• Self-Promotion Lesson Learned

    December 15, 2014

    While working for a previous employer, I wanted to promote the in-house creative team I was leading. When I approached my manager, he told me it would be a waste of time. The reason was that our internal clients wouldn’t appreciate us spending time marketing ourselves—we should be working for them. …

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  • Prove Your Value—Promote Your Team

    December 08, 2014

    Happy holidays! The IHAF community is busy making the mad, final sprint to the 2014 finish line. And while this time of year can be crazy—finalizing budgets, writing performance reviews, strat-planning for 2015—it also allows us a chance to look back, take stock and think about how we can do things …

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  • How To Build A Duck, And More!

    November 17, 2014

    • by IHAF Staff

    Did you know that these six LEGO bricks can be configured into 950,000 different combinations? Neither did we—until last week’s IHAF Conference, that is. In fact, we learned a lot over the course of the two-day event from leadership challenges to organizational strategies to techniques for rapid- …

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  • Exploring Organizational Strategy

    November 11, 2014

    You wouldn’t think of embarking on a new ad campaign or product launch without the benefit of a well-crafted strategy. Yet many internal agencies think nothing of continuing to grow without the benefit of a purpose-driven organizational strategy. The reality is that a lot of in-house teams have …

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  • Valuing Your Agency’s Performance

    October 28, 2014

    One of, if not the hottest topic within in-house agency management circles today is the question: to charge or not to charge?

    This month at IHAF, we’ve been focusing on in-house agency performance. And while the measures of performance are many, for in-house agencies in particular, cost savings is …

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  • Does Your Team Measure Up?

    October 22, 2014

    • by IHAF Staff

    Measuring your in-house agency’s performance is critical. To deliver ongoing value to the businesses you support, you must understand and be able to quantify your team’s effectiveness and your clients’ satisfaction. It’s also essential to know how your team is progressing over time and how they …

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  • Are We There Yet?

    October 06, 2014

    How many times have we heard that question, repeated over and over and over again from the back seat? Despite our best efforts to silence the question with a satisfactory response, it seems we never get there ourselves. Can the same be said for your in-house agency?

    This month at IHAF, we’re …

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  • Advancing Your Client/Creative Relationships

    June 16, 2014

    Relationships between creative team members and clients can be good, bad or downright ugly. Whatever it is, your goal should always be ongoing improvement of your client relationships.

    The interaction between clients and creatives during projects often invites opportunities for conflict. When …

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  • Why Awards Matter (Even When They Don’t)

    June 04, 2014

    In the external agency world, awards are everything. A creative director early in my career once told me to give the client Headline A (the better headline), even though I told him they would probably reject it. I knew that Headline B was also effective and was probably the one they’d want because …

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  • Changing Your Relationship Status

    June 02, 2014

    As the service-minded design group that once was blossoms into a strategic superpower within your organization, you’ll find your team’s credibility growing—and your responsibilities tripling. What do you mean you can’t design an award-winning logo, lead an international conference call, present …

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