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Hi, I'm leaving Citi in 2 months.It's hard to make this decision. I have an offer from a small startup.In citi, my previous experience was not considered and was reskilled to different tech which is the reason for change.I don't like to exit citi. As I like the company so much.But considering my current knowledge,I am in the middle of the sea.I am afraid now that the new company's offer would be revoked due to this recession?Or can I take back my resignation in citi before the last working day.Is this wise decision?
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Can anyone tell me what does this really mean...
How are you spending your weekend?
For July 4th does google only give one day off?
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Hire a rep…
Corner the market in your area on socials. Make them high end. Build your reel, then reach to a rep
Don’t underestimate the role of the producer, either. In many cases, they control the reels that go to the creatives.
Thank you — that’s a very helpful insight. Makes perfect sense.
We got reps for the first time a little over a year ago. That was after a year of courting them and refining our brand and work. We just won our first job with them this week. We’ve made it to the final shortlist three times before now, but lost all three.
We see 3-4 boards a week on average. It’s quite a bit of work to be constantly submitting so keep that in mind. Also, most of the bigger agency stuff is still director-driven so be prepared to create a roster/network of directors to pitch (animation slightly differs in that studios are submitted).
In those cases, it’s all about having the exact type of work the agency/client is looking for. Every time we’ve gotten shortlisted was because we had the exact type of work/director to share. And I mean exact like a director that does running spots for consumer package foods in a cinematic lifestyle approach.
We also have in-house biz dev that’s brought in a lot more projects through direct relationship building. They also handle rep submissions and help find talent.
I wouldn’t trade either (rep vs in-house) as they serve separate functions and overall widen our net.
Echoing what someone else said, for an agency you really need to bring something to the table they can’t do in house. Often that’s talent as there’s more equity than ever in production execution up to a point. I would do some competitive research on what agencies/brands you’re trying to reach, see the type of work they’re doing, and then compare to yours.
There’s also a lot you can with your brand to change perception, but that will only go so far without the work to back it up.
It’s mostly national, but we’re not winning that many, just seeing that many. Sometimes it’s quiet for a week or two then a flurry of activity.
We submit on maybe half that, if we don’t have the perfect option, we tend to pass.
As the other commenters said, get a rep and get in with producers.
You need to be able to get your reel in front of producers when they are actually ready to bid a job. It’s great sharing with a producer randomly to get on their radar but they will forget about you in a few months when they actually need to bid a job.
Personally, I tend to reach out to relevant production companies that I’ve worked with in the past and like 10 reps. I’ll usually get back 30+ reels and long list around 20 for the creatives to go through.
It really depends on the work you are chasing. A rep is only valuable if you have really solid directors and want to play the game of submitting them, spending money on treatments, etc. It’s a crap shoot. There’s so much competition out there. I’ve worked with a lot of small shops that wanted to go this route but spent so much money on pitches they didn’t win that it became a big loss and then they have to let go the reps. If you have really strong directors then getting a rep might be worth it, but at the end of the day it’s on you to close the job.
I find that CDs want to work with the bigger companies while their producers want to work with the smaller companies to protect the budget. The output is pretty much the same.
If you are doing more production services type work, go direct to brand or find the smaller agencies that you can partner with for a fixed markup.
Do you have a YT channel?
There is no secret sauce. If there was, we’d all be rolling in $. New business and winning projects is a combo of a couple of things. Some super tangible, other aspects completely perception based. Meaning, no matter how good your work, if you are not perceived as “the cool kid”, then no, you won’t be considered for work. And yes, every now and then clients will see the value in your work ethic, but the projects you want are being gate kept by people looking for that new, young hot shop. A lot of the time budget has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with how you’re putting yourself out there. What’s your company branding like? Is it as thoughtful as your work? Is your website black? How many awards do you have under your belt? Look, this business isn’t kind to hard workers. It really does depend on who you are. Who you’re perceived to be.
You can invest all you want in reps or EP’s with connections. At the end of the day it just comes down to you. Are you standing in your own way?
Where are you located?
Work closely with a director.
A Rep could help
Making some fun spec stuff could help
Unpopular opinion - Make sure none of your team members is posting political shit, it’s getting old. I already know of a few people that are slowly taking work away.