Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Show us the money, please

Advertising is a game rigged in the clients' favor. They're the house and we're the marks.

They want pay-for-performance. Contracts always have a 90-day out clause. We work nights and weekends because the client will "know it when he sees it." And even when the work does produce results, that's still no guarantee we won't get fired.

Yet even as clients profess to want an agency that's a "partner," they go and do something like this...



I know that agencies aren't perfect. I know they sometimes miss the strategic mark. And when they produce ads like Innocean did for Hyundai, they deserve to be fired.

But I know one thing agencies aren't.

A bank.

P&G, InBev and the other corporate behemoths are stretching payments out 75, 90 and even 120 days to make more money with "their" money. In the meantime, agencies need to dip into cash reserves or borrow more money to make payroll and pay suppliers.

As an industry we're happy to give you are hearts, our souls, and even at times our dignity. The least you can do is pay us on time.

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