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The challenges represented by ‘Painful approval!’ relate to:

• Project leaders with non-standard campaign models, relationships of extra-ordinary funding sources 
• Product marketing managers who themselves are attempting to nudge the brand standards for the functional interests 
• Head of regional marketing teams who require a nuanced approach to brand standards and portfolio articulation.

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

In response, we’ve a collective desire to reduce the messages to the minimum of what’s required.

But sometimes the desire to keep the white paper to 4 pages, video to 2 mins or blog to X-hundred words just doesn’t work. Messages get over-clipped and new notions are strangled by restrictive word counts. If it doesn’t fit, don’t squeeze it in. 

Check out the meme, ‘Content shoehorn’. Have you done the pushing to close the doors?

The challenges represented by ‘Content shoehorn!’ relate to:

• Content marketers and their associate writers and agencies charged with production
• Product marketers who may be under pressure to over-expand agendas and messages
• Marketing leaders who recognise the value of balancing crisp, shorter-form content with realistic word counts to deliver the messages effectively.

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Also, it’s often the case for the task to be deferred to multiple stakeholders – often taking longer to mobilise than the campaign itself.

Check out the meme, ‘Data deferral!’. Are you part of the cycle – or struggled to navigate it?

The challenges represented by ‘Data deferral!’ relate to:

• Marketing and campaign managers integrating internal and agency resources and scope 
• Digital marketing professionals looking to ensure attributions at every point
• Marketing heads who need to lean on out of team resources to curate account data. 

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

And with campaign analytics available across so many touchpoints through the digital journey, it’s not surprising that the ‘pixel’ ball is dropped occasionally. Just make sure it’s not a critical indicator.

Check out the meme, ‘Arghnalytics!’. Have you seen or done ‘the scream’?

The challenges represented by ‘Arghnalytics!’ relate to:

• Marketing and campaign managers integrating internal and agency resources and scope 
• Digital marketing professionals looking to ensure attributions at every point 
• Marketing heads who have approved campaign set-up and deployment but haven’t yet pre-flight checked the data and analytics.

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Especially for tech business who are in the early days of creating sustainable revenue and whose funding needs to stretch a long way.

But the skill-set and decision-making logic should be questioned when the client decides to use the internal web team to produce the creative, assets, and collateral for a campaign. Where do the technical and operational skills of the web team overlap with those charged with creating and producing an array of digital (and non-digital) elements? 

Check out the meme, ‘The wisdom of using the web team’. Have you seen or done ‘the cross’? 

The challenges represented by ‘The wisdom of the web team’ relate to:

• Marketing and campaign managers balancing support from internal and agency resources 
• Marketing leaders assigning budget allocations to tasks and workstreams 
• Web team managers tasked with responsibilities beyond their traditional key capabilities and training

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

The challenge comes with making it happen, at-scale, on-budget, and with full control. For many, they will under-estimate the effort, resource, budget and leadership skills required to concept, build and grow that channel.

Check out the meme, ‘Hidden burden of partners’. Have you seen or felt the overload? 

The challenges represented by ‘Hidden burden of partners’ relate to:

• Content marketing functions producing assets with segues into industry care-abouts and challenges 
• Marketing managers who are keen to express the right level of customer empathy and understanding 
• Heads of Customer Marketing looking to be on the same page as their audience

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

For others, it has throttled growth because of supply chain and budget disruption. It’s a similar story for their business clients too.

So, recognising the impact of COVID-19 is key – but we need to be wary about how much pandemic narrative we add if we are to protect the longevity, vitality, positivity and currency of what we’re producing. 

Check out the meme, ‘Pandemic overcoat’. Have you seen it applied too liberally? 

The challenges represented by ‘Pandemic overcoat’ relate to:

• Content marketing functions producing assets with segues into industry care-abouts and challenges 
• Marketing managers who are keen to express the right level of customer empathy and understanding 
• Heads of Customer Marketing looking to be on the same page as their audience

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Getting the campaign model, marketing and messaging is crucial to achieve orbit and protecting reputation.

Check out the meme, ‘Epic launch fail’. Have you seen or experienced the rocket?

The challenges represented by ‘Epic launch fail’ relate to:

• Campaign and programme owners charged with laucnhing new products or services 
• Heads of Marketing looking at the right blend of internal insights and external innovation for new GTM offers 
• Tech Product Management teams that recognise the value of blending product marketing knowledge with market perspectives of agencies

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

While not exclusive to the marketing business, there’s often pressure on the agency to provide extra-speculative investments to ensure project success – with the promise of ‘riches tomorrow’.

The cynical agency view is that team restructures, changing priorities and budget evaporation thwart  the majority of efforts.

Check out the meme, ‘Budget blah blah’. Have you told your team to get real?

The challenges represented by ‘Budget blah blah’ relate to:

• Campaign and programme owners trying to balance the needs of restricted budget and high expectations
• Agency account managers keen to make inroads and build an enduring relationship with a client, but tasked with negotiating free work internally
• Marketing planners assigning budget to risky and exploratory pilot projects

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Expectations have been heightened in recent years with developments in intent-signalling, progressive profiling, nurturing and precision targeting.

But achieving it comes at a cost – profiling, platform investment, brand building, pre-marketing, achieving buyer preference at a distance… to highlight a few considerations. If you want ready-to-buy, you can’t cut corners.

Check out the meme, Pipe(line) dreams. Have you told your team to get real?

The challenges represented by ‘Pipe(line) dreams’ relate to;

• Campaign managers tasked with achieving unrealistic levels of investment return
• Head of sales and setting expectations on marketing and sales alignment
• Marketing and sales budget planners assigning ROI and results targets to demand programmes

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Sometimes their territorial and ‘creative protectionist’ instincts can cause interesting dynamics for client relationships.

Often with overlapping capabilities, and with an eye on wallet-share, encouraging agencies to work together can sometimes feel like trying mix oil and water. But it’s time to grow up guys!

Check out the meme, ‘Agency slapfest’. Have you experienced the antics?

The challenges represented by ‘Agency slapfest’ relate to:

• Integrated campaign managers charged with bringing external teams together that don’t want to play nicely
• Account directors and managers agency-side that are encouraged to collaborate with fellow roster agencies
• External agencies that are encouraged to work with ‘internal agencies’ whose mandate is to reduced external efforts and budget spend

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Being precious and (sometimes over-) protective goes with being innovative and creative. But going anywhere near the territory of Microsoft Word or Powerpoint should be at your own peril!

Requests for drafts of websites, videos, ad campaigns, event stands and brochures to be shared in Powerpoint are received with derision – and with an ‘air of deflation’ that shifts in the colours/layout/fonts are going to completely ruin the art.

Check out the meme, ‘Powerpoint rage’. Have you triggered or experienced ‘the stare’?

The challenges represented by ‘MS rage’ relate to;

• Campaign managers managing stakeholder input on programmes, where Adobe Acrobat is not a fully supported corporate tool
• Agency account relationship owners who have to take the client requests back into the creative team
• Content owners and managers who need to blend agency efforts with assets produced internally with corporate tools

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Despite all your research, preparation and considered editing about what/what not say, you’re still very conscious about how well it’s going to be received. Your reviewers are often an array of critics with varying degrees of comment value; relevant and irrelevant, structured and random, useful and useless. 

It’s when you get the full spectrum of feedback that the situation can feel like the meme – especially if the content has a creative dynamic too (e.g. video script, presentation, ebook). 

Check out the meme, ‘Copy bashing’. Have you got the bruises – or joined-in the bashing?

The challenges represented by ‘Copy bashing’ relate to:

• Content marketers and managers producing critical content to support upcoming campaigns 
• Product marketing managers writing their own copy to support corporate campaigns and assets
• Marketers curating and editing existing content and copy to mobilise campaigns quickly and cost effectively 

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

Fast-to-fail efforts and ‘pivoting’ have very much become standard motions for agile marketing over the last few years. And unarguably this is good for the high-performance, adaptive marketing function. But too often, this can lead to scope creep, resource pressures and the financial fall-out of abandoned assets and activities. 

Again, this isn’t necessarily a (totally) bad thing – it’s often a side-effect for innovation and evolution. What’s key is the commercial and operational construct between client and agency to cope with this flux. 

Check out the meme, ‘Chasing the tail’. Have you, your team or your agency suffered this as your campaign focus and scope change?

The challenges represented by ‘Chasing the tail’ relate to:

• Campaign managers tasked with managing structured campaigns and programmes impacted by essential changes and enhancements 
• Agency relationship owners challenged with achieving corporate ambitions and partner goodwill and commitment 
• Marketing procurement leads looking to forge strong, dynamic and enduring relationships with supplier agencies 

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!

An over-elevated idea, with a complex set of concepts and enablement steps can alienate the key participants and contributors you need to make it happen. At this point, your thought leadership could be causing more confusion than motion. 

Check out the meme, ‘Avoid notion without motion’. Have you experienced thought leadership that’s too lofty and incomprehensible?

The challenges represented by ‘Avoid notion without motion’ relate to: 

• Campaign managers planning and deploying thought leadership campaigns to sellers, partner channels and customers 
• Product and seller enablement teams charged with elevating sales pitch and delivery
• Marketing leaders recognising the need to infuse thought leadership programmes within broader portfolio marketing efforts 

This post is 1:50 from #WhenTheAgency, a witty collection of observations through the eyes of the tech marketing agency. All memes are available to drag and drop into presentations or social posts. Visitors are encouraged to share and create knowing smiles amongst your colleagues and peers.

The full library of memes for #WhenTheAgency is available here. Enjoy!