CLIENTS ARE LIKE CHEESEBURGERS | Perich Advertising + Design

CLIENTS ARE LIKE CHEESEBURGERS

By Ernie Perich

Jump to the text ↓

Clients. They’re like the cheeseburgers at Miller’s Bar. No two are alike, but all of them are priceless. 99% of clients seem to enjoy their jobs. 99% of them are really smart. As strange as it may seem to the handful of you out there who’ve actually read my rants, I’m the biggest ally in our firm of clients, next to our copywriter who used to be a client. He loves to remind me of the challenges clients constantly face, and dealing with an agency full of egos is just one of them. Are clients always right? No. Are we always right? Heck no. Do clients have a different agenda than the junior copywriter trying to make it into CA? Absolutely. Will a client, when presented with the possibility of making a great ad vs. making an ad that has a better chance to sell, opt for the latter? Almost always. And they should. Is it all about them? Yep. Really? Yep. No clients means no business which means no paychecks which means no fun. Not even occasional fun. Blaming mediocre work on the client? Can’t stand it. It’s just an excuse for our own shortcomings, and an insult to the agencies who constantly get great work produced. I believe we can all make good ads. Where we come up a little short is in convincing our clients that it IS great work, and that if the world sees it, they’ll be moved. We seem scared of alienating our clients, of displaying our convictions, of creating a little tension between us and them. For fear of them going elsewhere, where there’s no tension. To me, the most important power in our business is the power of persuasion. We’re two parts salespeople, one part creators. The point of all this: if you don’t like the work you’re doing, look in the mirror. If you do like the work you’re doing, take your client to Miller’s.

(Attention all Chicago and Minneapolis folks. Miller’s is 10 minutes from the airport at Michigan Ave. and Telegraph. Worth the trip alone. Call me, I’ll buy.)