It’s hard to find a business category that doesn’t have most of its members… pants down. With discounts, offers, returns, or the worst of all, with the lowest price, many try to compete and win.
Advertising is no exception and because of this, most agencies… drop their pants. We don’t seem to be escaping the collective fear of charging things for what they are worth, in my opinion, for one simple reason: they have nothing valuable to offer.
If we continue to focus on making quick and cheap ads, agencies will continue to perpetuate ourselves as a commodity, a non-differentiated service with very low barriers for new competitors. And it is true that an ad can be made by anyone, just as it is true that a creative ad? well, almost anyone.
What is not true is that anyone can weave a winning brand, and for this reason, there are few winning brands like Apple, in the world, or like BAC, Payless, Credomatic, Nissan, in Costa Rica, to name a few, that have been earning people’s loyalty by focusing on lasting emotional connections for a lifetime.
If advertisers only want ads, and we only give them ads, then we will only have to compete on price, and maybe speed. And with this, all we will do is give the advertiser what he expects, of course, as cheaply as possible or we will have no way to survive.
On the other hand, if we focus on brand builders, on companies that want their brands to go from being names to legacies, from being a few letters to triggers of emotions that provoke and inspire, advertising agencies will have a lot to add, because it is clear that we know how to do much more than ads.
Those who continue to compete with their pants around their ankles… we will see them pass in front of our doors at their own funeral. Those who focus on adding value and giving customers more than they expect, focused on designing their brands to be winners every time, will be able to celebrate the satisfaction of achievement.
For this reason, I insist that it is up to us to give our clients what they themselves never imagined possible, and with that, to pull up our pants, buckle our buckles and charge in relation to the value we add to our clients’ business.
If you are an agency, if you are a workshop, if you are a colleague, I invite you to stop competing on price. This will lead you to nothing but a miserable life. Let’s be brave, let’s give them a lot, and let’s value our ideas as we deserve.
