When it comes to the economy, this year opened with a whimper, not a bang. And as you revisit your marketing budget, you wonder where trim off the excess to help keep you in the black. Right now you should focus on: 

• Taking the fat out of your marketing plan — not the muscle.
• Implementing strategies with fast, and high, return on investment.
• Applying direct marketing tactics.
• Measuring your results.
• Using online strategies.
• Communicating your immediate benefit.
• Evaluating your advertising or marketing agency.

Have I left anything out? Let me know.

To slash or not to slash, that is the question. Seriously, now more than ever, companies are cutting their marketing budget in an effort to save money. Yet the reality is that they will hurt themselves down the line. I’m in fact increasing my budget. I want my name out there front and center when this economic mess clears up.

Are you cutting your marketing budget? If so, why on earth would you do that? Talk to me. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of marketing and advertising executives out there that are fantastic at what they do. They “get” the industry, know the questions to ask, know how to say more than “Yes! Whatever you want!” to a client. These guys need to stay near the top of the agency food chain.

But what about the account folks in the trenches, shuttling back and forth between client and creative, “interpreting” client feedback, even presenting creative? With the ever-increasing speed of the project cycle, wouldn’t it make sense if the client had direct access to the source — the creative team?

Yes, I know, creatives are thought to be the scruffy, moody types that don’t know how to talk to people. (And some live up to the stereotype.) But there are a lot of creatives who understand both the creative process as well as the art of marketing and advertising. Let them interact directly with clients. I guarantee that the project cycle will be much shorter — and that makes for happy clients because they save money.

So, do you want to do what’s best for the client? Then seriously rethink your account service function.

Talk to me.

Is the day-to-day account service function really necessary in today’s hyper-paced agency environment?

What do you think?