Did we not understand that our default promotion of and fealty to ROI would eventually neglect our former creative culture to death?
The ultimate level of our performance is dictated at least in part by the very first question we ask ourselves whenever we set out on a new journey.
It seems to me that "How can we increase and improve ROI?" is the wrong core question for advertising agencies to ask themselves, and most certainly the wrong way for them to position and promote themselves. Improved ROI represents the minimum daily adult requirement; an extra one-tenth of one percent qualifies. We are selling ourselves far below our own market value and capacity whenever we pitch ROI first.
"A Course in Miracles" suggests that we typically don't ask for nearly enough when we petition God in prayer. Likewise, our obsession with ROI conditions us to expect less and require less, even as we raise the perceived (and largely mythical) performance bar of accountability. But what good is accountability unless and until we are accountable to our own dreams and aspirations first and foremost?
Accordingly, I would suggest that there's a better, more instructive core question for agencies to ask themselves instead, one that will ultimately result in better advertising, not to mention improved agency margins and quality of life: "How can we create great advertising?"
Asking the right question from the outset positions us better for the subsequent journey. ROI -- like any other valid tactical objective -- then assumes its more rightful position within the general hierarchy of campaign considerations.
But the initial question sets the stage, and often reflects how we feel about ourselves, good and bad. The current agency quest for ROI reflects deep-set agency insecurities and existential angst, and promotes the notion that what we do has such little impact that we are now consigned to measure it in percentages of percentages, fractions of fractions.
Advertising, like addiction, relies on a consumer's willingness to dismiss its power right up front. In the perceived age of accountability, it's also a convenient (and ironic) way for those of us in the industry to deny our own. "It's only advertising," we say in self-defense. Thus we dismiss in a fleeting second or two what takes us weeks of planning and effort and years of experience to create. That added one-tenth of one percent is enough for us, or so we purport in the absence of something greater to show for our time.
Our current obsession with ROI sets our collective industry sights way too low. We are settling for far too little, and are paying far too high a price for what we get in return. Should our dreams be accountable on some level? No doubt. But should accountability be our first dream? Let's rethink this. The spreadsheet should reflect our dreams, not the other way around.
What do you think?
Many thanks, as always, and best to you and yours&
Please note: The Einstein's Corner discussion group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/einsteinscorner/ is dedicated to exploring the adverse effects of our addictions to technology and media on the quality of our lives, both at work and at home. Please feel free to drop by and join the discussion.