As marketers, let's not forget where we came from.
“Let us prove to the world,” wrote William Bernbach in his 1949 manifesto for the “creative revolution,” “that good taste, good art, good writing can be good selling.”
This is from an article on AdAge.com about the best ad campaigns of the century that I stumbled on when trying to find a little needed inspiration.
adage.com/century/campaigns.html
I think this is a timely reminder of where we came from. Before the days of google and SEO, or even Apple and Photoshop, we were a people of great ideas. An industry driven by a purpose. And that purpose was to sell. I can’t remember who said it but “No one makes a dime until someone sells something” has always rang true to me. Driven to work all day and stay up all night, kick and scream and fight over the good and bad, we have always been driven by the power of a simple idea. And most of the time, the simplest of ideas are the hardest to find.
These great ideas were not created without effort, or without budgets for that matter. They were crafted tirelessly. People fought for them. They were found in passionate debate and deep strategic insight. They were both client and agency understanding the power of a really good idea and everyone knowing it when they see it. And they are still here.
Let’s make sure that in budget cuts and crisis mode that instead of focusing on faster and cheaper that we as an industry protect the the concept that the simplest ideas are the hardest to find. And that takes time and teamwork between the client and the agency. And when you hit it the ROI can last much longer than this recession.
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