The Revolution Pt.2 of 2

The revolution will not be advertised.

The revolution will not make the account manager choose the clients over his colleagues. It will not make him say ‘yes’ to pretty much everything concluded by the client. It will not make him add a few more slides just to make the presentation look more credible. It will not make him do contact reports that will not hold the client accountable anyway. It will not make him sell ideas he does not believe in. It will not make him resort to MLM just to make ends meet.

The revolution will not make the designers become overworked drones. It will not make them take in the comments of art directors, copywriters and account managers, and then listen to none. It will not make them wish they’d listened to their parents and study accounting instead. It will not make them do freelance in the little time they have because they’re severely underpaid. It will not make them choose a competitor’s product just to spite the client when making a purchase.

The revolution will not make the advertising or direct marketing or interactive agency a marketing errand firm. It will not allow clients to judge creative work based on personal preference instead of the common marketing good. It will not make agencies spoil the market with ridiculously low prices just to get the job. It will not make the agency to pitch for a job without a pitch fee as prescribed by AAAA. It will not make advertising professionals among the least trusted professions in the world.

The revolution will not be advertised, because the revolution is alive. And it will not end with this post, as the revolution is in you.

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A Few Good Creative Men

The title of this post is actually the name of the video from YouTube that I’ve posted for your viewing pleasure. The video is actually a parody of a movie called A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore among others. I must say it is one of the few good (pun intended) Tom Cruise movies, back when he was very watchable.

If you’ve not watched the video yet, I suggest you do. Or if you’ve seen it before, just view it again to refresh your memory. The video pokes fun at the daily battle between creatives and suits. As funny as it is, the insights offered are very valid indeed. Here are some of the key learnings from the video:

  1. No matter how creative a suit thinks he/she is, the least creative person on the studio is more creative.
  2. A creative can become a suit (not that anyone wants to), but not vice versa.
  3. A bigger logo does not sell products… period.
  4. It’s a suits job to sell the creative, not direct the creative
  5. If a suit does not like an ad, he/she should pick up a pencil and write some ads

Just in case you are wondering, I have nothing against the AEs, AMs and ADs of the world. They do a very difficult job which requires tons of humility, patience and persistence. If I were an AE, quite a number of clients would have mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth.

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