The trade publications are full of stories about what happened last week when GM’s new marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, pulled the newly awarded business from Publicis and gave it to Goodby Silverstein and Partners.  I know my initial reaction was one of surprise and empathy for Publicis. Not only were people’s jobs going to be impacted and agency income cut, but the reported insensitivity and lack of professionalism of how it was done must have stung.

In talking about it with the Pile team, we all agreed that Joel had every right to make the move.  After all, isn’t that what all agencies hope for?  A good CMO they work with leaves a company, moves to another one and “gives” them the business.  The agency doesn’t have to pitch or spend any effort winning the account.  This is a relationship and people business.  At Pile we look to our past clients to do the same and thankfully we have a very high rate of working with clients multiple times.

But the real travesty here is not that Joel Ewanick moved the business. If we can believe what is reported , it is how he did it.  Never returning the multiple calls that were made to him when he arrived, to say nothing of even thinking about reaching out to the agency and giving them a head’s up.  To me this is endemic of the lack of professionalism we often see out there.  People don’t return calls, particularly after time and money had been spent.  There is a general lack of consideration for what the impact of a given decision will be on others. 

That is not acceptable at Pile and Company.  We get calls from hundreds of agencies, either inquiring about a specific review or just wanting us to know who they are.  My request of everyone on the team is to reply and do it with professionalism and thoughtfulness.  If only everyone in business could do the same.

I am sorry for all at Publicis and hope for some really great things to happen to them as a result of this change.

Over the last six months I’ve been commenting on the (slowly) rising tide in the job market.  Now we actually have some data to back it up, specifically here in MA.  Three straight months of job growth and the month of April provided the largest job growth in seventeen years for our state. All great news--and may even be considered a “trend”.

The job growth is buoying, but if you weren’t offered one of the 19,000 new positions you may feel better for a minute--but it doesn’t really mean anything to you until one of those offers is yours.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of marketing execs in transition over the course of the down economy.  Many of them are extremely talented folks who have gone 3, 5 and even 10 months without finding the right opportunity in the local market, not because of their lack of talent but because of the lack of senior level marketing positions available.

It's amazing, the positive state of mind of nearly everyone I’ve tried to help, but recently I’ve encountered a few people that are letting their frustration show.  Now I know I’m not the hiring entity and any good recruiter should build a candid relationship with candidates, but remember this:

When a recruiter decides to present you to their client you are an extension of their firm’s brand and more importantly, the recruiter’s reputation. 

So feel free to share your frustrations and ask for advice, but make sure when you leave the office (or hang up the phone) the recruiter has a positive impression.  Use your friends, family and peers for the necessary venting, And I know -- it is necessary. 

In just about every interview process at the senior level there are anywhere from 2 to 10 (and sometimes even more) high-level stakeholders who can weigh in on whether or not you are the right fit.  As a candidate this can be very troublesome if you don’t do your homework.

 It’s critical to find out:

Who they are and what their role is in the company – If you walk in blind to this information you can waste valuable interview time just figuring out who you’re speaking to, and then you have to figure out how to position yourself  “on the fly”.

What their relationship is to the position--Without this information you can’t address WIIFT (What’s In It For Them) or how it will impact their responsibilities.  Does it relieve a pain point? Are you going to be playing in their “sandbox”?

The two items above are the bare minimum and any HR professional or Recruiter should be offering this information to you without having to ask.  I know, that’s not always the case, so if they don’t offer be sure to ask. 

The more information you have the better you can prepare. 

How long have they been with the company?

Where have they worked previously?

What is their scope of responsibility?

What is their interview style?

As you prepare for the interview relate the job description you are interviewing for to each individual and pull out what you believe will be important to them.  For example: if you are interviewing for a VP of Advertising and PR and you know that one of your interviews is with a Product Head who “grew up” in an ad agency, you can guess where that interview is going to focus--so be prepared with specific examples that will resonate with the interviewers background.

We have an exciting announcement from Agency ComPile! The new Agency Compile enhanced by Marketing Mine website has launched!

Marketing Mine and Agency ComPile have formed a joint venture creating the most useful directory of advertising agencies and marketing services firms on the Web. The new site has an exclusive area for marketers and another reserved for agencies, service providers, media, students and other users. The marketer-only area is known as Marketing Mine, which provides marketers access to a powerful, information-rich, relational database, allowing them to research and compare agencies, services provided and creative portfolios.  The other area is known as Agency ComPile and is accessible to agencies, service providers and other users.  ComPile provides key, basic information about agencies: name, location, agency overview/mission, agency capabilities, number of employees and client list.

Marketing Mine will help corporate marketers make sense of the marketing communications landscape. They will now have tools available to conduct customized searches using intuitive selection criteria, create short lists of potential agency partners, analyze and compare agencies relative to capabilities, see creative work samples and client reviews, and connect with agencies. 

“Marketing Mine is unique in its offering of an online resource where marketers can uncover, evaluate and connect with potential marketing services providers,” said Jamie Bloomquist, Director of Marketing for Marketing Mine. “Our partnership with Agency ComPile expands that access to include thousands of advertising agencies and an extensive library of creative material.”

“We always strive to give agencies listed in ComPile maximum exposure to companies that may be interested in their services, says Steve Dicheck, Manager of Agency ComPile. Joining forces with Marketing Mine allows us to take another major step in that direction”.

Check it out!  www.agencycompile.com