With one hand on the checkbook and the other hand on the heart, I believe that there are too serious and visible threats to our advertising activity to add depth to our own weaknesses.
Yesterday I was in a meeting where my good friend and collaborator, Carlos Abarca, insisted on the importance of recognizing that companies are there to produce money. That their essence may be different and their reason for existence may be different, but that the most important result is the generation of wealth, of profits, of money. Moreover, he commented that in the mission of many companies, shareholder remuneration comes last, when he thinks it should come first. His words were focused on remembering that it is up to us to produce profits, so if an Eye or a Lion is a good contribution to increase them, then they are justified.
The previous paragraph, for many branding, advertising, creativity and advertising awards enthusiasts, may be a demonstration of reprehensible metallization. However, it only takes a second to open our eyes and understand that Don Carlos is absolutely right to remind us of this truth. Companies have to make money, and hopefully, a lot of money.
Without a doubt, it is vital to remember the importance of not losing focus on the company’s profits and its business. The good news, however, is that since our business is a consequence of our clients’ business, it is necessary to focus on the client’s business, its brands and financial gains.
With resources it is possible to seek wealth generation, to improve the economic compensation of our creative talent, to introduce significant economic rewards to our best collaborators and thus turn ours into an activity focused on the client’s business, in order to improve our own.
From what has been said so far, it is not difficult to understand that the client is king, and that we owe our business to him. Without the customer there is no business, no income, no salaries, no nothing. These words, I know, are not at all to the delight of the creative majority of the country, but it is the truth. It takes two fingers to understand that this is so.
In this way, it is very necessary to locate ourselves and not forget that our business is advertising and creativity that strengthens the client’s business, the ideas that procure loyalty to their brands, that capture attention and achieve attraction for their products. In this context, the advertising awards, the Volcanoes and the Cannes make sense, because they stimulate talent to be put at the service of clients.
Let the cash register ring, let advertisers not give away their work, and let everything we do add so much value to our clients that better compensation is justified every day. Let’s stand up for this principle, and let no award or statuette make us miss out on this vital condition.
Sound?
J
