Greetings from LHCHQ, where we’re once again Newsletter-pilled and exploring the key linguistic challenges of the day:
After New York’s longest winter, we’ve been tanning on the dangerously rickety fire escape outside our office while considering some new business mantras and praying for outdoor drinking weather.
Now on to the #content:
A Practical Guide to Vibes-Based Business Practices
Webster’s dictionary defines the term ‘creative agency’ as… just kidding.
There are an abundance of articles gracing the pages of industry pubs that share a common theme: The agency as we know it is dead™. Is it true? Should we care? And who gets to decide what an agency even is, anyway?
The truth is, so much is happening in the digital marketing world. From AI overload to mass budget cuts, layoffs, and the consolidation of the big shops — particularly Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG for $13.5 billion — it makes sense that there is some anxiety in the air.
It’s not just agency bosses that are concerned and questioning their raison d’être, though; clients are also scratching their heads. As veteran strategist Allen Adamson told Marketing Brew, “For most clients, big is not necessarily better.”
So, back to the question at hand: what makes an agency valuable? Lighthouse’s own Heather Freiser shared her perspective at the Nostos Network’s recent NYC meetup. For Heather, the answer isn’t really about size, structure, or even strict capabilities. Instead, it’s about how you make people feel. In other words, hospitality can be a competitive advantage.
Service is delivering what’s promised, and hospitality is how you make someone feel while you deliver it. Agencies have been trained to obsess over the former, but loyalty lives in the latter. “Clients rarely stay just because of your strategy,” Heather said. “They stay because of how it feels to work with you.” In a landscape where every shop has access to the same AI, the same templates, the same playbooks, that feeling might be the biggest differentiator left.
Product Thinking
The McDonald’s Big Arch sandwich contains two-thirds of your daily recommended caloric intake. Its protein levels — 53 grams, for those keeping track at home — are formidable. So how does the multinational burger seller, well, sell it? Traditional methods only go so far.
If you’ve been #online in the last month, you most likely encountered a 90-second video of a lean, business-casual-clad man trying the behemoth burger. He takes a few small nibbles and strangely refers to the lunch as a product. This guy, it turns out, is McDonald’s CEO; what he lacks in on-camera charm, he likely makes up for in shareholder value-maxxing.
Nevertheless, the video quickly went viral and, in a surprising twist of events, will be remembered as a case study in free advertising for years to come. Within days, social media teams from fast food rivals were scrambling to recreate the scene with their own CEOs; very soon, everyone was familiar with the Big Arch.
Whether there was a Nathan for You-inspired director behind it all or not, the payoff was real. According to research from Morningstar, the Big Arch video generated more than $18 million in brand value for McDonald’s. Amid all the noise, there are lessons for the B2B marketing world too.
Analysis from The Trade Desk shows that ads featured on video streaming, social media, and podcasts are 1.3 times more effective at driving purchase intent compared to more traditional channels. That means a human voice — even if it’s awkward — pays dividends.
The Latest and Greatest from LHCHQ
- Bay Alarm has been keeping communities safe for 80 years. We celebrated that legacy with a bespoke anniversary website — featuring archival photos, company history, and the people who made it happen. Check it out here
- Our VP of Client Services, Heather Freiser, was also featured in LittleBlackBook’s ‘Women Who Will’ series. Read the full piece to learn more about her background, creative inspiration, and why you should just do the damn thing.