Time to sing some more praise for small businesses. One of the great things about interning with a small company is how much time they’re willing to spend with you. I feel like I should come up with fake names for the people I intern for. Just seems like something you’d do if you were devoting a blog to your life as an intern. So . . .
Heidi (this is already great) sat me down to walk me through a presentation she’d just given a client. As she was telling me about how the presentation went I realized that being honest with your client will always be more important than sucking up to them. At least, it should be. They may argue with you in the beginning, but if you’re really good at your job, you’ll take them for another lap around the track, and you’ll have them convinced by the end. You may not be 100% right all the time. There’s no way you can be. Your clients know their business inside and out, and you’re given a couple weeks to familiarize yourself. But when you work hard and get 80% there, you can’t give up the first time the client says, “This is wrong.” You have to know the difference between when you fight for your answer and when it’s really time to go back to work.
Another great thing about small agencies, and especially the one I’m at, is the open space of the workplace. It does wonders for a creative environment. I once toured an agency where the account planners were on a totally separate level of the building than the creatives. It’s a wonder anything got done there.
I’ve noticed strategically that the competitive landscape is almost always one of the most important factors in deciding where to position a brand. It’s all about top-of-mind awareness. If your product category is wearing Crocs, and you put on a pair of Toms, you’ll stand out, and you’ll be remembered.
“You never know what you’ll be doing in the industry.” I’ve heard that time and time again. I think it’s true. For instance, I didn’t realize that today I would have the pleasure of Gwyneth Paltrow spying on me in the bathroom. I also didn’t realize I’d be kicking myself over a misspelling. I will never forget the day I let “relauch” go unnoticed—just like I’ve never forgotten how much it hurt to lose the spelling bee to the word “sapphire.”
What is a good agency? I’ve been pondering this, and I think one of the biggest requirements for a good agency is that it helps a client step outside their comfort zone. Good agencies don’t give in to a client’s every whim; rather, they fight for what they believe is right, and get to go home feeling good about themselves. When you start to let a client run a workplace it becomes a place you don’t want to work. A place where you have no voice. Bad clients are the Ursulas to the agency Ariel.
Oh, and Dear Tony, we have a little surprise for you when you get back.
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