February 2, 2014
I could not be any more excited to announce that I have launched a new company - AgencySparks!
AgencySparks provides business development and communications consulting services to marketing agencies.
I want to share the story of how the company was born:
Very soon after I left my agency of the last six years, in early January of 2014, I felt VERY fortunate to have several excellent opportunities. Most of them were with small-medium sized agencies looking for me to help them grow, like I had helped Spunlogic/Engauge.
As I weighed the different options, I talked to several friends and mentors. Several of these friends (being entrepreneurs themselves) asked me if I would consider starting my own agency. As I pondered that idea, I thought through the amount of capital and time it would take to begin from scratch with a new agency. Also I began to think about whether my passion was truly the agency business, or just helping agencies grow.
Around this time, I got a note from a friend (thanks Kelly), who is a brand marketer, asking me for advice about which agency she should select for a specific marketing challenge. I helped her by recommending some choices, but that got me thinking about the idea of helping not one agency, but multiple agencies, find opportunities and nurture them.
Frankly most agencies do a terrible job of bringing on new clients and most clients do a terrible job bringing new agencies on board. Agencies rely on referrals from past clients or friends of the agency, which is great, but not scalable. Clients put agencies through a grueling RFP process, rather than choosing agencies they know and trust to do great work.
My long time friend and colleague, Jeff Hilimire recently expounded on the subject of the broken relationship between agencies and clients at an AMA Atlanta event and blog post. It is a must read for anyone in the brand or agency business. I will paraphrase two points Jeff makes that are directly relevant to my new business:
- The way that clients bring on new agencies (and vice versa) is horribly broken.
- Agencies that claim to have every capability are at best naive, and at worst lying to themselves and others.
Jeff also makes a few other excellent points such as there are only a few key people within each agency that are truly deep thinkers, and neither clients nor agencies can keep up with the pace of consumers' usage of technology.
Since there are some problems with the agency model, as I have personally experienced it (from inside a small, single-discipline agency; inside a medium-sized, independent full-service agency; and inside a massive holding company agency), it made me remember why the scrappy, independent agency is so powerful. They are truly experts in their craft, and are laser focused on delivering the best service, technology, and approach, and in my opinion provide the best bang-for-the-buck.
Knowing that the single biggest challenge that agencies face (especially small/medium ones) is growing, I began to think about how I could have a significant impact on these smaller agencies. While helping one agency could be fun and interesting, helping several is more interesting.
Most agencies see the value in bringing in new clients (promotions, new hires, acquisition opportunities, etc.), but few have a repeatable, sustainable process. This is where I have thrived in the last six years. Not only have I built strong relationships with major brand marketers, but I have also developed processes and tools that have helped sustain those relationships. This experience has resulted in huge new business wins for Spunlogic/Engauge over my years there.
Now it is time to apply all of these years of experience, relationships, and tools to a new venture. I appreciate your interest in AgencySparks. I hope you will join me on my journey!
Best,
Joe
Posted by Joe. Posted In : Setup
January 24, 2014
As mentioned before I am taking a mental and physical break from work since leaving Spunlogic/Engauge/Moxie/Publicis at the beginning of the year. My wife and I are heading to Peru to see Lake Titicaca (hehe) and Machu Picchu by plane, train, and foot.
Here is a map of our itinerary:
Here is the trip description from G Adventures:
Spend eight days exploring the "land of the Incas" including Lima, Lake Titicaca, Cusco and two unforgettable train journeys. Take a tour of the highest lake in the world and discover the unique city of Puno before hopping on the Andean Explorer train for the scenic journey into the Andes to Cusco. Explore Cusco and the Sacred Valley and continue on by rail to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. This tour gives you the very best of Peru by train.
Though we will miss our wonderful almost four-year-olds, we could not be more excited to explore a part of the world neither of us have seen.
Soon (on this blog), I will be announcing my new venture to the world. I could not be more excited about this next chapter of my life. It will be good to get away to South America for a week before the REAL journey begins.
Best,
Joe
Posted by Joe. Posted In : Personal Life
January 11, 2014
For years we have joked that NEXT YEAR will be the Year of Mobile. This is a shock to no one, but I can now tell you from personal experience that the tipping point has already occurred, where people are using mobile devices/tablets more than desktops/laptops.
On January 2, 2014, I announced via this website that it was my last day with Spunlogic/Engauge/Moxie/Publicis, after six years with the agency. I posted the announcement on my primary social networks: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Much to my surprise, in less than a week, over 1,300 people visited this site (THANK YOU)!
I love Google Analytics because it provides me with all kinds of wonderful statistics about the incoming traffic including Traffic Referral Sources, New Visits, Unique Visitors, Visits by Browser, Visits by Operating System, Device Category, Duration of Average Visit, Number of Pages Viewed, Which Pages Are Viewed, etc. While examining the stats from the first week of the year, I noticed two things that surprised me:
- There is more traffic coming to my site via mobile device/tablet (59%) than desktop/laptop (41%).
- There is more traffic coming to my site from m.facebook.com (62%) than facebook.com (37%). This shift in Facebook's usage is significant for their business, but also for the larger digital ecosystem.
My sample size is not tremendous, but the numbers are pretty consistent with larger studies showing that mobile has been growing and growing.
Here is a snapshot of the Google Analytics focused on Device Category:
Here is a snapshot focused on Referral Source:
Most organizations are ill prepared for the mobile revolution that has taken place. Few organizations have mobile optimized websites, so the experience for the user is terrible. Also many organizations without mobile websites have not thought through the mode of the person accessing their site, so they present the same content typically presented on their desktop site. Mobile users typically have very different needs than those sitting in their office or home on a laptop.
There is much debate about mobile websites vs. apps. The reality is that most organizations should have both. The mobile web is great for discovery (by new users, potential customers, etc.), while apps are excellent for utility for repeat or frequent visitors.
The mobile shift has already happened. Are you on board?
Best,
Joe
Posted by Joe. Posted In : Mobile
January 8, 2014
There are so many moments and relationships that I have to be thankful for in 2013. Until now, I did not realize what a great job Facebook did of capturing many of those moments for me:
Facebook recently presented the option to post a Year in Review (you can make your own here). It is a very cool feature that takes the content you have shared throughout the year that has received the most interaction, and then compiles it into one individualized timeline. I was thrilled to be able to reminisce about some of the larger moments of my life in 2013. You can find my individualized Year in Review here: https://www.facebook.com/yearinreview/JoeKoufmanI would love to see yours!Best,Joe
Posted by Joe. Posted In : Personal Life
January 6, 2014
Today was the first time since college that I woke up on a Monday without a job. For some, that might be a terrifying experience, but I have to say that I am actually a bit relieved.
After leaving the comforts of my big agency job last week, I think the best path for me is to take some time (maybe a few weeks) to decompress and think about what I would like to do next. I am fortunate to be in the position that I can support our family without immediately taking my next job.
For many of us, choosing a career is much like choosing a spouse. I can say that, since I spent six years with Spunlogic/Engauge/Moxie and eight years with KnowledgeStorm/TechTarget. My last two jobs lasted longer than most marriages these days.
I am in the enviable position to have already been presented with some very attractive opportunities. For now, I am going to heed the advice of a friend and take some time... time to think about what I truly want professionally and where I want to go with my career. It is rare that we get the chance to take a break - even a short one - to evaluate our path ahead. Now is the time for me to spend a few weeks thinking and planning.
I appreciate your joining me on the journey and would love your thoughts.
Best,
Joe
Posted by Joseph M. Posted In : Agency Life
January 2, 2014
Saying goodbye is never easy. It has been a brilliant six year run at Engauge - now known as Moxie and part of the Publicis Groupe. I have been very fortunate to have formed some relationships that will last throughout my life.
I have been very proud to have been given the opportunity to represent the hard work of many exceedingly talented people to some of the top brands in the world including: Cisco Systems, Newell Rubbermaid, AMC Theatres, Chick-fil-A, AT&T, SweetWater Brewing Company, Cox Enterprises, Turner Broadcasting, The Hershey Company, Hanesbrands, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), General Electric, Food Lion, Supercuts, Scientific Games, National Cash Register (NCR), Van Gogh Vodka, and Beazer Homes.
Thank you to you for everything that you have done to support me on this journey!
During times of transition, I am often reminded of my favorite Teddy Roosevelt quote:
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Thank you for allowing me to dare mighty things. On to the next adventure...
Best,
Joe
Posted by Joe. Posted In : Agency Life
December 17, 2013
Improving my own empathy is something that I have been working on for some years. It does not come naturally to me, like for others that I care about and respect. I recently came across this very brief video (by RSA Short and narrated by Dr. Brené Brown) that does an excellent job of explaining empathy and gives some guidelines for people like me trying to improve out empathetic responses and connections with people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
From the video I gleaned these 4 Qualities of Empathy:
1. Perspective Taking
2. Staying Out of Judgement
3. Recognizing Emotion in Other People
4. Communicating That
Empathetic responses rarely being with “At least…”
The best response when someone tells you something emotional, is to say “I am so glad you told me”.
A response cannot make something better. What makes something better is a CONNECTION.
What are other ways we can improve our empathy skills?
Posted by Joe. Posted In : Marketing
December 4, 2013
I am often asked about the differences between business-to-business marketing and business-to-consumer marketing. While BtoB has its nuances: nurturing leads along a pipeline, buying teams vs. individuals, slower sale cycle, and more expensive products there are many more similarities than differences.
At the end of the day, you are trying to move a person to take action... The context of the engagement is different. Getting a consumer to buy a candy bar (often an impulse purchase) is different than trying to influence a buying team (highly considered purchase). In both cases, building a relationship over time can make a difference, but BtoC is often more focused on the product or transaction and BtoB is often focused on the relationship.
Traditionally BtoB marketers were focused on "content marketing", but the reality is a paradigm shift has taken place where both BtoB and BtoC marketers must now act as content creators or publishers. The biggest compliment a buyer can pay your brand is that they share your content. What kind of content gets shared? Content that is funny, educational, inspirational, or just plain creative is most likely to get passed on by buyers.
Also, I am a strong believer in leveraging marketing technologies combined with smart decision making to build relationships with customers. Big data has become a hot buzz phrase, but the reality is that we have always had data, but now we have better tools to analyze and make that data actionable.
What are your thoughts on the differences between BtoB and BtoC marketing? Have marketing technologies changed the way you reach and influence buyers?
Posted by Joe. Posted In : BtoB vs BtoC
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