I read an editorial in the October 2006 issue of CREATIVITY Magazine written by Jonah Bloom, an editor at ADVERTSIING AGE. The title of the editorial was, “It’s not your clients, it’s you.”
He begins the editorial, “Memo to agencies: It’s time that broken record about your poor work being the fault of your clients was consigned to the storage locker with the rest of your vinyl.”
Ouch!
I admit, on occasion, I have used that excuse. I agree with Jonah that we on the agency-side often assume that since the client lacks the craft skills, they aren’t creative. Craft skills and creative are both essential but completely different things.
I know we have presented work that clearly demonstrates our craft skills but may be lacking true, innovative creative. Our clients may indeed lack the craft skills but they may the ones offering the real creative. Even if the client doesn’t pretend to have the fresh ideas themselves, they are demanding genuinely new ways of solving marketing problems.
Our clients are being forced to learn more, think more and hire more innovative thinkers to succeed. It’s all change and that’s going to require more genuinely creative solutions from agencies. If we don’t, (and I love this line from Jonah), we’d better come up with, “new excuses for mediocrity.”