

The Innovative Agency
Sharon Toerek
The Innovative Agency is a podcast that exists to help marketing agency leaders answer the question: "What's Next?". How are agencies staying on the cutting edge of marketing trends? How are they adapting their businesses to meet new business challenges in the agency world? Hosted by marketing law and intellectual property lawyer Sharon Toerek, we'll talk with agencies who are at the cutting edge of innovation and industry experts who have a front row seat to the practice of innovation in today's marketing, communications and creative agencies. The goal is to help listeners learn to look around the corner to spot their next opportunity. Sharon will share her expertise along the way about how to legally protect your agency's assets, and how to turn your agency's innovation into cash.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 11, 2022 • 30min
144. Providing Value to Clients by Building Strategic Alliances
Could your next client be another agency? In this episode, Tyler Horsley, Founder and CEO at Nuclear Networking, joins the show to break down the topic of partnerships and strategic alliances with other marketing service providers. Plus, he shares his perspective on the dynamic M&A market within the agency world. We discuss: - The pros and cons of onboarding services vs outsourcing - How to manage the relationship with strategic partners - Navigating the handoff process to a strategic partner - What's going on with mergers and acquisitions in the agency world Email Tyler if you're looking for an SEO or digital advertising partner. To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Dec 21, 2021 • 52min
143. How to Give Your Marketing Clients What They Want
What does your client want? It's the question at the crux of what marketing and advertising is all about. In past episodes, we've answered that question from the perspective of marketing agencies and their advisors, but in this episode, we're going to hear the perspective of an actual client. RJon Robins, CEO & Founder at How to Manage a Small Law Firm, joins me to share insights into the client-marketing agency relationship and what he thinks agencies should do to gain more business and retain more clients. We discuss: - How the initial client-marketer discussion can go wrong - Why marketing agencies need to have a fully developed business plan - Why leading with fear will torpedo your agency - How to communicate with clients To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Dec 14, 2021 • 31min
142. How Market Research Supercharges Your Marketing Campaigns
Successful marketing hinges on the principle of asking enough questions and asking the right questions. Think about it. We can all remember marketing campaigns that went sideways because the wrong questions were asked, and as a result, not enough relevant information was available to get it right Matt Seltzer, Market Researcher and Founder of S2 Research, is an expert at asking the right questions, and in this episode, he offers his insights on the topic. We discuss: - The importance of research in marketing - How to move past roadblocks - How agencies and clients evaluate ROI - How agencies can level up their research game Resources mentioned during the podcast: - The Creative Catalyst: How to Create Better Marketing By Asking (And Answering) Better Marketing Questions - Reach out to Matt at Matt@s2research.com To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Dec 7, 2021 • 47min
141. Injecting Fun Back Into the Advertising Process
Do you remember when running an agency was fun? The emergence of digital tools has led to a focus on measurement and metrics, but it has come at the expense of process innovation and creativity—and that, ultimately, has led to a lot of uninspired work. It's time to rediscover the fun of the creative process. Paul Charney, Founder and CEO at Funworks, joins the show to talk about using fun to help you achieve your agency's goals—both creative and financial—and spark new ways of achieving business results for your clients. We discuss: - How the dawn of digital stripped the fun out of the advertising process - How improv comedy fundamentals can shake up the creative process - Why focusing on the voice of the customer means you no longer have to guess what's inside your client's head - How to bring joy back into the creative process Reach out to Paul: paul@howfunworks.com To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Nov 16, 2021 • 42min
140. Why Executive Reputation Management is Essential to Brand Strategy
All executives have an online presence, and that presence matters. It matters to the individual, but it also matters with respect to the reputation of the business—because in a digital world, every individual who works for a company represents that brand. Bant Breen, Founder & Chairman at Qnary, explains how agencies can empower their clients to embrace reputation management as an important pillar of overall brand strategy. We also discuss: - Why reputation management is often not given a seat at the table - How agencies should advise their clients on executive reputation management - When to focus on reputation management vs brand management - The evolution of LinkedIn as a reputation management tool To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Oct 27, 2021 • 50min
139. Your Guide to Content Marketing in 2022 & Beyond
Content marketing has been around since the original Michelin Guide was created by a tire company over a century ago to get more people to drive to restaurants. The concept behind content marketing has not changed. What has changed is it has gotten harder and harder to do it well and to break through the noise. Brad Smith, Founder & CEO of Codeless Interactive and CEO at Wordable, joins the show to explain what's going on in the world of content marketing and what your marketing agency needs to know to do it well. We discuss: - The larger content marketing trends taking place - The stair step approach to content marketing - How to decide on the right mix of content - The best way to use content platforms - How to prepare clients for 2022 and beyond To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Oct 19, 2021 • 26min
138. The Influential World of Micro Influencer Marketing
Content is king. Accordingly, more and more brands are collaborating with micro influencers to create the sheer amount of content that is needed to gain traction today. But working with micro influencers can be complicated. In order to keep the machine in motion, an agency needs to wear many hats and stay in touch with many individuals. In this episode, David Morneau , Managing Partner and Co-Founder at inBeat Agency , digs into the details—the what, the why, and the how—of micro influencer marketing. We discuss: - The different categories of influencers - The content creation process - Managing disputes over content ownership - Safeguarding campaigns against negative associations To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Oct 12, 2021 • 34min
137. What Exactly is Programmatic Advertising & How Does It Work?
Programmatic advertising: Every agency has heard of it. You might have even included it in a recommendation set for clients. However, not many agencies are fluent in it. In this episode, we take some of the mystery out of this high-tech digital marketing solution. Our guide, Lacie Edgeman, Partner at PrograMetrix, explains what programmatic advertising is and why the need to be in the digital space has never been greater. We discuss: - Misconceptions agencies have about programmatic advertising - Tips for how agencies should discuss it with clients - What you need in your Ad Tech stack - Picking a good partner for programmatic solutions Resources mentioned during the podcast: - eBook: Programmatic Agency Partnership Overview To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Oct 5, 2021 • 48min
136. AI & Machine Learning in Digital Marketing
When two people are typing in the same keyword, how do you identify which one is statistically more likely to become a paying customer for your clients? That's the big question Jordan Bell, Founder and Chief Strategist at Agency Bell , wanted to answer. The answer lies in teaching the system to find things—behavioral cues within months of online behavior data—that we can't see. That's where artificial intelligence and machine learning come in. Far from something to be feared, they represent the future of marketing services. In this episode, we discuss: - Embracing technology, data pipelines, and automation in legal marketing - Managing the privacy implications of data within the system - Best practices for agencies looking to leverage AI Resources we mentioned during the podcast: - MAICON - Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference - Contact Jordan at jordan@agencybell.com To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Sep 28, 2021 • 39min
135. Brand Impressions at the Pump
There's a channel at the intersection of OOH, broadcast media, digital media, and mobile media, where you can garner the undivided attention of millions of Americans. It involves a unique moment in a consumer's routine — a moment of consumer pause where brands can have a one-on-one conversation — and the messaging delivered at this moment has the potential to drive measurable results and create lasting brand impressions. Any idea what it is? Sean McCaffrey , CEO at GSTV, joins the show to talk about this unique media channel, a data-driven, national video network that reaches more than 1 in 3 American adults monthly when they fuel up their vehicles at the pump. We discuss: - How GSTV determines segmentation - Using attention as a metric - Partnering with agencies - The effect of the pandemic on consumer driving patterns To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.


