• by Seana Mulcahy , May 16, 2005

If you are reading this, your life is probably fast paced. Every campaign, new business pitch, request for proposal, and the like comes to you with an 'ASAP' deadline. I feel like most of us are a bit desensitized by this now. Remember when you were a kid in the business? Do you remember the first time this happened? I do. It was as if I swallowed my heart. Now this is par for the course. I've lived like this for years and pressure seems to make me excel. However, I think the industry has finally gone too far.

We all know it takes time to strategize. It takes time to build a campaign with sizzle. It takes time to nail down all the right elements of a new business pitch. For those of you who know me, you know I grew up in ad agencies. This was pretty much the way of life behind any agency walls. Now that I'm out of the agency world, I look back often in disbelief.

I am certainly not here to bite the hands that fed me for many years. I don't know, maybe I am here to state the obvious (at least to the planners and buyers out there). Today I work with several agencies as clients. It's often a funny place to come in. When I get involved, it is usually because someone royally screwed up, the vice president of interactive media is maxed out and understaffed and s/he doesn't have any time to even take the task on, or they are just plain ole out of fresh ideas.

The work is usually exciting and has great potential for creativity... well err, if they had time. Quick-and-get-it-done is not part of my vocabulary. Nor is the theory of spending a month or so in a "discovery" process. There has to be a happy medium.

Running a small shop working with large brands, publishers, and agencies, I see a lot. I'll let you in on a little secret; it is not all that different than working at an agency. I am fortunate to get a steady flow of calls for new business. The newsflash is: These potential clients are in the same boat. Time is never on their side.

They could be launching a new product and need a whole slew of marketing and sales materials. Sometimes they have remained lean in regard to staffing. Most tend to work in a hybrid manner. They are capable, smart and passionate about the brands they represent. However, they do not have any time.

Wouldn't you like to have the necessary time needed to create something amazing? Let me ask you, how does this happen? Why doe s the industry seem to work at warp-speed pace? I realize there is a need for it sometimes. However, it should not be the way things are always. I'm beginning to think it's because we've always allowed it to happen. You may want to ask yourself who is setting these deadlines. For instance, you may be a media person in an ad agency. Go talk to your account director. Was it s/he who set unrealistic goals? Perhaps. There is a good chance that s/he may have a learning curve and not know how long it takes to effectively draft a digital media plan. Educate across other departments.

If it's new business, then you're most likely out of luck. Hoop-jump like you've never hoop-jumped before. Try not to think of the insane deadline in front of you. I know it is easier said than done.

If you are a sales rep and you have an RFP with a tight deadline, call the person who sent it. Let them know you've received it and ask to speak "live" to the director. Be sensitive and respectful of their time. They will most likely applaud your proactive attitude. Heck, you may even get some more scoop by talking to them.

In most of these situations, you'll get your work in by the skin of your teeth. Then what happens? Yes, 99 percent of the time you are stuck waiting and waiting for some sort of response, direction, or approval.

My reason for writing this is not to complain about deadlines. It is to take a closer look at our industry from multiple sides of the fence. I think we are severely discounting ourselves by setting or allowing unrealistic deadlines. What do you think? Post to the SPIN board, I'm late for a meeting and the printer is jammed... just kidding.