Five Signs You Should Fire Your “Creative” Agency
1. You ask them for a new web design for your ecommerce site - and they show up with flash/splash, and then argue with you that this is the best way to go. This old quote from Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering at Macromedia pretty much sums it up.
“When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today.”
2. You ask for something like making the buy button bigger so people can actually see it - and they resist, going into a long dissertation about “integrity of design.” (I’m all for great and beautiful design, but you want people to buy from you, not appreciate your agency’s creativity.)
3. You ask about help with branding - and they go into full-press pitch mode about new logos and/or “image” advertising.
4. They win awards with your ads - and you don’t see any change in your business.
5. They tell you “social media” and blogs are fads and not to bother. Then they pitch you spending big bucks on late night cable spots. (Note: Agencies make money on media buys.)
Related Posts:
Advertising: Creative or Effective?
Don’t Hire An Ad Agency To Build Your Web Site
“Marketing” Is Broken And I’m Thrilled!
Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, advertising, web marketing, web design, ad agencies
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