In This Episode:
Balancing the Needs of Clients, Employees & the Business
After working with agencies for 20 years, Brian Kessman saw first-hand the impact a weak positioning strategy has on an agency, the toll it ultimately takes on employees, and how traditional management structure and organizational silos limit an agency’s potential for producing their best work. His passion for people and desire to help agencies improve their focus and intentionality inspired him to start Lodestar Agency Consulting.
Lodestar offers programs to help marketing and creative agencies drive stronger performance through agency positioning strategy, organizational design and leadership training. Achieving alignment between an agency’s strategy and operating model is the key. An agency must have a clear positioning strategy and their operating model and leadership tools should be intentionally designed to facilitate its successful execution. Brian believes it all begins with unlearning traditional best practices that are now too slow or problematic for what today’s clients and talent expect from agencies and that agencies need to begin working in new and nimble ways.
When an agency needs to refocus their positioning strategy, or is struggling because of a merger/acquisition or from rapid growth, or have drifted from being able to meet client expectations or retain talent, it’s time to begin working in new ways. But how? Where do you start? Lodestar can help by crafting a custom solution plan including recommendations and an implementation roadmap for the quickest, most significant impact with the least amount of disruption to the business.
In this episode, Brian shares Lodestar’s methodology for helping agencies refine their focus, update their operating principles and improve day-to-day processes in a way that balances the needs of their clients, employees and the business. The result – an adaptable agency poised for long-term success.
“Today’s talent is really looking for a new kind of day-to-day experience, but the traditional management principles and organizational structures and related processes, they just don’t match up.”
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About Brian Kessman
Brian believes your agency’s best work is on the horizon but it will take new, nimble ways of working to get there. As the founder of Lodestar Agency Consulting, Brian and his firm provide positioning strategy, organizational design and leadership training services to creative agencies who want to find their best “next” practices to grow smoothly in today’s rapidly-evolving business world.
Brian developed his innovative Agency Wayfinder™ model over 20+ years as a leader at various interactive, brand strategy and full-service creative agencies across the United States. He is a sought-after speaker for major industry associations and conferences including AMIN Worldwide, TAAN Worldwide, Worldwide Partners, MAGNET Global, Mirren Live, the Bureau of Digital and others. And he’s a former judge for the Favorite Website Awards (the FWA).
Brian currently lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife, 3 kids and 3 dogs. When he’s not partnering with agency leaders, he’s spending time with his family, experimenting with his meat smoker or working toward a green thumb in his vegetable garden.
Connect with him through Lodestar at brian@lodestaragencyconsulting.com or on LinkedIn.