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Bill Farquharson

B--Ad Agencies
March 14, 2008

I have never understood why people call on Ad Agencies. I always found them to be pompous and self-righteous, quick to claim technical superiority and unable to ask for any kind of design assistance. It baffles me. Why would you want a customer like that? They buy on price and leave on price. They are demanding and unappreciative. They do not value a good vendor and would gladly run you over with a truck if they thought it was in their best interest.

Tomorrow (Friday), I am having lunch with the founder of Hill, Holliday. He is in his 80s and is thoroughly Old School. Steve Cosmopolous has created some of the most creative pieces I have ever seen. He’ll show up—all 5’2” of him—with a shopping back of printed samples, each a story in and of itself. I can’t wait. Here was a guy who knew his stuff AND was still willing to call a print vendor a partner.

But, hey, you go ahead and call on Ad Agencies. With the down economy looming and leaner times ahead, calling on a crabby price-driven Buyer with a shrinking print budget is a super business plan. Me? I’ll be reading my Wall Street Journal every day looking for those emerging markets that can only be found while reading between the lines.

Posted by Bill Farquharson on March 14, 2008 | Comments (2)

March 14, 2008
In response to: B--Ad Agencies
Greg-VA commented:

"They do not value a good vendor..." Therein lies your difficulty with ad agencies. Perceive yourself as a vendor and that is how you will be perceived. Present yourself as a creative partner and you will be welcomed anywhere as a member of the team. As a print supplier, I have been asked for design input, feasibility input and have provided myself as voice over talent for some of my ad agency clients. When you approach your prospect with those skills,all of the anxieties you list in your article are not an issue. BE CREATIVE!

March 17, 2008
In response to: B--Ad Agencies
Phil commented:

Yeah Bill!! Although I no longer operate in the printing industry, I did for several years and what you have written is stunningly accurate. The only thing that you forgot to add was that the ad agencies generally take 90 days to pay for a job that was turned around in 36 hours. After dealing with this for years, we fired the "agencies."