One of the problems I have with adland is their belief that they must resemble the client.
Not just in terms of the client’s business, but in how they speak, dress and act.
They’re wrong.
The whole point of an agency is to be objective.
Of course to do that means you have to know the business.
Have to know the agendas and goals of the individuals and the company as a whole.
And have to know the competitive and social landscape.
But our skill – beyond making work that captures the imagination that makes the business work – is to see the World differently to our clients while being totally aligned to the goals we’re all working towards is.
I’m hearing more and more companies forgetting this.
I’m hearing of more and more situations where people are being evaluated less on the work they do and more on how they present themselves.
Literally.
I cannot tell you how angry and upset this makes me.
Putting aside the fact that people should be allowed to be themselves – especially in the creative industry – the fact is, if you only have people who think like you and agree with you, then you end up in a situation where your value is basically diminished and the role of the agency is nothing more than simply an extension of the marketing department.
Contrary to what you think, this is not my attempt to justify how I dress.
I know I have a ‘unique’ approach to fashion, but it’s not because I want to be noticed, it’s because I have a ‘unique’ approach to fashion.
It’s who I am.
It means I am comfortable in my own skin.
It means I will be utterly honest to my clients and colleagues.
That doesn’t mean I’m always right, but it does mean I’ll always be honest.
It also means my clients are judging me on the work I do, not the clothes I wear.
Which is exactly as it should be.
Sure, first impressions count but in my experience, good clients place far more value on first interactions because they understand they’ll never get anywhere great if all they do is surround themselves with people who think, act and see things the same as them.
As one of my old senior Nike clients once said to me …
“Middle management don’t like to be challenged because they want to keep things the same. Senior management want to be challenged because they want to keep things improving”.
Of course not everyone acts or thinks like that – and often there are reasons for it that are due more to company culture than individual beliefs – but in his particular case, if we weren’t pushing or challenging his beliefs or ideas then he would question why we were there, which is why he was one of the best clients I ever worked with and learnt from.