Posts Tagged ‘business journal’
Sioux Falls Business Journal: “What’s in a name…or title?”
The Sioux Falls Business Journal recently featured Deep Bench and fellow Sioux Falls advertising company ADwërks in a story on marketing and advertising businesses that use creative job titles to help differentiate themselves from the typical “agency” titles. As Head Coach Hugh Weber put it, “It makes it clear from the moment they get my business card or read an e-mail that we do things differently than a standard organization.”
To read the full story at the Sioux Falls Business Journal, click here, or read it below.
What’s in a name … or title?
Labels convey unique business approaches
“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Some local professionals put a spin on Shakespeare’s theory of identity. Would a rose with a better name smell even sweeter?
With the variety of titles out there now, LeisureSuits went to the roses themselves to find out if their unique labels sweeten their performance.
Jim Mathis is principal and certified advertologist at Adwerks Inc. Actually, he’s the “world’s only certified advertologist.”
How did he attain such distinction?
“You just make up a name that sounds like fun,” he said. “So the certification process – I joke that it just happened over cocktails.”
But there is a point.
“The big thing is just that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we’re not afraid to have a little fun with our jobs,” Mathis said.
In the Adwerks office, there’s also a director of legume enumeration (bean counter), congruence coordinator (traffic and projects manager) and ambassador of media logistics (media director), among others.
At Deep Bench Strategies, Hugh Weber is president and head coach.
Rather than hiring standard positions, his advertising company relies on freelancers, Weber said.
“They’re by no means my staff, they’re free agents. So I get to be a bit of a talent scout and cheerleader, but that doesn’t fit on the business card,” he said.
It also sends a message to clients.
“It makes it clear from the moment they get my business card or read an e-mail that we do things differently than a standard organization.”
Also at Deep Bench, the offensive coordinator handles operations and project management, and the special teams coordinator handles creative freelancers.
Evaluate your business game plan for success
Hugh Weber’s guest column advising companies to “evaluate their market landscape and look internally to evaluate return on time invested” is up online at the Sioux Falls Business Journal. Give it a read by clicking here or by reading the full story below.
“Evaluate your business game plan for success”
Have you taken the time recently to evaluate the market landscape in your industry? No matter the industry, technology is lowering barriers to entry and changing the speed of competition.
Have you taken an opportunity to look internally and evaluate the return on invested time for your daily activities? A simple time-management review can have a substantial impact on a company’s bottom line.
Have you considered sitting down for a thorough review of your marketing strategy to determine a clear return on those invested dollars? I’m not talking a change of brand or a revised Web presence. I’m referring to a holistic evaluation of the way you spend your advertising budget. Whether you spend $400 or $40,000 per month, you should have a sense of what type of return you are receiving on that investment, and whether it could be spent more efficiently or effectively elsewhere.
If you’ve said “no” to any or all of the questions above, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, you can assume that your competitors may be a step ahead of you.
It would seem an absolute certainty that there are things you don’t know about your business. These blind spots may be in your marketing plan, internal communications strategy or, even worse, in the area of consumer experience. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that what you don’t know is costing you.
Perhaps it is just costing you time, but it’s even more likely that what you don’t know is costing you money.
Wasteful spending and poor strategic choices can be even more costly than simple dollars and cents. It’s even possible that what you don’t know is costing you customers and revenue. To defend against these costs, I suggest a detailed, three-step process.
First, analyze your playing field. Whether you have endless competition or a virtual monopoly, a world of activity circles around you and has a direct impact on your bottom line. This evaluation should be as comprehensive as possible and should set the tone for all of your efforts moving forward.
Next, establish a game plan. Just as you wouldn’t set out for a travel destination without a map or directions, you can’t expect to reach a successful business destination without a series of benchmarks and action goals as well as a clear picture of where you’re headed.
Finally, look for the opportunities to include a little razzle-dazzle. Too often, companies reward those that echo the company line. Instead, this is the opportunity to let your unique products and culture shine through in truly innovative ways.
Weber is president and head coach of Deep Bench
hugh@thedeepbench.com