The Dendrocast

Why do some agencies get trapped in a "culture of busy"? 

Agencies often mistake being busy as a sign they are growing. In reality, real growth is more than your agency's workload, headcount, or revenue projections.

Many agencies ignore the underlying fundamentals of sustainable growth. They focus on near-term client performance at the expense of the long-term agency performance.

In this Bonus Episode, we summarize "The Four Rules" that should govern how your agency thinks about growth. And why your agency will always be your most important client.

More tips, guidance, and coaching information is available from The Dendro Group or at [email protected].

Changing the direction of your agency is a tough decision. It's even tougher to execute.

Pivoting your agency can feel too risky - to its reputation, its people, and its legacy. But many times, a pivot is what the agency needs to survive a rapidly changing creative services market. 

So how do you know if you need to pivot your agency? How can the agency's leadership manage through a full-scale change to their core business? 

In this episode, we talk with Ryan Lewis, President of Bonfire Marketing, about why he made the decision to pivot the agency two years ago. And how they came out stronger by disrupting everything they thought they knew about the marketing business.

In this episode we profile the challenges brands face when trying to find the right agency.

Whether it's capabilities or cultural fit, the process is often fraught with unknowns and risk. And many client-agency relationships end with the feeling things just weren't a good match. Listen as Bull & Beard CEO Robby Berthume talks about the importance of brokering the right match for both brands and the agencies they hire. And learn about Agency Match, a new platform designed to make it easier for brands and agencies to find each other.

Today we talk with Adweek senior editor Doug Zanger about the major headlines, trends, award winners, and industry conversations from Cannes 2019. 

Today we talk with Ian Sohn, the President of Wunderman Chicago, about his widely covered LinkedIn post calling out the struggle to balance parenthood and agency life. Ian explains why he needed to say something to his staff, whether "balance" is really possible, and why more of us need to stop apologizing for not being able to do it all.

Plus, we share a special segment about the meaning of Father's Day.

This special bonus episode explores the surprising lessons we can learn from Alice Walker's classic story in 'The Color Purple' - and why it matters to know who you are when an entire industry is being disrupted.  

You've probably heard the term "fake news." But what about fake media?

In today's episode, we explore the black hole of ad fraud. What happens when agencies no longer know how much of the media they're buying is actually reaching a human audience?

Listen as we talk with renowned ad fraud historian and cybersecurity expert Dr. Augustine Fou about the growing crisis of ad fraud - and how many of us are complicit in perpetuating this billion dollar crime.

If you've ever considered starting your own agency, today's episode was made for you.

We brought together three agency owners who took the plunge. We asked them to share their perspective on the highs, the lows, and the unique challenges of starting, building, and managing your own shop. 

Listen as we talk with agency owners Jess Columbo, founder and CEO of the agency-consultancy MedEd Digital; Anna Hutson, founder and CEO of the digital marketing firm Avenue; and Mike Arnesen, founder and CEO of the end-to-end optimization agency UpBuild.

Do you know what your agency is worth? What's the right way to calculate its real value? How is disruption of the agency business impacting the long-term value of agencies in general?

Today we explore the complex process of agency valuations with David Baker. He's the bestselling author of Financial Management of a Marketing Firm and The Business of Expertise; and he's also the industry's go-to expert on how to assess the value of your business.

How do you position your agency for growth? How should you manage a new business pipeline? What's the right process for developing proposals and client pitches?

These are common new business challenges many agencies struggle with. They're also the core problems agency business coaches work on with their clients.

And, they're the topics we discuss on today's show.

We're joined by business development expert Jody Sutter for a brainstorm about coaching agencies and the solutions to common new business obstacles.