. |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | We'd be a teal prius. We are current but without being too niche. We are omnipresent (for our clients). |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | The car would be expensive as we are a best in clas agency. Perhaps a black BMW. Sexy but not overstated. |
| Terry Dry, President | Silver Lexus - It's not a red flashy Ferrari, but it's also not a beat up old Honda. We are a luxury brand that costs a higher amount of money, but brings significant and reliable value while still being, sexy, smart, friendly, innovative, inconspicuous, and somewhat humble. |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | Beige Prius- innovative, ahead of its time, mass appeal |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | Volkswagon Jetta or Toyota Prius -- dark red. I'm thinking a Prius or VW Jetta because I think we have a certain cool factor being a social agency, but we're not as coveted as some agencies in the digital space who are PR darlings. We're also not cheap but we are attainable much like reliable car brands VW and Toyota. We have a good reputation for being reliable and effective, but not for having innovative or sexy creative. I say those specific models & that color because we have a young vibe. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | It wouldn't be a car, it would be a hover board for a family of 4. It thinks way outside the box, so it's not even invented yet. It's new, innovate, and requires a lot of brain power to invent. It's so far in the future that mom can't even wrap her heard around how it works. But it's smart, sensible, and completely logical. It makes your life SO much easier. It plays well with others on the road, is energy efficient, and makes people do a double take. Everyone wants one. |
| Greg Boles, COO | Acura - luxury (high end) amenities (services) at an attractive price, with all the service and attention you deserve, delivering unbeatable value. |
| What agencies do you most admire? Why? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | I like the creative agencies like Crispin, because they remain creative at the core. |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | R/GA - Because they change people's businesses. Designing Nike Fuel Band is brilliant and they are working on changing the way people's clothes physically and digitally connect with their bodies and lifestyles. They have their clients trust at the highest level. Wieden & Kennedy - Most creative advertising campaigns for Nike and Old Spice CP+B - I am more in love with the lore than the reality. When Alex Bogusky was there he helped re-shape advertising. They may not do it as much with him gone, but I aspire to be where they were. |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | AKQA - Their digital work is constantly amazing. They are extremely well (and smartly) staffed. BBDO - They let creatives lead |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | I like the Designory for their creative and compelling work. I appreciate Crispin Porter + Bogusky for their innovative thinking. |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Crispin because they are super creative and always let that lead. |
| Terry Dry, President | Mr. Youth - done a good job of branding themselves and making a name for themselves New Media Strategies -did a good job of growing fast in our space Chiat Day LA - purely because of their super cool offices |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | AKQA - they focus on business and product innovation and don't consider themselves an 'agency' anymore. |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | AKQA -- they innovate like a small digital shop, but they are huge and just sold to WPP. They think about digital holistically from technology to influencer -- they innovate on all fronts. 72andSunny -- Great creative thats insights based Droga5 -- its an indie agency thats snagging major work from some of the big boys, they are having tremendous financial growth in the US but maintaining their roots of doing something different. Their Jay-Z decode program is one of my favorite campaigns of all time. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Droga5- doing innovative things, but remain rooted in strategy RED Interactive- strong culture of interactive innovation |
| Greg Boles, COO | The following are all growth areas for us which is why I admire them: 1) Leading ad agencies becoming very digital and have great marketing minds (big ideas that extend beyond social/digital) and tell a great story: 72 & Sunny, Weiden & Kennedy, Deustch LA 2) PR Leaders: Fleishman Hillard, Porter Novelli, Ketchum that have become direct competitors in social doing a good job in most cases and also have the ability to create campaigns that are relevant, interesting, engagement, newsworthy and true to the brand spirit. 3) Creative Technologists/Digital Agencies - Razorfish takes big digital ideas and implements them online and offline, innovating along the way 4) Data Driven digital agencies: AKQA - that use modeling and data to drive continuous digital execution improvement 5) Management Consulting Companies: McKinsey, LEK, Accenture....that are doing more great mapping of corp strategy to social/digital strategy to drive enterprise value. 6) Content Mktg Agencies: Imagination, Mekanism, KBSK&P, Mullen, Profero,Magnetic Content Studios 7) Convergence agencies: Empower Media Marketing, 8)Execution focused agencies of bigger agencies: Lumberyard (Venables), Redworks (Olgivy) that also seek to build their own IP 9) Stunt agencies: STUN, that conceive big ideas |
| List the top few agencies that you do/will compete against most often. | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | Edelman, FH, Publicis, M80, etc |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Fleishman-Hillard New Media Strategies Edelman 360i |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | Edelman Weber Shandwick |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | Internal social media teams or a traditional agency trying to bolt on a social department are often the biggest competitors |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | We compete against a lot of PR agencies like FH, Edelemen, and weber shandwick |
| Terry Dry, President | New Media Strategies 360i Vayner Media Weber Shandwick - PR Agency |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | Don't know |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | Edelman/Weber Shandwick/PR companies in general 360i Lead creative agencies who want to bring social in house (Y&R, etc) Mr Youth (MRY) |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Larger ad agencies with social media arms Internal client teams |
| Greg Boles, COO | Ad/Creative Agencies - with growing digital / social expertise to keep their AOR's in house vs. separate social AOR Media Buying agencies - that control the dollars and are getting more digital/social Digital Agencies - getting better at social/digital strategy and technical expertise of social. |
| In the eyes of clients, what do you provide of value, that none of your competitors do? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | measurement, accountability, and truly great work. -we're also a bunch of fun to work with! |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Consistent reliability Depth of experience Strategy geared towards growing their business |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | Extremely focused social strategy that drives business objectives |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | We offer tremendous R&A services and the ability to extend a purely social offering into other practices (via TMA) without leaving the walls of our bigger family agency. |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Not only do we think creatively and lead with the entire strategy being social by design, but we spend a lot of time on ROI and providing that return that so many agencies haven't figured out. |
| Terry Dry, President | It's mostly on the client services front to start with...we are reliable, trustworthy, likeable, smart, focused. Then next they'd say we are ahead of the curve and have experience and know how in areas that our competitors haven't done yet. Meaning, we have proof of concept |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | Don't know |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | I think it's not our "offering" that sets us a part, but our reputation with other clients of being smart and reliable. I think we offer a lot of things that are better than other agencies including our expertise, reporting standards and great account teams but I don't think thats something that stands out to differentiate us. Every agency says that they have these things -- we just get in there and prove it where others fail. |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Dedicated social media services |
| Greg Boles, COO | Fanscape Vault - proprietary database of 2K campaign results by vertical, tactic...= accurate, real world forecasts = less risk Forecasts upfront before you invest - no proposal sent out without an forecasted range of results ROI Models - We use clients' own margin, lifetime customer value etc. and share assumptiosn with them. We put a value on everything we do. Though leaders and publish white papers on it. Optimization models -balance quantity and quality for earned and owned to drive greater reach and engagement, making your digital investment work harder. We track formally monthly and optimize investment quarterly. Recognized as a leader by Facebook in this area Director and VP level talent on your AOR, you get A team, not B/C team Global strategy - not just US. We support Mars and Mobil 1 as global social AOR. Hispanic & English - social/digital execution with bilingual team in house Marketing Mix Execution from all our "Arms" of the The Marketing Arm - social, digital, sponsorship activation, digital PR, content production, tech production (apps), paid, experiential, celebrity talent.....with each business having 10+ years of experience. Competitors may match our creative or strategy but they can't execute this all under one roof with a single point of contact and efficiency/cost savings of an integrated 360' marketing team inhouse. |
| In the eyes of clients, what do your competitors provide of value, that you do not? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | I think sometimes they are easier to work with, because they are already doing other things for the client (like PR.) |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Search Engine Marketing / Search Engine Optimization Digital Production Digital Advertising |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | Social as a low-cost add-on to larger services |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | In-house development maybe? |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Somestimes they cost less (especially with entertainment), they have another layer of strategy that we are just starting to get into. |
| Terry Dry, President | Bigger picture strategies that integrate all forms of media. Sexier creatives Broader digital reach/experience |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | Don't know |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | Creative thinking Innovative thinking |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | all-in-one services |
| Greg Boles, COO | Creative Big ideas / Stunts Traditional PR: we do digital PR mostly blogger though vs. full PR service Digital Media Buying - SEO, SEM, Display ads, larger volume for Social paid Adv (FB, Twitter etc.) Media Planning - ability to recommend marketing mix investment traditional AND digital Content Production - a new area for us.Branded Entertainment and Consumer Engagment and Sponsorship Activation are merging CRM - email marketing...still cost effective that we don't do Shopper Marketing/Loyalty Program Mgmt- tied closely to instore and sales lift. We need tighter programs that map to this. Measurement / Analytics firms - Radian6 can do measurement and increasing trying to do strategy/consulting. Big data firms go deeper with client data than we do to segment customers, analyze profitability by customer type that can inform digital content/strategy |
| Are there any negative perceptions that prospects might have about the agency that could hold you back in new business? | |
| Angela Megrey, Account Director | well, any agency is only as good as it's worst campaign. So I would say any negative experience could potentially hold us back. |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Too big Not big enough (location-based, not based close enough to where they are) Too expensive |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | The only negative perception that I have ever heard about us what that we are too expensive |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | Sometimes having done something the longest doesn't make you the leader, it makes you old. So we have to balance that outward facing positioning to establish it as expertise. I also think we need a tighter knit story both for Fanscape and TMA so it is crystal clear. |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | Everyone is over extended, and therefore can't properly provide the thought process things take to run correctly. or have a sense of urgency to get things done because there's too many other things to focus on, |
| Terry Dry, President | Sometimes it is seen as a negative that we are only 40 people. They would like us to be bigger and think we are too small Sometimes it has been a negative that we are solely focused in Social and that can be perceived as a boutique agency only. Usually this works for us, but sometimes it has worked against us. |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | That we don't have holistic digital chops. Our lack of digital experience may make larger brands look for a more integrated agency. |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | We don't really have a sexy name for ourselves in the industry. Our work is never recognized on Mashable, Agency Spy or any of the major trades but it's just as good as many of the ones being featured. We don't do a good job of selling ourselves. This adds to the thinking we aren't "creative". |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Not sure (still too new to say) |
| Greg Boles, COO | Social only - too specialized (narrow strategy and execution) Digital production - weak relative to leaders like Digitas, Razorfish No digital media buying - we do social paid only and not at scale. Building it in house - esp. social execution. How to make the case for AOR if building internally, likely cheaper |
| What are the top 3 road blocks that most hold you back with new business? (check only 3) | |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | |
| Terry Dry, President | |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | |
| Greg Boles, COO | |
| Specifically regarding Competitive Pitches/RFPs, when you lose, what are typically the top 3 reasons? Consider both the client's expectations and how you compare to your competitive set. (check only 3) | |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | |
| Terry Dry, President | |
| Rebecca Rosoff - Account Director | |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | |
| Greg Boles, COO | |
| When you win a Competitive Pitch/RFP, what do think are typically the top 3 reasons? (check only 3) | |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | |
| Melissa Taylor, SVP Account Management | |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | |
| Terry Dry, President | |
| Kate Rafferty, Sr Manager Business Development | |
| Greg Boles, COO | |
| Bottom line, what do you think the agency most has to do to improve at new business? | |
| Larry Weintraub, CEO | Tell a better story. We have the best experience and we're the best for the job, but it is not clear because what we are selling is complicated. We need to be more concise, confident, and fluid. |
| Brandon Stuart - Creative Director | Build out our Biz Dev team so we are not stretched so thin. |
| Angela Megrey Account Director | I think we need a solid plan for going after new business, strategy, and general overview of how the presentation should go. I've taken Mirren training before, and feel like this is exactly what our collective team needs to get us in the right direction |
| Terry Dry, President | We are always running around and aren't focused enough. We need to create the capacity and resources to have room for Bus. Dev. and then change the agency culture so that everyone feels part of and responsible for developing new business |
| Sarah Tabbush, Account Director | Still too new to say on this one |
| Greg Boles, COO | formalize process for upsell of existing clients (involving a team selling approach of: AD,Strategist, Creative & Analytics teams to have creative, strategically sound programs with measureable results with clearer benefits, risks, costs and results presented in a succinct, engaging story. |