Brandtailing - Advertising at the Speed of Smart

Jordan Zimmerman
Zimmerman & Partners Advertising
CEO & Chairman

Succeeding in Advertising

Show me a successful client, and I’ll show you a successful agency. Success in advertising is connected ultimately to the success of the client. At Zimmerman & Partners Advertising, we embrace that principle. To be successful, you must be involved. You must take the time to learn your client’s business and brand attributes well. Let the client know that you care as much about the business as he or she does. Analyze the business, its chief competitors, its unique culture, mission, vision and trends of the category it’s in. Most importantly, stay focused on brand attributes upon which the client can build. Be single minded. Literally. Don’t throw many attributes out there in the hope they’ll take away just one. Be certain the one is the one you want them to take away. If you don’t know your client’s business intimately, you are likely to focus on attributes that really aren’t important to the consumer, often at the client’s request. It’s your uncomfortable obligation to be honest and say, “That’s an attribute that has no meaning to the consumer.” Recommend what is right for the business, what is supported by logic, research and solid, strategic thinking; that which differentiates your brand from the competition. Only then can you communicate in a compelling manner. Only then can you cut through the clutter and attract the interest and attention the client needs to grow its business. For more than 25 years, this has been my strategy for success.

Five not-so-easy pieces to success

There are five essential skill sets in advertising. The first is accountability. The bar is set with the client’s business objectives. Then we raise it a few notches higher. Our philosophy is that image-building and branding must always be balanced against the need to deliver on the bottom line. Advertising is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Successful clients make the best clients; we want to create brand leaders—clients with skyrocketing sales and sparkling creative.

The second essential skill is media savvy. With media fragmentation increasing exponentially, each medium must be understood for what it is really capable of delivering. It must be targeted precisely and assessed with the end user in mind. As with creative, media planning and placement must build the client’s business.

The third essential skill is unyielding commitment. You are more than the agency; you must be an evangelist, preaching the virtues of your client to your staff, your client’s staff and the public. We must be committed advocates as well as dedicated business partners. The entrepreneurial approach that we apply to each of our clients’ businesses must be evident in every phase of the advertising development, from planning to creative to execution. No task is too big and, equally important, no job too small. It is also crucial to be proactive. It is essential to deliver more than what the client asks for.

The fourth essential skill is to be disciplined. At Zimmerman & Partners, we assist clients in focusing on the compelling, differentiating selling points that induce consumer consideration. We must never lose sight of that focus as we move from creative development through media planning and execution. We seek to reach targeted consumers with an effective, focused communication to which they will respond. Say one thing. Say it well. Say it often.

The fifth essential skill is creativity, the art of being inventive and imaginative. We must apply creativity to everything we do—tirelessly exploring innovative ways to communicate the brand selling point in a meaningful, relevant way. A message has to break through and resonate with the consumer to be successful. Consumers are not waiting for your message. You must deliver it to them in an unexpected manner. Creative has an aftershock. It will be felt long after it stops running. When that happens, you’ve done your job. That’s creativity you can’t put a price on.