Client Newsletters

Make a point to take her calls - or make one to Kaille yourself.

THE MILLER GROUP & LAWRENCE BUTNER ADVERTISING - AN AGENCY ALLIANCE

Whenever we can, we're happy to introduce one of our registered agencies to another. That makes great sense when two agencies or even more, but far apart in distance or specialization, are looking to bring more substance to their credentials and sub- sequently increase their opportunities for "being found" and helping clients in the AgencyFinder process. There are other advantages, but we leave that up to the agencies themselves.

A recent such "alliance" has been struck by the good folks at The Miller Group Advertising, Inc. in Los Angeles (Rene Miller - President/Creative Director), a 19- person shop founded in 1990 and Lawrence Butner Advertising, Inc, New York (Robin Butner - President) a 12 person shop, founded in 1979. The combination has already been able to parlay their new association into some "coastal" new business.

REFERRALS - VIRAL AT IT'S BEST OR HOGWASH?

We get the daily Soflow Adrants e-mails where folks in the network are busy "networking." One came in

recently from an ad agency in San Francisco asking a simple question - "Anyone know a great PR firm?" The question didn't include any particular requirements; didn't even specify whether the work was to appear in the US or elsewhere.

I found the suggestions interesting. First, not one posed the question of why an ad agency would want to hire or pay a pr firm. Not that one wouldn't, but the "assignment" would have been nice to know. As they started rolling in, most mentions were for solo practitioners rather than firms with more than one employee. I was taken aback by the number of referrals to solo practitioners in Europe, which included such rave but unsupported recommendations as "she did great work for us!"

When we're talking with an agency and they tell us most of their new business opportunities come from "referrals", I'm inclined to smile and think of my well- intending Aunt Florence. When I was single, she frequently had some very special lady in mind that she insisted I meet. In most cases, I smiled and thanked her, but explained that at the moment, I was seeing "Vanessa."