Mike Carlton
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Mike Carlton has spent most of his life in and around advertising agencies. For over a quarter of a century he served in various agency functions, including general management and ownership in a 150-person shop. Along the way he held offices in the American Association of Advertising Agencies, agency networks, and became a frequent writer and speaker on agency issues. In the 1980s he founded Carlton Associates Incorporated, a consulting firm that focuses on agency business and leadership challenges. He was also a founder of World Systems, a first generation accounting system supplier for agencies, and 600 Monkeys (now a part of Computer Associates), a provider of new technologies for agencies and other professional service firms. In addition, he founded Centre for International Business, which has assisted advertisers and agencies globally. His consulting, systems and international work has taken him to agencies all over the world. The client roster numbers more than 100, including strong, mid-size independent agencies, offices of global agency organizations, as well as successful smaller shops. He currently serves on the advisory or corporate boards of a number of agencies and related firms. Mike is a former Army officer and holds a business degree from The University of Delaware. He regularly lectures to marketing, communications and MBA students around the world. He and his wife Ruth have a large family and live in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, USA.
Recent Activity
The competition for bright young advertising agency talent is fierce. Yet many of the mentors that historically helped young talent are now gone. And if talent development is diminished, the future looks bleak. Here are some thoughts on mentoring that may help your agency.
As marketers increasingly embrace marketing automation the number of different commercial messages needed will grow exponentially. Like nothing we have ever seen before. For agencies this can be a great blessing or a terrible curse. Here's why.
What's going on in the heads of advertising client C suite executives? What are their thoughts and feelings toward their advertising agencies? And how do those thoughts and feelings affect their relationships with their agencies? Here are some unexpected answers to those questions.
Have we let advertising agencies become dinosaurs? Marketers are looking for effective business solutions, speed and low cost. While many agencies are still enamored by growth in size, stature and heft. Here are some thoughts on how agencies can close this gap.
A lot of campaigns don't work the way they should. They are carefully researched and meet all the contemporary best practice standards. But the consumer sees them and yawns. Here are some thoughts on what‘s wrong, and some ways to fix it.
Agency talent churn is coming. The Great Recession has bred hordes of restless agency staffers. These valuable people are getting ready to seek better jobs. Here are some thoughts on addressing this problem.
Increasingly, marketers are using the RFP process when selecting an advertising agency. And that can be a big hassle. Yet many excellent long-term agency/client relationships are still forged without RFPs.. Here are some thoughts on minimizing RFP frustrations.
The role of the agency account executive is changing. Yet many agencies have not yet profiled what their AEs of the 21st Century should be like. Or what they should expect from them. Here are some thoughts on creating that profile and establishing expectations.
Conventional wisdom teaches us to avoid ambiguity. Clarity of facts and process is highly valued, particularly by young agency people. Yet we know that ambiguity can be a stimulus to creative thinking. Here are some thoughts on how ambiguity can work for your advertising agency.
Increased marketer use of short-term project assignments has made advertising agency income less predictable. Yet fixed costs stay the same. Hollywood faced this problem and changed to a less risky and more rewarding business model. Here's how what worked for Hollywood could work for advertising agencies.
