Roy Reid, Managing Partner at Consensus Communications gave (is giving now) a great presentation on corporate ethics. For more info from Roy, contact him at Roy@onmessage.com. They’re the best.
Johnson & Johnson (owner of Motrin) and its ad agency, Taxi, simply reacted instead of responding to a vocal minority. And in doing so, they missed a huge opportunity to exploit the real power of social media -- dialogue.
Because we're independent, and not part of a large network, we have chosen to build partnerships with other independent agencies. Like most things, it's more complicated than you think but worth the effort.
There are other ways to get through this recession. I've written about some in recent months, but wanted to share some new insights that may help your agency thrive against the odds.
If we let our passion for making an ad sit in the corner, gathering dust, we will become more and more afraid to let ideas flow. We will become afraid of our true ability.
So what does an economic crisis look like at the epicenter of retail, the mall? With the holiday season just around the corner? Below are a few observations from this past Saturday.
Winning is intoxicating and changes attitudes. Winning drives revenue (just ask the mayor of Philly what kind of positive financial impact the team has had on the city the last few weeks). And winning is a reminder of what it takes to succeed, whether on the ball field or in the boardroom.
One of my co-workers made an interesting comment about how he believes you keep work quality high. He said that when he lived up north, he learned quickly that a faucet that was not dripping was the sign of a frozen pipe in the near future. The same goes for our work. You have to let the creative faucet drip.
As the Consumer Confidence Index hits an all-time low of 38, will large advertisers finally look en masse to smaller agencies for innovation and value? Is this mess we're in the catalyst of the next sea-change? Quite possibly, yes. And if small agencies have what it takes, the downturn could have a serious upside.