My Agency has a Bigger Penis than Yours
Advertising agencies have always fascinated me. I don’t think there is any industry that spends more money trying to impress their competitors. Can you think of any other industry, other than the Hollywood film industry where there are so many meaningless awards? Many advertising agencies spend fortunes creating huge, lavish offices filled with $1500 desk chairs, fancy art, and walls of awards. The amount of money spent trying one up the competition on cool meter is impressive but does it actually help business, or is it just another piece of the penis measuring puzzle?
I have always wondered what customers think as they enter some of the fancy agency offices. I know if I were walking into many agencies as a customer, I would be thinking hard to myself about how much they must overcharge to support their space. While I do understand that it is important to have a nice environment to foster creativity, I think many agencies go way overboard.
Recently, as the economy slowed I saw some newer agencies experience problems. Many of these agencies had borrowed money to create big fancy compensator offices. They also wasted tons of money promoting themselves to other agencies through competitions and award shows, trying to become the cool new agency everyone wanted to be. Unfortunately this strategy doesn’t get customers in the door and with-out customers agencies don’t last long.
In today’s value centric economy I think balance is the key success. As an agency there is a certain level of professionalism and self-promotion required to be successful. In addition, the cost of working with your agency needs to be in-line with the value you provide. If you can’t make your customers money it won’t be long before there is a for lease sign on your over-sized frosted glass doors.
No related posts.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment