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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my disagreement to Tim O’Reilly’s Blogger Code of Conduct. I have not changed my opinion on this at all, but over the last couple of weeks I have felt that creating a new code of conduct might be necessary. In some of the my most recent campaigns, I have been working with some outside marketing agencies and companies. I have been doing this either by request of my client or to fulfill a part of the campaign that my company does not do. I have been amazed and confused over the last several weeks at how some of these agencies operate their business.
I thought I would put together my own Agency Code of Conduct. So here it goes:
1. We live in a fast paced world where an hour could cost our clients a great deal of money. When you receive an email or call, responding the next day is unacceptable. All emails and calls should be returned within an hour of receiving them.
2. I am not sure if you noticed but the web is open 24/7. That means so are you. Nights/weekends, they do not matter. If something goes wrong you need to be available and be able to react no matter when or what time it is.
3. Here’s a shocker, the client is going to change their mind several times before and after a campaign launches. If you don’t like fast changes or pressure situations get a job at the DMV. In this world, you should be prepared for changes and understand that you probably will have very tight deadlines to get them done.
4. The client is NOT always right. It is absolutely acceptable and even expected for you to disagree with the client. You are the expert, they are not. If they had all the answers they would of never hired you in the first place. Get a backbone and let the client know your thoughts and opinions. If they decide not to follow them, document it so when it blows up in their face, you can say, “I told you so and it is YOUR fault.”
5. Be honest. Don’t promise something that you cannot deliver. It’s not all about closing the deal. You need to remember that you are putting your own name and reputation on the line. This industry is smaller than you think and I can guarantee you that it will come back to bite you in the behind down the road.
6. Control your emotions. No campaign is going to go perfectly. There is going to be bumps in the road, deal with them. When you lose your cool, you accomplish nothing other than putting other people on the defensive and they will be less willing to help you. In other words, suck it up!
7. Don’t even think about coping an attitude with me. You’re unhappy, call Jerry Lewis and maybe he will put together a telethon for you. Right now, we have issues that need to be resolved and your attitude does nothing to help that situation.
8. Don’t be afraid to fail. The only people who never fail are people who never try. To achieve greatness, you have to be willing to fail and fail big time.
What do you think? Let me know your thoughts and if there are other points that I should add to this list.
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Hey Cord. This should go without saying, but I would add, “Check your work, and when you’re sure it’s perfect, have some one else check your work!” Or maybe it should be expressed as “Make the time to make sure that it’s right!” I can’t stand the attitude in business today “Well, I was pressed for time and had too many other things to do, so this will have to be good enough.” Too many presentations and “final” products are knowingly delivered with spelling/grammatical/factual errors etc under the umbrella excuse of not having enough time. Loved your number 3. My professional mantra has always been, “Be flexible and expect change.”
Paul - Oooh, good one, I could not agree more. Thanks!
…so when it blows up in their face, you can say, “I told you so and it is YOUR fault.â€
wow…if you did this to me I’d fire you for two reasons:
1.) If we’re using my ideas maybe you didn’t make a strong enough case for your plan.
2.) I’ve been in business a long time, I’ve made mistakes and learned from them but the last thing I need is a marketing guy rubbing them in my face and telling me “I told you so.†Remember at the end of the day I’m signing your check.
OMP - I guess you missed the Jerry Lewis line and a couple of other jokes I through in there. That was meant as a little joke mixed in with the message to always CYA.
Though much more importantly OMP, I could give a damn who is signing my check. You see your money comes in a far second compared to my reputation in this industry. If you did not take my recommendations, it was not because I did not make a strong enough case, it was because YOU think you know more than I do about this business and most likely we would prove that point to be wrong before things are all said and done.
Thanks for the comment and please let me know if I can rub anything else in your face.
Someone is fired up today!
Eye of the tiger Judson!!
6. Control your emotions.
LOL!! Damn, I knew it, I always break my own rules.
Fine, Agency folks should be available 24/7, but are you then prepared to pay for this? If so, your $7,500 banner ad will end up costing you $25K and there goes your ROI. I agree if you are rebranding a major launch, but saying that agencies should be availalbe to their client 24/7 is riDONKEYuLous.
Do you expect your automotive mechanic to be there 24/7? No you call a tow truck and you PAY A PREMIUM for this. Great, call your acct. manager at 10PM but expect to pay for it as if you called your lawyer, by the hour! TRUST in your agency and if you want to speak to them 24/7, be prepared to pay them 24/7. Up your ad budget. (by the way, when you spent so much money on above the line TV advertising, did you expect to call the network 24/7?) Bet not.
..and one other thing…I work for an agency that can put out a global new rebranded rich media responsive award winning campaign in less than 4 weeks at times. Over 150 pieces of asset unique rich creative. Shoot, any agency can build a site, campaign in about 6 hours if they want. But it will be crap. Sounds like you don’t trust the time they took -that you didn’t think it was valuable. ASK THEM to show you the project plan, ask them to show u what they are doing with their time. And reading over your code of conduct, sounds like you were dealing with small time prima donnas. sorry bub, but professional award winning agencies are like an ER. They don’t f%&k around. Try the big guys next time.
Off Topic: Who did the State Farm Now What campaign? It’s Brilliant!
OOps, answering my own question. DDB Chi Town. Nuff said. http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002952290
No more posts from me. Thanks for prompting the thoughts. Mind if I author a ‘client code of conduct’?
Westy - Thank you… I think you perfectly summarized what myself and many people in the industry think. Yes, the big agencies have great resources, but they also have the “My shit don’t stink” attitude like you just showed. Ooooh, ooooh, a 150 piece asset award winning rich media campaign in 4 weeks, WOW!! Hold on a second, let me call Guiness. So who is that supposed to impress?
So you won some awards.. I didn’t see you mentioned what results it delivered to your client or is that secondary to the award winning part?
I appreciate your wise insight “bub”… I now feel totally set straight.
Though I did think your comparisons of an agency, I would assume you were thinking of yours, to a car mechanic and a tow truck driver speaks volumes.
Off topic: I don’t know who did the State Farm Now What campaign and it is a great idea, but it has all flash and no gas. Great idea, good commercials, but terrible execution to actually deliver State Farm any real results. But hey, hopefully the agency will win some awards right?
Please feel free to come back any time and tell us uneducated more oh wise one….
Cord,
The code looks great and I agree with your point 4 that clients are not always right and we know better than clients, but in some cases we have to agree to them, not all the time though.
One important thing is we exist because of clients.