My Friday Agency Rant

 
Some things have been bugging me. Here are 10 Things I just have to say!

1] Stop discussing the Agency of the Future. The Future comes slowly if you can't adapt it's your fault.

2] Stop wasting Clients money. If you are upset with ROI talk don't take the work. Many of your Clients are public companies that judge every other part of their business for ROI and fire people who have negative ROI. Why should you be different? Being Smarter is the Answer! Seek out Media and Message Delivery Channels that can be measured properly. It will reduce finger pointing and help you defend your outrageous billing fees.

3] Digital Advertising is not the answer. Just because we have Computers and Use them a lot doesn't mean we want Ads on there. We have 15 years of utter failure and yet the discussion is always 'well what we just did it this way' without ever thinking maybe the People have a Choice and they already Chose. Get over it! And no Google Goggles or the IPad in not an Advertising game changer as much as they are Technology game changers.

4] Social Media will always be an AND. It is never going to replace Traditional Marketing! But it can enhance it and help you. Use it. But don't believe what anyone says about Social Media who has a vested interest in Social Media's success (ie Zuckerberg, Mashable, or any number of Social Rock Stars that write books and speak on tour) vs Your success! You can not reach 540million people on Facebook. You can reach only 1 person at a time. And it is just as hard as going to the Mall and trying to meet people 1 on 1 and get them to like you.

*Side note. 75% of the Top 100 Social Media Speakers are talking out of their ass just to make money! It is up to you to figure out which 25% are the real deal!

5] Viral does not exist for Marketers. It is 0.00001% of all Social Media chatter. You can reach more than 1 person by reaching 1 person in the right way. But you had better be damn happy if you reach 10 people this way. But if you or your Brand fucks up! Viral will take care of itself. Social Media is People to People technology not Brand to People Technology.

6] For every Product or Brand that sells itself (Best in Class), there are 3 Dogs or Pigs. Be honest with the Consumer and the Client. Don't over sell either. I know you want billings. But dishonesty sets you up for failure.

7] If your campaign is a big sink hole of money with no results, don't open your hand and ask for next years funding. Prove to your client how you will do better.

8] Great Products won't fail, even if the advertising you did sucks! But you can't save Bad Products from failing with great advertising! Remember Marketers and Brands are much more gullible that Consumers. Someone at the Brand believed it was a winner. The Agency told the Brand it was a winner so they could get the billings and the work. And then 9 of 10 new product launches fail. Who are the suckers?

9] More Advertising in More Places, More of the time is not the answer! Just because you can put an ad somewhere doesn't mean anyone cares for it to be there. Advertisers always come up with new places to put ads because they want to bilk their Clients of more money. Not because people want to see ads there. Getting seen by the right demographic is much more important than just getting seen.

10] Sorry but consumers do not care about your ads, the products or the brands as much as you think they do. They don't want to engage with brands, with your advertising, or talk via Social like you think they do. They are busy. Have little time. And want things on their terms not your terms. Get over it and stop lying to your clients about this. There is a reason Facebook Fan pages are failing. People want to talk to their friends much more than a Brand.

Thank you now carry on with your day!