Poor Poor Pitiful Us?
This has been one heck of a week for me already, and it’s only Thursday. One of my favorite musicians, Jay Bennett, passed away this past Sunday morning (see previous post). A lot of strange things are afoot. Made me think of the title of this post, which is adapted from one of my favorite Warren Zevon songs.
I saw a post this afternoon from a blogger whose opinions I generally really respect, Todd Defren, that really made me feel strange. This post contained a well-made film about the push-and-pull inherent in the client/consultant relationship, especially in a down economy.
As I watched it, I wondered why he would post it. His agency, Shift Communications , seems to do fairly good work. I’ve honestly never heard a negative thing about their team or their work product. I even lost a hard-fought deal to them a couple of years ago at my old firm. It looks like they did really well with that brand , too. That’s why I was kind of puzzled by this video.
This video that Defren posted points to unreasonable demands placed by clients on agencies that make the relationships (partnerships, really) less than win-win. Maybe things are going a bit tough at Shift after a layoff a few months ago. I hope they’re not – they sounds like they have some great team members, and some great clients. And, there is a kernel of truth in some of what Defren posted.
But I have three questions:
1. Is social media really about sharing everything that your brand feels, all the time?
2. What about “being strategic”? Aren’t we all in this economic crisis together, clients and consultants/agencies? Does it help to poke fun at your clients?
3. Do you really want your clients thinking that you think of them like the way the actors are portrayed in this video?
I’m unsure what posting that video did to drive business for Defren’s company, but maybe I’m just missing the point. Maybe the purpose was just to start some conversation. And maybe that’s good marketing, in and of itself. Maybe someone can enlighten me in the comments.
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A few more links for Jay Bennett.
Warren Zevon – Roland, The Headless Thompson Gunner – this was one of Jay’s favorite songs
To check out NPR’s tribute to Jay, click here .
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Todd Defren, on Jun 3, 08:06 AM, wrote:
Just venting, Adam. Just venting. ;)
More seriously: First off, times are tough for agencies of all stripes. Your post speaks eloquently of agencies and clients being in this mess together, yet, the insensitive behavior exhibited by “clients” in that video are increasingly common in the industry… in other words, the clients don’t always see this as a partnership but rather as an opportunity to commoditize (as much as possible) a value-added service. That’s what the video is poking fun at.
That said, we’ve been lucky in that most all of our clients and prospects have not exhibited such attitudes. Hurrah for good partnerships!! Where we’ve seen some of that boorish behavior has tended to be more with small prospects than big brands. While it’s rare it is definitely more common than it used to be.
The fact that that video got such a huge reaction is evidence alone that many agencies are experiencing these types of situations.
Anyway, since you asked, SHIFT is doing OK. Gotten a bit beat up just like everybody else, but, a-okay overall!