So on to the main event. The five agencies that most effectively observe what we have learned to date to be best practice. Of course, these opinions are subjective and they are my own. I hope I don’t offend anyone in the process. My aim is to demonstrate the suitability of these examples for success with proactive new business. I think they do for themselves what they offer to do for their clients, and it would be an absolute pleasure to get busy reaching out to their markets on their behalf (and with the minimum amount of message planning being required…). 

The ‘About’ reads like it could have been written by John Hegarty. Perhaps it was. There’s laser-like intent; they want your business. The language is keen, commercial, never pompous and always self-aware. You get a sense that a deft hand is yours for the hiring to help you shape your future. The background story for what makes BBH special and different and the logic for how it works follows through to explain why it creates value. Unlike other initialled names this one still has executive connection with founders – so has a vital meaning. Lastly, the writing has flair and control – it exudes care and attention to detail. It says you can trust this culture with your brand.

Inheriting ‘Disruption’ from Jean-Marie Dru’s earlier BDDP, TBWA owns its ‘special and different’ in spades. The message is challenge convention to succeed and is of course supremely relevant to the altered world we now live in. It’s a compelling, centrally organising thought. It’s logical and creative. It’s also well written, with a mixture of care and panache. The name has less meaning now (Tragos, Bonnange etc.) than the ethos, but the always enigmatic backslash solves this and adds a neat tech factor.

I like Fold7. There’s meaning in the name, folding a blank piece of paper as far as you can go, like taking the idea written on the paper as far as it can go. Going to the seventh fold also suggests putting in the considerable thought and work required to help clients’ brands stay connected with hyper-dynamic 21st century consumers. They then have a line which lies beneath: ‘Magic & Momentum’. This firstly looks for the inspiration that makes people feel something about the client’s brand, then secondly, the influences necessary to get them to transact and remain engaged thereafter. The language has a pleasingly unpretentious, down-to-earth feel and there are many brands out there I’m sure that would relate to this and see Fold7 as a great fit.

“We create ideas that drive business today and build brands of tomorrow. Ideas that endure and are never finished.” Both phrases in FCB’s ‘About Us’ copy are strong. You could perhaps shorten the first half to ‘for business today and the brands of tomorrow’ to serve as a strapline to the main logo (just a suggestion!). I like their moral ‘obligation’ to counter the ‘formulaic and forgettable’. And the second half of the line above summarises that the most powerful advertising ideas are organically ‘open ended and create enduring legacy for brands’. Though some of their messaging ideas are also found a fair amount in the smaller to mid-sized independents just below the Top 30 set, the fact that a Top 30 player is setting out a strong reason for being, beyond loads of awards (which they also have), means it is optimised for proactive new business as well - it has both bases nicely covered.

This is the sort of name you want to be working with for proactive new business. The name does it all and needs no explaining. It’s just strong. With some cunning they set out their reason for being in the words of super senior brand-side folk (and Mark Twain!) for how they see things are broken and how it will take an Anomaly in a fast-changing world to supply the demand. In the almost words of M&C Saatchi, there’s a lot of brutal simplicity here.