The Perfect Fit

ProWolfe Partners — It’s been a great ride! Proud To Have Been a Part of It!

I just wrote this email to Doug and Marta and for whatever reason, decided to share it here.  Doug, Marta and their companies have been a part of my professional career dating back to the early '80's!

The Announcement:

"Since the founding of ProWolfe Partners (which began as Hawthorne/Wolfe in 1982), we’ve been fortunate to attract great clients with challenging work, a talented team of designers, and long-term alliance partners. Together we’ve created corporate communications with meaningful results — and many memorable moments along the way.

Now, the people of ProWolfe Partners are setting off in new directions.

Beginning July 1, Bob Prow and Jo Kincaid will independently serve their longstanding clients. They’ll work hard to exceed expectations, just as they have as principals at ProWolfe. Many of the same team members and alliance partners that they’ve collaborated with on past projects will support them in their new ventures.

Bob has formed ProwAlliance to help his clients communicate with their most important stakeholders by focusing on branding, financial and Corporate Social Responsibility reporting."

My Email to Doug and Marta:

Wow . . .

As I write this, so many images flood into my head. . .

I remember the first time I met you, after walking up the stairs to your small but perfect office somewhere on the top floors of the Shell Building (at the time, seemed like the tallest building in St. Louis).  I remember shooting sunrises and sunsets all over the place with you.  I remember climbing to the very top of a power plant in Illinois during the flood of ’92.  I remember how proud I was to be invited to the event celebrating your becoming an AIGA Fellow.  All happy and memorable images.

You and your companies have been part of the fabric of the legend and legacy of St. Louis design and communications since the early 80s.  You hired designers and helped most become the best that they could be . . . you launched many careers, many of whom will (or have) go on to make their mark in their own way.

I’m happy and proud to have been a part of it.  You pushed me and made my photographs better.  You helped me understand and appreciate the passion and dedication necessary to really excel and have impact . . . and you did.

I’m pleased to have been a part of the ride!

Thanks Doug and Marta!

You can see/read the entire announcement here.

St. Louis Branding Firm: New Business Development Lead Search

I'm pleased to be starting a new search for a company that is quickly making a distinctive mark on branding and markeing for some of the Region's leading brands. Our Client, UPBrand Collaborative has grown to over ten employees in two years.  They are looking to accelerate that growth and work with national brands you've heard of (and used) and regional brands that have strong reputations and are leaders of their categories.

General Description:

Our St. Louis client is looking for a balanced combination of marketing expertise and sales finesse. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of the advertising, marketing, branding industry and be able to leverage our Client’s unique expertise and experiences in order to create new business opportunities for the Agency. If you have a refined, engaging personality that makes you capable of genuine communication with the assembly line worker or the Board member, then you’re a fit!  This is a rare chance to work with a talented team of Sr. branding professionals.  Our client is a young stable company that has hit the tipping point and needs you to push them over the edge to the next level. Their roster of clients is emerging to include national brands, local influencers and B2B brands that are known leaders of their category. This team is hungry for more.

Primary Responsibilities:

• This role is about generating leads and making introductions. You will develop new client relationships by identifying, assessing and pursuing brand prospects that are nationally known consumer brands or B2B category leaders.
• Developing a marketing plan for the Agency and championing its execution with a smart, motivated agency behind you. But make no mistake, you’re leading the charge.
• Communicating the value proposition of our Client in a way that puts them ahead of any competition.

"How Do I Get Experience If Nobody Will Hire Me Without Experience"

The classic "Catch-22" of our business!

I had a graphic designer who lives in LA and has four years' experience and an MFA apply to me for a Sr. Visual Designer position for a client in St. Louis.  While I thought she has exceptional skill as a designer, I didn't think (she did not give me enough information to believe) she was the right fit for our client.  I of course responded to her and explained my thinking, along with suggesting next steps.

I received this email response from her:

"Hi Bob, 

Thank you for your email. 

You tell me I have the skills to do the job, but not the experience.

Tell me this, how do I gain this experience when companies don't give canditates like me the chance? 

I need the right people to invest in me and give me the chance to move forward with my career."

I've had this reaction a number of times in the past.  As I was writing her an email of response, I realized that sharing the entire event with you might add some value.  I certainly hope so.  While the question how do I get experience if nobody will give me an opportunity to gain that experience, has been around forever, it simply must be ignored and overcome! 

New St. Louis Agency Search: Associate Creative Director-Copywriter #13022

I'm happy to say that the marketing for hiring creative candidates continues to warm up. 

 General Description:
Our client is looking for a writer as a result of growth.  This new position is an opportunity to take the next step in the advancement of your career while developing headlines and body copy (both long and short) for print , point of sale, the web and, “alternative” marketing channels.  Work with and learn from colleagues motivated to deliver the best and most effective advertising and marketing communications to their clients’ customers.  Here’s your opportunity to become part of an exciting “big time” agency environment and contribute to the success of clients you know about and have enjoyed using.

Primary Responsibilities:
•    Utilize strong conceptual skills while maintaining brand and strategy integrity to create copy that consistently succeeds for the client.
•    Manage applicable components of large projects, insuring timely delivery within budget parameters.
•    Work with other creatives and account service folks, efficiently, cooperatively and with a supportive eye towards complete client satisfaction.
•    Work directly with clients and the account team to manage multiple simultaneous projects as well as participate in presentations, both internal and external.
•    Develop a thorough understanding of our client’s business and that of their competitors.

Disturbing Trend in Background Checking

This just strikes me as ludicrous!  Friday in a Wall Street Journal article (here).  Does this make any sense to you?  Thanks to my colleague and friend Tom Thompson for bringing this to my attention!

"There was a disturbing article in the Wall Street Journal today regarding B/G checks.  The EEOC is suing companies who use criminal B/G checks to “discriminate” against convicted felons.  Their reasoning is that because minorities are more likely to have felony convictions the B/G checks keep minorities from being hired.  I am not making this stuff up.  So a company that uses B/G checks in their hiring can be sued by the EEOC.  But, if a company does not use B/G checks and hires an employee who harms a co-worker, that co-worker or their family will sue the company for not taking proper precautions to protect its employees." 

It's becoming more and more complex to negotiate the ever increaseing maze of rules and regulations around hiring.  As if it wasn't already difficult enough!

Advertising Internship Opportunity #13025

Our client, located in ST. Louis County has been created by a group of seasoned advertising pros, former agency owners & CMO's who have reunited for a new "agency" (they call it a Groupe) concept. Their friends have grown with them to become Presidents and CEO's. Their clients will continue to be Fortune 100 marketers, as they have always been.  They need an ambitious, over-qualified and equally passionate intern to assist this new Groupe’s founder and leader.  This leader has previously been responsible for creating another agency which was recognized as the 2000 “Agency of the Year”.  This is a serious opportunity and only the serious should apply.

You have to do it all. Support the building of our client’s online presence and content addition to that presence.  Help organize the communications between the partners.   Execute  research as needed to provide the partners with the information necessary for various efforts.

We expect you’ll have expertise in the Microsoft Office suite, and proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite.  Video editing experience (even on a “amateur or enthusiast” level) is necessary, as is a proficiency with Wordpress.  We’ll be looking for evidence of your own social media presence and exuberance.

This internship is not only for “entry level” professionals.  It is not a paid internship.  It is an opportunity available to any qualified professional to sit on the inside of a new, international Groupe, that’s about to celebrate its second birthday.  It’s an exciting and unique opportunity to contribute to the foundation and growth of that Groupe. 

New Retained Search: Creative Director-Writer #13013

General Description:
Our client is a well respected leader in its particular marketing niche, working with Fortune 500 and 100 clients all over the country from their main office in St. Louis.  We’re looking for an energetic, charismatic leader of creatives.  This is a sensational opportunity to work with passionate colleagues in a supportive and collaborative environment, producing innovative work across diverse marketing channels.  Our client’s creative products are all created/developed  “in house”.  Principal marcom channels include event, video, print, direct marketing (both on and offline) and of course web based, including mobile and social.  It’s an exciting, modern place keeping its technology and deliverables on that cutting edge.

Primary Responsibilities:
•    You are the agency creative leader and responsible for all creative output.
•    Enthusiastically support continual creative excellence and innovation.
•    Develop unexpected creative concepts pushing the boundaries of “typical”, yet still providing solutions to the clients’ strategic issues.
•    Distill the agency thinking into writing and delivering persuasive sales pitches.
•    Be on the agency management team, helping guide the strategic direction of the agency while managing the creative staff to surpass agency goals.
•    Become an integral part of the new biz development process, presenting to clients in the C-suite.
   
Experience:
We’re looking for creatives with a fine art or related degree and at least five years of creative leadership experience.  We need a diverse range of expertise . . . a seasoned writer with a creative opinion and POV on everything.  The best candidate will be fluent with print, video/audio, digital and experiential marketing.  Direction or production of plays, galas and tours/large venues would be valuable additional experience.  All this experience, with an enthusiastic, empathetic and altruistic personality.  If that’s not enough (and it rarely is!), we need descriptive, articulate speakers who can write!

Senior Visual Communications Designer #130103

Happy to say that the New Year is starting out with our remaining very busy . . . and happy to be so!

Here are the details on this new opportunity in St. Louis:

General Description:
Our Client is looking for an additional graphc designer as a result of company growth and need.  We want an innovative designer who can simply the most complex ideas, someone who can communicate visually, in this day of shortened attention spans.  We want a pro who can work independently one minute, and the next jump into a brainstorm session with colleagues.  Your confidence and experience have prepped you to be articulate, calm and compelling while presenting work to a wide range of internal and external clients.  Your portfolio has a blend of interesting interactive, smart infographics and engaging print as a result of refined graphic design and non-traditional communications.

Primary Responsibilities:
•    Effectively present design concepts and recommendations and execute on them to support the marketing and delivery of a highly technical product.
•    Transform text-based data into visually stimulating, simple and cohesive design that tells a story and doesn't miss a single opportunity to visualize data.
•    Design email marketing campaigns, optimized to increase open and click-through rates, drive program participation and expand reach and engagement.
•    Visually communicate technical concepts and rework diagrams and sketches into final formats for a variety of web, print and multi-media executions.
•    Thrive in a fast paced, performance driven environment while supporting your colleagues and contributing to the culture in a positive way.

Experience:
We’re looking for candidates with at least five years’ experience and a graphic or digital design degree.  We like portfolios that are diverse, innovative and exhibit superior conceptual and tactical skills including web, print, presentations, multi-media and videos.  Illustrations and/or animation skills would be a significant plus.  We want both left and right sides of the brain supported by an insatiable quest for knowledge and a desire to “learn every day”.

Compensation:
Our client is interested in hiring premier candidates and their compensation and benefits package is outstanding.  The salary is at the top end of the regional market and benefits include full medical (dental option), 401K with match, tuition assistance, life and disability insurance, employee stock purchase plan.

About Our Client:
Our client is a 25 year old company with a robust and innovative and growing creative department.  Creatives are encouraged to push the envelope of marketing communication through a wide range of media, from video, online and print to on and offline direct marketing.  There is exceptional opportunity for long term career growth, including increasing responsibility, promotion and financial reward.  Be part of a collaborative team that respects each other and plays well together!  EOE

Please apply by uploading your resume to Bishop-Partners dot com.  We’d also like you to send a cover letter directly to Bob detailing your specific interest and qualifications for this position, as you understand it.

The Agency-Client New Biz, The Pitch is Dysfunctional!

This article was written by (or edited by)  Brian Morrissey for Digiday Confessions, which seems to be a "column-like" component of the main website/blog "Digiday".  It was originally published on July 9th of this year.  If you're not already familiar with Digiday (and especially the "Confessions") I think you'll be thanking my friend Jack, who originally sent me this article.

This is by far, the most common sense and accurate overview of this incredibly expensive, antiquated and exploitative process, which will only succeed with a serious dose of "dumb luck" (or beaucoup dollars!).  As I started reading it, I started thinking about the CEOs and client Presidents I wanted to send it to . . . then, I realized that everyone I know in this business would probably like to read this take on the "New Business Pitch".  So, with that in mind, I proudly share this with you.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

"The agency life cycle is defined by winning clients. That’s because the minute after an agency strikes up a new relationship the clocks starts ticking to when it will end. With short chief marketing officer tenures and a highly competitive environment, the end is coming sooner than ever.

In this week’s Confession, Digiday spoke with a veteran new-business executive at a digital agency. This exec expressed frustration over how agencies again and again devalue their ideas through a dysfunctional pitch process that’s increasingly driven by procurement, sometimes just for show, and seemingly at odds with cultivating a successful, long-term partnership between client and agency. View all entries in our Confessions series here.

What’s wrong with the new business process?
We devalue ourselves from the beginning. A client puts out an abstract problem to solve. We put everything into solving it. We give away everything in the beginning and we wonder why clients don’t value us. Imagine a restaurant where the customer asked to sample everything and then chose afterwards only to have an appetizer. It doesn’t reflect how to work together. Agencies put a ton of money into it, pulls its best people and then the client hides behind a veil of procurement to ensure a level playing field.

But that’s not how you work together. In the end, you’re a vendor of ideas or execution. It sets everything up in the wrong way. A client might fall in love with an idea or a team member, but that doesn’t get you past month two.

St. Louis Agency Search: Sr. Online Producer/Project Manager #121203

The Sr. Producer will manage key client projects from the initial client meetings brief through to implementation. This position has equal components of superb client service and detailed project management. The Sr. Producer will have a role in integrating online communications with other client communication activity and setting strategy for client projects.  This role supports account directors and account managers in the day-to-day management of accounts in the area of online communications.

Core responsibilities will include preparing project planning materials; managing communications with the interactive project team, vendors/partners, internal account teams, and external clients; and overseeing the implementation of projects to plan, timeline, and budget.

Primary Responsibilities:
•    Simultaneously oversee a range of interactive projects as both lead producer and primary client manager.
•    Defines and manages team expectations regarding scope of work and responsibilities.
•    Facilitate communication between creative and technology to strategize the approach for new business leads.
•    Identify, acquire and manage all assets necessary for project.
•    Oversee project documentation: wireframes, sitemaps, technology specs, work orders, change orders, etc.