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Featuring: Lisa Colantuono, AAR Partners
In episode 106 of Agency Bytes, I chat with Lisa Colantuono, president of AAR Partners and a 25-year veteran in agency-client matchmaking (though she hates that word!). If you’re tired of wasting time on endless pitch decks, spec work, and one-sided RFPs, this episode is a must-listen.
Lisa shares what really matters to brands during the agency search process—and how agencies can proactively position themselves to win more work without chasing every lead. We dive into how to build trust that leads to long-term relationships, how to get your agency noticed through smart PR, and why your creative work still needs to deliver real impact. Lisa also drops actionable advice on reputation-building, client retention, and what it really takes to stand out in a crowded agency landscape.
Whether you’re running a small shop or a growing firm, Lisa’s insights are full of practical steps to help you stay relevant, get on the right shortlists, and keep your agency’s name in the room—even when you’re not.
Key Bytes
• Streamlining the agency review process is essential—both for marketers and agencies trying to avoid wasted time and energy.
• Marketer-led reviews now make up 85% of the search landscape—agencies need to understand how to stand out in this evolving dynamic.
• Trust and relationships are everything. People buy from people they trust, and lasting partnerships are built on emotional connection.
• Agencies must treat themselves like their number one client. Prioritize your own marketing, just like you would for your best-paying account.
• Referrals, recognition, and press coverage are key to visibility—smart PR can put your agency on a brand’s radar before the pitch even starts.
• Great creative still wins. No amount of charm or strategy can replace standout work that delivers results.
• Proactivity beats complacency. The biggest reason agencies lose clients? They stop showing up with ideas.
• Personalized outreach beats “spray and pray.” Insightful, relevant communication gets attention—generic blasts get ignored.
• Your network defines your success. The company you keep, the connections you nurture—they’re all part of the relationship-driven business we’re in.Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Agency Bites and Lisa Colantuono
01:44 Reinventing the Agency Search Process
04:21 Streamlining the Review Process
08:11 Trends in the Marketing Industry
12:26 Building Trust and Relationships in Agencies
18:10 The Importance of Reputation and Press Coverage
23:28 The Power of Recognition in Agency Work
25:06 The Importance of Account Management
26:39 Complacency: The Silent Account Killer
28:07 Proactivity in Client Relationships
29:33 Building Trust Through Networking
30:56 Emotional Connections with Brands
32:55 The Value of Insightful Communication
35:05 Understanding Client Pain Points
39:19 The Comprehensive Marketing Approach
40:09 Personal Insights and Life Lessons
Lisa Colantuono is the President of AAR Partners. With nearly 25 years of experience, Lisa has helped marketers like Ancestry, Subaru, and Panera Bread connect with the right agencies to drive meaningful results. She’s a pioneer in modernizing the agency search process, the author of @AARLisa: New Biz in 140 Characters (or Less), and the host of the On Purpose podcast. Lisa is passionate about building impactful partnerships and shaping the future of the marketing industry.
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Steve / Agency Outsight (00:01.388)
Welcome to Agency Bites, a podcast dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs thrive. I'm Steve Guberman from Agency Outsite, where I coach agency owners to build the business of their dreams. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Lisa, I'm not screwed up, Cole Antuono, president of AAR Partners to the show. She's got nearly 25 years of experience helping marketers like Ancestry, Subaru, and Panera Bread connect with the right agencies to drive meaningful results.
Lisa Colantuono (00:01.656)
Welcome to Agency Bites, a podcast dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs thrive. I'm Steve Guberman from Agency Outside where I coach agency owners to build the business of their dreams. Today I'm thrilled to welcome Lisa, not screwed up, Colin Twono, president of AAR Partners to the show. She's got nearly 25 years of experience helping marketers like Ancestry, Sue Rove, and Nara Breg connect with the right agencies to drive meaningful results. She's a pioneer in modernizing the
Steve / Agency Outsight (00:28.088)
She's a pioneer in modernizing the agency search process, the author of At AAR Lisa, New Biz in 140 Characters or Less, and the host of the On Purpose podcast. Lisa is passionate about building impactful partnerships and shaping the future of the marketing industry. And I'm super grateful to have you here, Lisa. Thanks for joining me today.
Lisa Colantuono (00:47.936)
It's my pleasure to see you. Thank you. And you did a fine job on my last name. Nobody can say it. Right. Exactly. It's not an easy one.
Steve / Agency Outsight (00:52.302)
I rehearsed it a little bit.
Steve / Agency Outsight (00:58.926)
So AAR, you've been running it for a little more than 20 years now. And you're essentially, you have kind of reinvented the pitch process, but you're a matchmaker for agencies and brands so that they're finding the right marketers and the right partners.
Lisa Colantuono (01:16.064)
Yeah, and it's hard to believe that June will be 24 years that I've been doing this work over at AAR Partners. And thank you, it's been a great, it's been a pleasure actually, I really enjoy it. I do not consider myself a matchmaker. I really, not that I despise the term, but I think in more recent years it simplifies
Steve / Agency Outsight (01:23.704)
Good for you.
Lisa Colantuono (01:44.308)
things and almost, I don't know, it makes it feel like a game. Sure, matchmaking is an easy way to describe what you do. And I say it to people outside of the industry when they, well, what do you do? I'm like, well, you know what? I'm sort of a business matchmaker between brands and agencies. And it's just an easy way to explain what you do. But there's a lot more depth to it than a quick coffee chat.
or, well, we'll just have one or two little meetings and we'll figure it out. We'll dive in and we'll just hire an agency. No, no. Jobs are on the line on both sides, quite frankly. This is serious business and it deserves serious attention. It really does. I'm not saying that you have to drag it out unnecessarily. I do think the process has gotten quite taxing over the years.
And I've been around long enough to know why it's because everybody kept leveling up and leveling up, leveling up, leveling up in order to compete more. But frankly, I think we leveled up so much that we outsmarted ourselves. So at this point, yes, it could be less taxing, certainly more streamlined. That is a lot.
of what we have been doing over the past four five years now, streamlining the process. And now we're moving forward into another step towards streamlining and really helping marketers with their reviews because there's a lot of in-house reviews going on, marketer-led reviews. In fact, that's the majority of the reviews that go on out there. So my whole thought process was, well,
Steve / Agency Outsight (03:22.904)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (03:34.05)
You know what? We'll be happy to run reviews when they come in and when they do want a search consultant. But why can't we help marketers with marketer-led reviews as well? And we're about to launch a very interesting little platform that will help them do exactly that, get a shortcut to the short list within three simple steps. And quite frankly, the ultimate goal is to avoid the RFI process.
Right. So there's a lot going on that we're doing. We again, really feel like it is serious business. It's not just matchmaking, but it can be less taxing than what it was turned into.
Steve / Agency Outsight (04:21.186)
Yeah, and taxing by agencies spending tons of time, tons of money, building pitches, doing spec work, dog and pony shows, blindly up against a handful or dozens of other agencies. And so you talk about kind of reversing the search where you're getting a better understanding of what the brands need and who the ideal partners for them are. And then are you presenting the shortlist?
Lisa Colantuono (04:50.38)
Yeah, well, I mean, when we manage a review, of course, you we have our process. It is not carved in stone. And we talk about that all the time to marketers, you know, just because we have a well-oiled machine after decades of doing this. It doesn't mean it's the perfect solution for every single marketer that comes through the door, right? Every brand is different. A brand is a person in a way, right? So it has its
its own feelings and meaning and what have you. And with all of that said, the process is the process, but it absolutely is flexible and malleable and it changes with the brand and what needs to be done. So again, trying to streamline everything. Part of what we do is understand exactly what's going on with the brand. What are the marketing challenges?
in the next three months, six months, 12 months? What are the business challenges? What do you need to accomplish? What are the immediate projects at hand? So there's loads and loads of questions that we go through with the marketer first. And one of the biggest things is to get their internal team in sync. And they say that all the time. Yeah, exactly. Right. And that crazy.
Steve / Agency Outsight (06:13.41)
What? They're not in sync for some reason? That's...
Lisa Colantuono (06:17.144)
So getting them to sort of come together and make sure that they know what they need and what their immediate needs are, future needs are. This whole purpose is not to do this again in two years. I mean, we really pride ourselves on outlasting the industry average and probably double out outlasting the industry average probably by double the amount of time. So with all of that said,
Yeah, again, there's a process. It is definitely fluid. There's nothing carved in stone about it. Do we help them get to a short list? Of course, but we also talk to marketers in terms of saying garbage in, garbage out. You I mean, you really do have to put some work into this. Otherwise, you're not going to get the proper universe list to evaluate.
Steve / Agency Outsight (07:05.486)
Yeah. Yep.
Lisa Colantuono (07:16.278)
And you need to allow agencies to evaluate you too. So it's not a one way street. And I talk about that all the time. It's just not.
Steve / Agency Outsight (07:25.538)
Yeah, and I think it's important for agencies to know, like so many agencies, whether they're on the early stage or growth stage or trying to build sustainability, that not every client is the right fit. And don't just say, yes, we'll take you because you've got money and you like us. It's a horrible formula for, or a perfect formula for failure. Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (07:36.088)
Oh, yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (07:43.16)
It is a perfect formula for failure. you know what? Listen, we all get desperate. I hate to say it. I think you're always truly included sometimes, right? You get a bad year and you do, you start to chase almost anything. You got to pay the bills, you got to keep the lights on. So it can get a little tough sometimes to say the least. look, 2024, a fun year. I'm glad it's gone, right? And that's that.
Steve / Agency Outsight (07:49.262)
Mm-hmm.
Steve / Agency Outsight (07:57.932)
Yep. Yeah.
Steve / Agency Outsight (08:11.086)
So let's talk about that. What were some of the trends that you saw? And I've had a lot of calls the past, we're recording this three weeks into 2025. I've had a lot of phone calls with agencies with varying sizes, varying sectors and varying lines of service. I haven't found the definitive trend that says if you were in this industry or doing the service line, you had a crap year versus a great year. mean, what were some of the trends that you saw?
Lisa Colantuono (08:36.248)
I, you know what, the basic trend was it was a rough year. It was just a rough year. there were reviews going on definitely, but the majority of them, in fact, I think it was, I did sort of this Lucy goosey kind of survey, but out of that Lucy goosey kind of survey, we discovered something like 85 % of the reviews were marketer led. Why?
Steve / Agency Outsight (08:40.12)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (09:06.904)
cost. Everybody talks about, well, the markets are up. The markets have been doing great. They go up, they go down. They go up, they go down. It's a roller coaster ride, but it was really a year of uncertainty. And we all know what's going on outside the windows. So between wars and an election that was just looming over us, and nobody knew what was going to happen, and it was a divisive one, and so on and so forth.
Yeah, so you got this geopolitical tension, you have economic tension, you have good, you have not so good, then everybody's just trying to save money wherever they can. Budgets were being held and cut. We all saw the Gartner report, I think it was, where, what was it? 12 % of the spending that goes to marketing dropped to 8%, if I remember correctly. Yeah, that's all indicative of
what happened last year in terms of the economy and where we were. And then I think everybody sort of felt the same way where, you know what, as we get past this November election, hopefully we will see a turn. And that's exactly what happened. It did for us. And in fact, I don't think it was 48 hours past the election.
Steve / Agency Outsight (10:25.838)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Lisa Colantuono (10:34.224)
The phone started ringing and the email started coming in and everybody started to loosen up. I think it was more about, okay, we all survived it. Let's go now. Right. And it wasn't just this whole, you know, whoever was running, you know, the old Trump thing. I mean, it wasn't really about that. It's just every four years we go through this. And it's just, it's the uncertainty.
Steve / Agency Outsight (10:55.042)
Yeah, it's the uncertainty like you talked about and it's not about the it's not about who the characters are. It's about that. There's something going on and it drives uncertainty and yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (11:01.256)
Exactly. It doesn't matter. Right. It doesn't matter who the cast of characters are and who's, you know, who's who the candidates are and what have you. It really is. What's the uncertainty? We feel uncertainty and what's the what's going to happen as the same administration or new administration comes in? And that's it. That's the whole thing. Right. But so anyway, we got past that.
We saw a turn and almost immediately things started coming in. Everybody started to get a little busy. Then of course, you you hit the holidays because it was just right on top of everything. And then this year, 25, the first, within the first week, we got three, three reviews come in the door. So knock on wood. Uh, and hopefully it continues. Now let's see, you know, we're all sort of watching into the future now. All right. Is this going to continue?
Steve / Agency Outsight (11:41.71)
Wow, good.
Lisa Colantuono (11:54.102)
And I think, in fact, I did a huddle a few hours ago today with a whole bunch of agencies, or about 60 agencies on the line. And everybody was agreeing that they just see an uptick. There's a massive, massive uptick in activity so far, first few weeks of the year and late last year. So.
Let's hope it keeps going, that seems to be the consensus so far.
Steve / Agency Outsight (12:26.286)
So let's ride on the idea that this is going to keep going and there's a lot of opportunity for agencies and here is an opportunity for them to learn how to stand out from the crowd, how to avoid the endless pitch work, the endless spec work and you lean heavily on building trust and building relationships and I want to be able to share some of those key recommendations you have about how agencies can do that to stand out from their competitors.
Lisa Colantuono (12:53.16)
Sure, sure.
I really believe the agency and the brand both are people in a way. if you think of it that way, think about yourself. Your reputation precedes you. And any smart person will protect their reputation. And that can go in lots of directions. But how do you do that? Well, you're building trust. And when you start with that foundation of
trust, it spins from there. So if you're chasing everything and you're just running after anything that comes in the door or passes by you and these folks don't know you, that's problem number one. So people usually buy from people they know and like and trust.
Steve / Agency Outsight (13:47.758)
Mm-hmm.
Steve / Agency Outsight (13:54.36)
Mm-hmm. And trust. Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (13:58.04)
To me, it's all about teaching. I taught college for 16 years. And I think when you teach, you instantly build trust because you're a trusted resource. And when you become a trusted resource, well, then people go to you, right? And they ask you for your opinions and your questions. And once that starts, you're building a relationship. And when you build a relationship, well,
Steve / Agency Outsight (14:15.544)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (14:28.544)
you can finish the rest of that, right? So it's just sort of the snowball effect, which all starts with, to me, teaching, right? So I think that is the best way to go about building trust. Again, how do you get new business? Well, there is no magic bullet. So question today on the call that I did, you know, how do you, how do you build a pipeline? Well, listen, if I had a magic wand, I'd be making a
a lot more money than sitting here, right? But nobody has that magic wand. You just don't, right? You just don't. But there are folks and agencies that have a knack and that knack is really building a reputation, a great reputation, right? And building it on trust. And how do you do that again? Through teaching, through getting out there.
staying in the press, staying on LinkedIn. Go look at Mischief, right? Mischief is sort of the new Chris from Porter for the past couple of years now. And Ollie, you did a great job if you're listening to this. He really took the bull by the horns and started going. And that doesn't discount everybody else. They all are part of this and they're a group that is working very hard together. But there's a
There's a handful of agencies, Mischief pops up, Pereira O'Dell pops to mind, the shipyard even pops to mind. mean, they've gotten themselves in the press. They've gotten themselves in the light. They've gotten themselves a path to allow people to find them. right, so, now, okay, great, but you still have to have great work.
You still have to have work that works and you have to have the good stories and you have to have the proof points. Because otherwise you're just going to shoot yourself in the foot. What's the worst? What's the number one way to kill a brand? Let me try that again. What's the number one way to kill a bad brand altogether is great advertising. So if you have great advertising and a bad brand, well, you're going to kill it eventually, pretty quickly. sure.
Steve / Agency Outsight (16:28.59)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (16:52.598)
want to get out there and you want to be noticeable, but you also have to have the proof points, right? Because in the end, and we just finished the review, just about to totally finish it off for a healthcare group.
All the clients agreed, all of them, right down the line. In the end, making this decision, which they still haven't solidified yet, it really is about great creative. And they said it, said, I can't move forward without picking an agency that doesn't have great creative, because otherwise we're back to square one. We're not going to survive with flat creative.
Steve / Agency Outsight (17:24.75)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (17:39.064)
Strategies critical, they're not discounting strategy, but that strategy has to anchor into the creative and the creative has to be salient. And I don't care what year we're talking in, that's the same message over and over and over again. Whether they call it flat creative, vanilla creative, I don't care what creative, it's gotta work. So agencies have to get out there and prove that they have that kind of,
And I fully agree, right?
Steve / Agency Outsight (18:10.094)
And I fully agree, but I have two kind of thoughts or questions about that. The first is mischief and any these other brands. Is the press that they're getting, is it earned or are they paying for it? Are they, you know, submitting themselves for thought leadership? Is it a little of both? Okay.
Lisa Colantuono (18:13.432)
first is.
Lisa Colantuono (18:17.208)
they're getting.
Lisa Colantuono (18:22.904)
It's a combination of everything and look we we can go back in time Mold enough to go back in time. If you go to take a story 20 years ago Fallon, all right, nobody knew Fallon Yet they became a hot shop what they do
they entered every award show possible. And it just kept going, they kept going. And they got the recognition, they got the notoriety. They won or lost, it didn't matter, okay? Because they were in the press, were, you know, again, and they kept entering every show that they could possibly enter. And they did the right thing by not just entering and waiting, now they publicized it, right? So.
Yeah, it's a combination of both. Absolutely. So it's, and as I say to agencies all the time, look, what do you do for your own clients? I just said this this week to somebody, I don't remember who it was, but your number one, and I mean number one client is who? And he sat there and I said, this isn't a hard question. It's your agency. Right. You have
Steve / Agency Outsight (19:13.326)
All right, okay.
Lisa Colantuono (19:39.34)
have to make your agency your number one client and assign it assign it to a team you've got to pay that team to work on your business well i know but then we get busy yeah right i'm just gonna say that then that's it you you jumped in and finished the rest of the thought there right it's like i know but you can't
Steve / Agency Outsight (19:52.056)
And when and if they do that, that's the first client that gets pushed to the side when they're busy. Yeah, absolutely.
Lisa Colantuono (20:07.192)
You can't, you just simply cannot allow that the way you would not allow it with a paying client. It's discipline. Don't get me wrong. It's discipline, but it's your number one client. You've got to get out there. You've got to get out there. And I talk about the, I don't know, three Rs, four Rs, five Rs, whatever the Rs are, but know, referrals, right? Referrals are a big one.
Steve / Agency Outsight (20:23.256)
Got to be, yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (20:38.518)
talking to your current clients. Hopefully they're happy. They should be, but hopefully they're happy. And if they're happy, great. Ask for referrals. It's sometimes a little uncomfortable, but so what? No, it's a win-win.
Steve / Agency Outsight (20:53.934)
But it's a win-win all around, and there's gotta be a strategy behind it, and when you do it, they look good because they've connected you with somebody that's gonna look good also, so yeah, absolutely.
Lisa Colantuono (21:02.344)
Absolutely, And cross selling, and of course the whole organic growth, that's a great way too. But referrals and relationships, referrals and relationships, and that means cross selling, that means organic growth, that means asking again for referrals from your current clients. Those things are must do's, period, must do's. Then from there it's...
relations, public relations, right? And again, press coverage and getting in the press as much as you could possibly get in the press, paid or owned or earned, whatever, right? But just get in the press as much as you can. And I even say to agencies, look, maybe you see a hot story, right? Comment on it, right? Comment on it. Get into the conversation. Take it, repost it.
Steve / Agency Outsight (21:52.76)
Yep. Jump into the conversation. Be a part of it. Yep.
Lisa Colantuono (21:59.148)
Put your point of view on it. Yes, do these things. And then tag, tag where it's appropriate. So it gets out there. These are just basic things to do at this point. gosh, where was I? don't know. I was on some panel last year and I talked about Pereira O'Dell. And Pereira O'Dell, great little shop, but they weren't.
making that much noise, all of a sudden last year they're on the scene, they're winning and winning and winning. What did they do? Well, January 23, they had like seven press mentions. January 24, they had 77 press mentions. Okay, so I might have the numbers a little screwed up, but something like that. And you can see the direct correlation. And they brought in a PR gallon, they did fan.
Steve / Agency Outsight (22:46.848)
Wow.
Lisa Colantuono (22:58.164)
She does fantastic. I mean, that's what it's supposed to be. Go back in time again, old enough to go back 20 years ago, Crispin Porter. That was their secret sauce. That was their secret weapon, if you will. What did they do? They hired two gals to just get release after release after release after release. They didn't even care what they were sending out after a while. like, just get us in the press. We don't care what it even says.
But it worked, maybe it wasn't to that extreme, but it worked. It really worked. And then all of a sudden, I remember getting inquiries from clients where we were doing reviews.
They would look at the agency universal list or whatever we were evaluating. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, looks great. could you add that Crispin agency? Well, they're not really gonna fit the criteria you have. Yeah, but we really, and.
Steve / Agency Outsight (24:04.386)
The name recognition was there and it stood out in the sauce and people wanted the connection. Yeah. Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (24:08.116)
Exactly, exactly. And now it's intrigue, right? And then I talk about the, I think the fourth R if I'm doing this right, remarkable, recognizable. And what I mean by that is noticeable work. Okay. So again, you've got to get out there, DeVito Verdi used to do something interesting where they would go back into their
files, so to speak, and they would pull out some great past work and they would showcase it on LinkedIn and talk about the work and, you know, give some of the story and what have you. Yeah, that's what agencies, that's what marketers rather want to see. They want to see the work that you can do and that you've done, right? And if it resonates with them, then it resonates with them. I mean, that's the other thing. You have to make sure that it's
relevant. They can relate to it.
Steve / Agency Outsight (25:06.476)
Yeah. It's funny, you mentioned something earlier that made me think that. So I fully agree. The creative has to be on spot. It's got to be awesome. It's got to stand out. It's got to answer the problem, speak to the audience. But where in your experience does account management and customer care and all that fit into the winning? I will say the winning because I know that's a big reason to keep an account is do they feel taken care of? Is the account team nurturing them?
Lisa Colantuono (25:27.234)
winning, instead of winning.
Lisa Colantuono (25:36.279)
Mm-hmm.
Steve / Agency Outsight (25:36.652)
Where do you think that that plays in for the winning part of things?
Lisa Colantuono (25:41.032)
gosh, well, listen. People want to feel that they're going to be cared for. Again, they're not hiring an agency, they're hiring people. That's really truly what they're hiring. Now, they're hiring a team of people that hopefully have the talents, have the right resources and the relevant expertise. mean, that's...
Steve / Agency Outsight (25:53.016)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (26:08.216)
If you boil it down to nothing, that's pretty much what it is. Let's go the other way. Why do agencies lose accounts? It's typically, typically, no matter what the response is, it always boils down to one word, and that's complacency. I've watched this over the years. I've gotten all sorts of different answers, but if you really just...
Steve / Agency Outsight (26:33.389)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (26:39.01)
think about it for a second, it's complacency. And they don't worry about my business the way I do. Or, well, I lost my lead account person who was absolutely fantastic and they got replaced with somebody that doesn't have the same stature and expertise, right? What is that? That's complacency. Or, I'll never forget this one. I love the...
Strategy very strong creators. Okay, people are good. Why are you doing this review? They don't worry about it the way I do I Feel alone. I feel like I am alone in this boat in the middle of the ocean and nobody there to help me All she was saying was they don't they're not proactive And I talk about that with agencies also you get a new CMO that comes in
Steve / Agency Outsight (27:18.114)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (27:37.186)
Do not stick your head in the sand. That's the worst thing you can possibly do. What should you do? You call the review. What do mean I'm gonna call the review? I mean that. You call the review. Call them up. Love to have some time with you. We wanna call a little mini review. We wanna show you the past work, the current work, and the future work. What new CMO is gonna say no to that?
Steve / Agency Outsight (27:50.872)
Mm-hmm.
Steve / Agency Outsight (28:01.838)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (28:07.416)
You gotta be proactive. I mean, it really is all about proactivity.
Steve / Agency Outsight (28:10.846)
Especially when somebody new comes in there's the threat that they're gonna bring their previous favorite who knows what along and there you're you're Destined for a chopping block. So if you're not proactive, it's gonna happen Yeah
Lisa Colantuono (28:21.804)
That's exactly right. We're talking to a QSR group and the guy, new CMO came in and he decided, I'm going to hold on the review. Okay, fine. But I'm going to call you in May one way or another because I called my old agency that I worked with. I want to see how they do first. Okay, fine. You know what? Why did he call his old agency? Because he had some sort of trust.
Steve / Agency Outsight (28:43.608)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (28:51.754)
established, right? That's what it boils down to. Again, people buy from people they trust.
Steve / Agency Outsight (29:01.516)
And one of your Rs is the report that they had, the relationship that they had. So yeah, of course they're gonna call them back. Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (29:04.588)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, 100%. But, you know, but starting from zero, how do you do that? What do you do? Okay, all that's great, Lisa. Fine. What do I do? Well, that's what I'm talking about. That's where the networking comes in and the webinars come in and then getting your creative out there and these little case studies, micro case studies that you should get out there and
PR activation and press coverage and merchandising your work and SEO, SEM programs, which I know can cost quite a bit, but you know, it does work. Conferences, trade shows, thought leadership. mean, you know it all. You know it all. There's nothing here that I'm gonna tell you that you don't know. Speaking opportunities. That's the number one way of building trust because again, all of a sudden you're teaching.
and you're considered an expert and you're a resource and you become a resource. And now they rely on you or they call you and you build a relationship and there you go. But yeah, it's time consuming. doesn't, you don't just snap your fingers.
Steve / Agency Outsight (30:00.206)
Mm-hmm.
Steve / Agency Outsight (30:16.438)
It's time consuming, it's an investment, and every agency, like you mentioned, has its own personality, and so what might work for some agencies won't work for the other, and you gotta find the right mix of all of those tactics and what works for them and prioritize it and treat it like a client. Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (30:29.016)
Absolutely, absolutely. mean, there was an agency here in New York City is here. I can't think of the name of the agency right now, but a number of years ago, they, what they did was they selected 16, 17, 18 brands, whatever it was, right? It was just a small number of brands that they emotionally were attached to, right? They really.
love these brands, not just for rational reasons, but for emotional reasons. Now, why did they do that? Because when you are emotional about something, it's just a much stronger, more engaging outreach, right? So what they did was they took those X number of brands and they put it through the first two steps of their, I think, five-step strategic process. So they got some insights and they reached out and they
basically said, look, love your brand for all these reasons. This is what we do. We put it through a couple of steps. We got some insights. We'd love to share those insights with you. No strings attached. The insights are yours to do whatever you wish, but we think it could be helpful. At that time, and this was probably 10 years ago, at that time, they got 90, somewhere between 80 and 90 % response rate and meetings.
Great, great, you know, and it's also about staying in touch, again, the whole teaching aspect, but stay in touch, stay top of mind, don't aggravate, don't become a stalker, but share valuable information. I interviewed the CMO, past CMO of Cici's Pizza a couple of years ago.
And she had said, if you share interesting ideas with me, that's relevant to the context of the brand, then there's some sort of business value to it. Sure. I'll take 10, 15 minutes. Why wouldn't I? Right. As long as I feel that it could be helpful to the business of that particular brand. Right. And totally fine. I did a.
Lisa Colantuono (32:55.666)
another meeting with the VP of communications or something or other of the Who Foundation. I think it was last year and she said the same things like I need more than cursory homework. Don't just reach out with the same
piss and pray email, right? I just, no, no, that's not gonna, that's absolutely not gonna get my attention. I need you to show me some thinking, show me an idea, show me something that is constructive and insightful. And here's the other thing that I hear from everybody. Don't be negative about what I do. Don't come in and say to me,
Steve / Agency Outsight (33:21.677)
Yeah.
Steve / Agency Outsight (33:36.312)
Hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (33:39.65)
this sucks and I know you're not gonna put it that way, but this sucks and this doesn't work and in your website, just see your website, how awful it is and I can come in and fix that thing. That turns people off, right? In fact, a number of folks have said to me, when agencies come in and say, I really love what you did here. I just wanna congratulate you on something that really stands out from the pack. It made an impression on us.
We have a couple of thoughts on how to move the ball further down the court, so to speak. That gets them. And part of that is, as she had, I don't remember her name that I spoke to, the VP of marketing for a construction company. And she says, what it was is, first of all, you're legitimizing what I'm doing. And she goes, I don't always know if I'm right.
Steve / Agency Outsight (34:35.842)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Colantuono (34:38.946)
Think about it, they're people too. They don't always know if they're right. Right, they're taking their shots. So she goes, if you come in and you say, you did that well, I just want to let you know you did that well and it's solid and the foundation is there. We have some great ideas or a couple of ideas that we think could push it a little further. You're going to get their attention.
Steve / Agency Outsight (34:40.46)
Yep, they're just taking a shot. Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (35:05.014)
versus throw the baby out with the bathwater and you stink and this is awful and we could come in and save the day and like, no, I remember, I can go on and on with stories. That's the problem when you do this for so long, right? But I remember being at a Forbes CMO conference, I don't remember, eight years ago. And I happened to sit down with four or five guys.
different guys from different brands, know, all CMOs. And one was from, Harley Davidson, right? Mark, Hans Richter. I'll never forget Mark. you, if you know Mark, Mark has no filter, right? so Mark, trying to think, Louisville Slugger, Dish Network and, and one of the QSR, Arby's, Arby's. And I.
Steve / Agency Outsight (35:43.533)
good name.
Lisa Colantuono (36:01.29)
He was just chatting, know, and so I happen to say, so, how many unsolicited emails a month do you get? I've been asking this question for years, right? By the way, would you like to guess approximately how many they get? Try somewhere around a thousand to 1500 a year, a month, a month, a month, which is crazy. You know, I had an, a past client of mine who I bet him.
Steve / Agency Outsight (36:12.408)
Mm-hmm.
Steve / Agency Outsight (36:17.006)
800
Steve / Agency Outsight (36:22.968)
Wow, a month, yeah. I believe it. Sure.
Lisa Colantuono (36:30.552)
And he said, oh, I easily get 300. I go, no, you don't. He goes, absolutely. said, no, you don't. And he goes, what are you talking about? I get at least 300. I said, you get at least a thousand. And he looked at me and he goes, you're on. And one month to the day, I tell the story old time, one month to the day, he emailed me and said 936, you win. Okay. So now I'll go back to.
Steve / Agency Outsight (36:55.244)
Wow, yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (37:00.024)
the four guys sitting there, the four CMOs, how many unsolicited emails did he get? Did you even pay attention? And they all started giggling. And so, well, what's going on? he said, I love when I get that email. I understand your pain point. I know your pain point. And the guy from Louisville Slugger, they're no longer there, but he goes, nobody would guess my pain point.
they go, well, what's your pain point? goes, the bugs eating the wood in the tree that I need to make the bed fall back. Like, are you joking me? Then Arby's turns around and goes, nobody would guess my pain point. I go, what's your pain point? He goes, I need to keep clean bathrooms in the restaurants. It's like, my.
Steve / Agency Outsight (37:40.685)
Ha
Lisa Colantuono (37:56.204)
Gosh, this looks like it has nothing to do with marketing. Neither one of them, right? And Mark turns around, right? Mark turns around and literally it was the middle, was the dead of winter. It was freezing. It was one of those winters where the snow just never ended, right? And he turns around. We're all adults, I can say this. Do you want to know my pain points is? Like, uh-oh, sure, why not? What's your pain point, Mark?
Steve / Agency Outsight (37:58.936)
Nothing to do with marketing. Wow.
Lisa Colantuono (38:25.698)
fucking snow. It doesn't stop snowing. It was just like, my gosh, this is hysterical, right? but right down the line, none of them had more calm pain points. And that's the point of that story. Again, that one I've told for years also, but it's a brilliant story that gets the point across that.
Steve / Agency Outsight (38:30.894)
Nobody's riding Harleys in the snow.
Lisa Colantuono (38:53.524)
stop reaching out with, understand your pain points and none of that. No, you don't. You probably don't. And you probably wouldn't even realize that they have nothing to do with marketing. And so, and then of course they had said, yeah, you know, if they're reaching out with something that's very insightful about the business challenge or the consumer or the category. And it's always those C's. always
talk about the three C's, the consumer, the category and the challenges, right? The business challenges, the marketing challenges. They'll pay attention, eventually they'll pay attention, but again, it has to be coupled with lots of other things, right? Just the way as an agency says to their brand, what really does anybody say, you just need to be on TV.
That's never gonna work. All right. So it's this full on comprehensive MarCom plan, integrated MarCom plan. And that's the same thing for your brand as an agency. It's gotta be.
Steve / Agency Outsight (40:00.11)
Got to be, At least I want to wrap up there and pull you into a couple random rapid fire questions so we can talk agency stories probably for hours, run out of tape on this thing. What is something that you are binging these days? A hobby, a book, podcast, something you just can't get enough of?
Lisa Colantuono (40:09.27)
I
Right.
Lisa Colantuono (40:23.238)
my goodness gracious.
I'm not one of those binge people. I'm really truly not.
This is gonna sound a little random. Anybody that knows me, I have a lot of faith. And if there's any show that I binged, it's The Chosen. And there's a lot of very interesting lessons in that show that I take to heart, and I really do. And I think one of them is truly what I've always lived by, which is the golden rule.
Right. And I tell that to everybody, you know what? That's what it's all about in the end. In the end, it's all about how you treat that other person. Make sure that they're comfortable. Make sure that they have trust in you. Make sure that they can depend on you, that you are reliable because it is, we are in the business of relationships. Right. So it's funny that it's, it's a religious based show, but there are so many great lessons out of
Steve / Agency Outsight (41:35.234)
Yeah, absolutely. can pull it out and apply it anywhere. What is a valuable piece of advice that you would give to your younger self?
Lisa Colantuono (41:38.038)
Yeah.
Lisa Colantuono (41:46.262)
I guess probably a few things, but really don't sweat the small stuff. I mean, we all get wrapped up in that. It's not how you get to the finish line. You will get there. If you're really truly dedicated, you will absolutely get there. But that's one, don't sweat the small stuff. And quite frankly, the other one is
your network around you, you are the company you keep. I say that to my nephew all the time. He's now 16 going on 17 and since he's a little kid, Jay. And my niece too, both of them, your friends, they do define you. You are the company you keep, so keep the best company you possibly can.
Steve / Agency Outsight (42:38.638)
Absolutely, yep.
Lisa Colantuono (42:44.544)
and become a better version of yourself.
Steve / Agency Outsight (42:47.534)
Yeah, love it. Lisa, AAR partners, folks watch the AAR partner space. They are transforming the agency search process again very soon. So watch their socials and website. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us and sharing all of your experience and amazing stories. We'll have to get together and share some more stories in person soon.
Lisa Colantuono (42:48.792)
Lisa, AAR partners focus.
Lisa Colantuono (43:09.049)
we'll be there all day long. Thank you, Steve. You got it.
Steve / Agency Outsight (43:11.318)
I look forward to it. Thank you again for joining me.