Download a free podcast on Positioning Maladies, a 20+ minute chat with 60 or so agencies that gathered recently to talk about their common struggles with positioning and what the solutions might be.

Most firms persist in making undifferrentiated and undemonstrable claims. That is, their positioning statements are largely interchangeable with others, and the claims they are making are impossible for the prospective client to verify. In this category, the worst offenders are claims about "process" and how "ours is different" from all the others out there. It stems from not believing the right things about marketing in the first place and relying on referral sources that think of you in ways that were true then but aren't true now. So, what's the fix? First, recognize that the shortened CMO tenure, from 4.1 years to less than 2.3 years, means that you'll have a great sales force in contacts on the client side who move on to other jobs. But, if you compromise your positioning at the outset, you'll have a bad sales force that keeps dragging you downward. All this points to the need for a steady, even approach to marketing, a clear and concise position that you really own, and a certainty about the business you're in. In the end, you're more likely to suffer from lack of focus than lack of opportunity.

Search iTunes for "ReCourses" or launch the podcast series in iTunes, where it's the most recent episode listed.

Only held once per year, this revamped one-day seminar has been developed especially for design, advertising, interactive, and public relations firms, and it is crafted to cover everything about the creative director role (see the complete agenda on page five). It is appropriate for anyone functioning in that role: a principal, creative director, design director, art director, or just someone soon to be promoted to a role that includes managing people or the creative process.

You’ll learn what your role should be, whether you are a good fit for it, how to perform that role well, how to adjust for your own strengths/weaknesses as you deal with creatives, how to find and screen good creatives, and how to guide the careers of those in your care.

Most important, probably, we’ll walk you through the choices you’ll have to make in transitioning from doing the work to stepping away from such a hands-on role, and why you need to let your design skills wither a bit and work on your copywriting skills instead.

This year for the first time we’ll be presenting new research undertaken about making the transition to first time Creative Director, all based on a forthcoming book on that subject for RockBench Publishing.

Only held once per year (Thursday, February 25), this revamped one-day seminar has been developed especially for design, advertising, interactive, and public relations firms, and it is crafted to cover everything about managing client relationships (see the complete agenda on page five--download PDF flyer). The seminar is appropriate for principals, account managers, and anyone integral to client relationships.

We're offering a reformatted one-day intensive seminar on research and strategy on Friday, February 26, in Nashville. Learn how to do it, how to craft recommendations, how to deliver them effectively, and how to build it all into your positioning. The price is lower, along with special rates for additional attendees. Download PDF flyer for complete information and registration form.