There Are No Bad Clients
Recently, I was reminiscing about the many bad clients I’ve had over the past 20 years in advertising, recounting some of the stories of the great ads that could have been. To my surprise, my writer friend Tom blurts out, “Yeah, but there are no bad clients. Only bad agencies.”
“Huh? Ridiculous,” I said. “I’ve got loads of examples of bad clients.”
Like the time I was working on a luxury car brand and the writer and I were presenting print ad headlines for a new, high performance, beast-of-a-car with a 5.0 liter, 390-hp engine, targeting a strictly male audience. Our recommended headline was, “A wolf in wolf’s clothing.” We thought it was a pretty clever line and embodied the spirit of the car perfectly. The client said, “Nah, we don’t want to be associated with a wolf. They’re dangerous and it seems negative. We want something positive. And something that conveys sophisticated luxury.” We were stunned by his response.
“But...” we said, “this car is practically made from testosterone. And what guy wouldn’t want to be associated with a wolf? We’re confident that car enthusiasts will find it amusing and memorable.” We debated back and forth but he didn’t budge. We were unable to convince him to reconsider.
I’d had many experiences like this and was thoroughly convinced that there were definitely “bad clients” in the world—who just didn’t get it. I even added that most clients were bad clients.
But my friend Tom had a different point of view and it really made me stop and reconsider why I blamed failed attempts at great advertising on bad clients.
His reasoning was this: All clients are difficult. Nothing great comes easy. The notion of an easy client who just approves everything is an illusion.
He had worked at Wieden & Kennedy in Portland and discovered that the clients there were just as difficult as any other place he had worked. The key difference was, Wieden had a culture of pushing for great work. Creative was king. If a client refused to approve something great, the creatives would re-concept and bring back something different but equally great. They never brought a “safe” option.
So his experience had taught him that it’s not the client’s fault. It’s the agency’s fault every time.
Then he asked, “Why did you sell safe work to your ‘bad’ clients?” My answer revealed the real truth. “Well...” I said, “whenever I refused to give a client the safe work they wanted, I was considered ‘difficult’ and failing to ‘service’ my client, which would prompt a complaint to my superiors.”
“Then what would happen?” he asked. “I’d be pressured, or directly ordered, to comply with the client’s demands,” I said.
“There you have it,” he concluded. “A bad agency! They didn’t support you in your effort to sell great work. At Wieden, it doesn’t work like that. As a creative, you’ll never be reprimanded for refusing to present safe work. Even if the client threatens to fire the agency, they will back you up 100%.”
“Okay, bad work is the fault of bad agencies,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t mean the clients are not bad. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say, there are no easy clients.”
In the end, I was forced to acknowledge that we cannot blame clients for producing bad work. And Tom’s assertion that, “There are no bad clients”—as outrageous as it sounds—points us to the real problem: fearful ad agency executives who are more concerned about making money than building a reputation, and therefore don’t support creatives in pushing for great work.
Very simply, when our work isn’t great, we can only blame ourselves.
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You can find additional posts about marketing on my blog site, thwartd.
Writer who demonstrates the value technology provides. AI, machine learning, computer vision, robots, IoT and more. Articles, long form, short form and other media.
9yJason, your writer-partner Tom's observation and the takeaway of your post is correct. But take another look at your example. You said it was a luxury car brand. While the car you were working on may have had the makings of a performance vehicle, the headline you presented doesn't truly fit a luxury automotive brand. That the client's responded with, "....we want... something that conveys sophisticated luxury" is no surprise.
Creative director/strategist/writer/director at Brainchild Creative
9yIn the words of an art director I worked with, "the only way to get great work produced is to make sure you only show great work."
Creative Services / Commercial Art
9yA Bad Client is a Bad Client is a Bad Client, and they vastly outnumber the good ones. Most are coupled with mediocre agencies pumping out 'safe work', and where 'good is good enough'. The agency is all about doing whatever it takes to keep their client happy. It's more about client retention than it is about doing great work that stands out and sells. If you want great clients, then you need to be selective about who you are working with and how you're investing your time and attention. You need to be willing to walk away from the bad ones. And BTW, a good client isn't necessarily an 'easy' client. You want clients that value what you do, and also push you to do your very best work.
Producer, Director, Happy Trails Animation
9yJason- I know creatives at Wieden I have been through all the hiring and firing over there since the late 80's. The shift in creative to the Portlandia attitudes and what not... and while I like what Tom said, there is even a bigger elephant in the room here. Creative Vision and communication all of which need to work together. Yes you are a creative pitching an idea but you need to be able to creatively maneuver around so that you can bring your client around. There is no such thing as stiff arming in this game. If you have ever worked at a restaurant in a tourist town... motto is "client's always right." Now that does not mean they know what they are talking about... but with a slick collaborative creative mind you should be able to bring them on board. Those kind of clients usually want to be part of the creative. When a client says no to a good idea it usually is because that want it to last longer or connect with a larger base. This again does not mean the creative is bad just that those pushing the creative need to go further outside of the box. I think you need to view this kind of client not as not good or bad but as challenging. Maybe this is the issue... point of view.
Experience Director / Creative Director / Consultant
9yWell said. Unfortunately not every agency has the luxury of throwing more time at a project, nor a huge budget to work with. Ultimately agencies are responsible for the work they sell through, but some agencies have a slight advantage.