Ahhh, the joys of getting client feedback on time. If anything throws our work out of scope, it's revisions and feedback debacles. One way to protect your agency and your client's budget is to define the rules of engagement upfront. You'll want to wordsmith this into your style and specific rules, but it's a good [...]
True or false? Anyone involved in the advertising process can be held liable under most regulations and statutes that govern false advertising. Oh. so. true. The advertiser, the Agency, and anyone else involved who knowingly, or sometimes negligently, fails to follow the rules, is on the hook. In addition to traditional and digital advertising, when [...]
Creative agencies such as marketing firms, website developers, and advertising and design groups can often be reluctant to approach the issues of confidentiality and intellectual property rights ownership with prospective business clients. Those who set agency policies may feel that asking for a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) is too off-putting during business development discussions – as [...]
The agency new business process is, for most agencies, exciting and stressful at the same time. While your team is focused on the thrill of a potential “win,” and what that could mean for the agency’s fortunes, it’s probably equally under stress about meeting deadlines, putting forth your best efforts for the prospect, and keeping [...]
Short of losing out on work, I'm not sure there's anything more frustrating then when a client is stalled on a project. You know how it goes. Client calls with their hair on fire. You move heaven and earth to get the resources ready to help them solve their crisis and you're knee deep into [...]
Internal fraud. Two words that strike fear into the hearts of any agency owner. It’s not a subject that we want to talk about but it’s a real danger for agencies. And while most agency owners think that it could never happen to them, I know from my experience with hundreds of agencies that it [...]
For most of us, we could use some intellectual property advice as legal issues are just not our strong suit. Our brains just aren’t wired to work that way. Whether it’s clients, freelancers or employees – we want to believe the best of people. But it’s important that we understand the legal risks we face [...]
As a lawyer who advises ad and marketing professionals, I’m regularly reminded by clients that excessive legal fees are not a fun way to spend marketing dollars. This is understandable, and to me it’s also a somewhat welcome point of view. If that sounds like an unusual perspective coming from “legal,” hear me out: it [...]
A non-compete agreement form is like fire insurance. It's a sickening feeling to see the smoldering ruins of your just-burned house, and wish you'd bought the insurance policy. The time to create your non-compete agreement is before you get burned. There's a widespread belief among the advertising agencies that we meet in our workshops and [...]
