My Customers Can Perform Brain Surgery
Your water heater breaks and you need a new one. You call a plumber, agree to a price and he comes to install it. When he arrives do you have your tool belt on, wrench in hand ready to work with him? To give him guidance as to proper water heater instructions? Are you telling him how many turns the nut should be?
You go the doctors and find out you need surgery. Once there do you instruct the surgeon on what size scalpel to use? How to make the cuts? How to stitch you up properly?
Let’s take it down a bit. You go out to dinner with your family. Do you order then head back to the kitchen and help the chef prepare your meal? Do you tell him what spices he should use? How much garlic should go in?
Then why the heck do our customers in our industry do this to us? When did they become “design” experts. When did they become “font” experts. “Oh, that blue is too dark, let’s go with grey”. WTF!
Here’s a tip to anyone working with a creative agency. You don’t know what you’re talking about, that’s why you hired them. You’re not and will never be experienced enough to know the answers, that’s why you hired them. Let them do what you hired them to do and shut your pie hole. And if you need further clarification watch this very funny video:
Rant over.
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September 4th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I’ve been in consumer products marketing with Colgate-Palmolive (NY) and Kimberly-Clark (KLeenex, Depend, Kotex, Huggies) for 30 years — as President of several global businesses.
This complety nails the idotic things “teams” do to creative. Unfortunately, there is so much truth to it. I love the part where the woman’s daughter didn’t like it — that is something I’ve heard too often.
Funny and great job Nailing It!
September 7th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Let me assure you, Scott, that this is a worldwide pandemic. During my times on the agency side of the equation, I’ve been on the receiving end so many times that now, on the client side of the equation, I’m highly sympathetic to agencies who bear the brunt of my colleagues.
Still, I do wonder whether this is the result of the fact that what we do in communications/branding/design is meant to translate the complex into something simpler for the consumption of the layperson? After all, I would venture that customers don’t really care much about the deep rationales to our brand mantra or design approach. They only encounter it on a visceral, “layperson” level, which is why they feel “qualified” to give their input.