• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, July 29, 2014

Connect Marketing founder Clint Powell has a tip for agencies who, after explaining to a client all the wonderful services it can provide a client, hear, "We can do that ourselves." That response is deflationary. It takes the wind out of the sale. More importantly, it's a loss of potential billing for the agency. So what should an agency do in response to this all too common client statement? They should employ a bit of well-meaning rudeness and ask the client, "If you can [do that yourself] then why aren't you doing it?" Which, of course, isn't meant to be rude, rather, it's meant to make the client stop and think for a minute to assess which elements of their marketing they have the internal time and resources to handle and which they should be outsourcing because they'll never get done otherwise. While the question may be a bit jolting in the middle of an all-too-polite client meeting or new business presentation, it clearly cuts through the crap and gets everyone thinking. Try it in your next meeting.

Wait, what? Crazy burger chain White Castle is thinking of leaving the flamboyant Jordan Zimmerman? The man with an ego the size of Mt. Everest? The man who gives private lunch meetings, agency tours and autographed copies of his book to those who wow him? What brand in their right mind would ever leave an agency run by a man this AWESOME!? Apparently, White Castle is that brand. The brand's VP of Marketing and Menu Development (now that's a weird job combo) Kim Bartley said, "We always look at all of our partners on a regular basis, every five to seven years." So basically it's a math problem. Nothing against Zimmerman which Bartley says is "a very good partner." So why have a review? Oh right. To keep agency search firms like Rojek Consulting Group in business. Yup, everyone gets a slice of White Castle here. Personally, I'm rooting for ZImmerman here.

WPP media investment firm GroupM, parent company to Maxus, MEC, MediaCom and Midshare, is getting into the publishing business. The firm has published the debut issue of NEXT, an "innovation and consumer insights oriented interactive publication." The publication, which -- surpirise, surprise -- looks more like an agency website than a publication (but, hey, that might be a good thing) -- will feature proprietary research and insights about consumer behavior. The style of the publication will center on long form viewpoints rooted in data and how technology is affecting consumer trends.

A shake up of epic proportion is about to occur in the digital agency space. CPG giant Unilever is holding a global digital agency review in an effort to, well, we're not really sure since no one at Uniliever or think tank Medialink, which is helping run the review, are talking. But "people familiar with the matter" have said the review will involve incumbents and non-incumbents with capabilities presentations occurring mid-August. This global review will also encompass the U.S. digital agency review now in progress .