Category: opinion

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Why I Don’t Write About Layoffs Anymore

For the past several months, you may have noticed that news of layoffs has been absent from the Idaho Ad Agencies blog.  And it’s not an accident.

Several months ago, I made a conscious decision to stop writing about “layoffs, downsizing, staff reductions” or whatever other name you want to call it.  Why?  A few different reasons.

There’s enough layoff news going around already.  For the past year (and more), news of layoffs has been everywhere.  Name the medium, name the industry — it was there.  And that sort of news gets old.  Quick.

It puts a spotlight on those who have been affected, whether they’re ready for it or not.

And, quite frankly, it’s draining.  In many cases, these are friends and colleagues, and it’s hard not to let it get to you.

So there you have it.  If you’re looking for the latest layoff news, I’m afraid to say this isn’t the place you’re going to find it.

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Is it Better to be Bad than Good?

That is the second half of a question that’s been bouncing around in the back of my head for some time now (we’ll get to the rest of it in a moment).  Allow me to explain…

When it comes to marketing and advertising, good is just that — it’s good.  It meets the client’s objectives.  It pays the bills and keeps the lights on.  Good work breeds good work.

But is it memorable?

Bad work certainly is.

Let’s play a little game called recall.  The topic: Advertising for local car dealerships.  Television spots, specifically.  Glamorous, I know, but it serves the point.

When I mention the following Treasure Valley dealerships, do you remember what their recent spots looked like?

Meridian Ford
Dennis Dillon
Edmark Superstore
Team Mazda Subaru
Lithia of Boise

Of the five examples above, which garnered the most immediate or strongest response?  I would be willing to bet that it was Team Mazda Subaru.  You know the spots.  You’ve seen them.  Thanks to some effective media buying they’re hard to miss.  And that leads to the rest of the question:

If you’re not willing to be great, is it better to be bad than good?

Bad, in most cases, is just that.  It makes people cringe.  It elicits a strong reaction.  But it’s also memorable.  Despite your best intentions, I’m sure you can rattle off at least a half-dozen examples of bad advertising that you’ve seen over the years.  And in each case, I’d bet you can remember exactly who the ad was for, and what it was about.  Try as we might, bad ads are unforgettable.

But so are great ones.

The great ones do more than just meet the client’s objectives.  They influence an industry.  They change a culture.  As those who study this business come to realize, it’s the great ads that set, and in many cases reset, the bar by which others are judged.

Lest you think this discussion is limited only to television, it isn’t — it applies to all mediums.  The Bad / Good / Great distinction can take place anywhere.  In broadcast, online, direct, even face to face.

In all cases, Bad is just bad — memorable, but bad.  Good is effective and meets expectations.  Great is a game-changer.

So how do you define the difference between good and great?  What are you doing on a daily basis to push your own work from good to great?  Does it matter to you?

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On Award Shows

Our friends at The Denver Egotist have a great opinion on the state of award shows:  Award Shows Need to Evolve or Die.

And just in case you were wondering what their opinion really was, here’s a short snippet from the piece:

The problem with award shows right now is that although they celebrate creativity, most of the time anyway, they rarely consider context or effectiveness. And often, it’s not possible to really know the effectiveness of a big-budget branding campaign. So at the end of the day, the judging criteria is wide-open.

Take the time to read the entire piece.  Then, whether you agree or disagree, leave a comment and let Felix know.

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The Slippery Slope of Spec Work

It seems the City of Portland is experiencing the spec-creative backlash as we speak.

Yesterday, the news got out that the City of Portland has proposed a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline.

From Silicon Florist:

Now, you can try as hard as you might, but few things can be as insulting to people as telling them their work is worthless. Which is basically what the City is doing by asking for designers to work on spec.

Web developers, graphic artists and visionaries to transform the navigation and design of PortlandOnline, the city’s primary web presence. Winners will be fully credited on the website for their work – a website that receives over two million visits a month and includes over 140,000 pages.

That’s right. Or to paraphrase, that work that you do? It isn’t worth anything more than a link.

And today came a response from the Portland Advertising Federation’s President, Jerry Ketel —  The City Should Know Better:

This is simply the wrong way to go about designing an important communication tool in our fair city. The idea of this kind of contest is a perfect example of how much the city fathers value the contribution of the design community in Portland. I am certain that there is a very good Web design firm here in town who would work for pennies on the dollar to help the City of Portland to polish its presence on the internet. Not only would they provide design look and feel, but they would provide navigation and strategic expertise. This is Portland after all, craftsmanship is in our DNA. Our community wants to be a seen as a creative magnet in the world—it is a source of pride. So why don’t our elected leaders get that?

and:

Now is the time for the Portland creative services industries to rise up and plant a flag in the sand. We need to be recognized for the contribution we make to our city. We should start by writing letters and emails to the city about this disrespectful contest. And then we need to join together and strategize how we can become a force that cannot be ignored. It is time.

While this is not happening here in Idaho, it is an issue that shouldn’t be ignored.  I’d encourage those of you with contacts in the Portland area to get involved, and make their voices heard.  Contact the PAF or the City of Portland.

Jerry is right:  It is time.

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File this in Today’s Random Observations

*Opinion*

It’s interesting that I’ve received reports from several sources about layoffs, however there has been no movement on the website(s) of the agency/agencies in question.

It makes the company look bad by not being forthright about their staff.

It also does a disservice to the individuals who were affected.  It has the potential to make it seem that the former employee is still there, effectively creating some confusion as to the circumstances surrounding their departure.

In the end, it’s just bad form, and we’ll leave it at that.