Death To All Sacred Cows
By David Bernstein
David Bernstein, our friend at New York hotshop The Gate Worldwide, offers up insights into some of Adland’s most cherished misconceptions. De-mystifying a couple of do’s and don’ts – and killing a few cows on the way – he gives us a taste of what’s to come from their new book: ‘Death to All Sacred Cows: How Successful Business People Put the Old Rules Out to Pasture‘.
“Never say something offensive in a headline.”…..BANG.
“Clients should be charged based on hours worked.”…..BANG.
“It’s okay to act like a jerk if you’re talented.”…..BANG.
When you think about it, there are a lot of sacred cows in the advertising business. We think it’s high time someone shot them. Dead.
We’re The Gate Worldwide and we were born with an itchy trigger finger. First of all, we believe people are less likely to buy when they think they’re being sold. Little wonder direct mail is called junk mail, e-mail blasts are considered spam and guerrilla tactics are written off as graffiti. Or worse.
The problem, however, isn’t with the media. It’s with the advertising agencies. Too much of what our industry creates either chases, harangues or interrupts the very people we’re trying to seduce. Which naturally leads us to this conclusion:
True success comes not from selling to customers, but by attracting them.
How do we get paid to attract customers to you? By killing another sacred cow. Sorry to be difficult, but we don’t believe in being paid an hourly rate. After all, what if a great idea takes thirty seconds to invent? Does that mean we should charge you $1.50 for the idea? Of course not. That’s why we split our compensation in three units.
1). Brainpower (the highest price) for generating the ideas.
2). Arms and legs (a commodity price) for executing those ideas.
3). A bonus structure based on the results of our work.
In short, the more money you make, the more money we make. A perfect segue to what is arguably the most famous sacred cow: “A good idea sells itself.”…..BANG.
Having a good idea is one thing. Selling it is another.
And that, young grasshopper, has cost implications, too. If you approve our work and sell it into your management, it saves us time. Which saves us money. Money we can then cheerfully return to you in the form of a nice discount. Or some frilly lingerie - your choice.
Truth be told, there are many more sacred cows we’d like to sacrifice for the greater good. If you’d like to hear about them, call The Gate New York on 212-508-3400 and ask for Beau Fraser, David Bernstein or Bill Schwab. Trust us. It’ll be a fun conversation. Almost as much fun as killing this sacred cow: “No one reads body copy.”…..BANG.
‘Death to All Sacred Cows’ is out in March 2008, published by Hyperion. The book is co-authored by David Bernstein and his two colleagues at The Gate Worldwide in New York, Beau Fraser and Bill Schwab.
See http://www.deathtoallsacredcows.com
Pre-order your copy now at Amazon
About the author
David Bernstein is Executive Creative Director at our New York office - The Gate Worldwide. His work has appeared regularly at the One Show, Clios and Art Directors Club Awards and he has worked on stellar accounts including BMW, UPS, Saab, Hallmark, CBS, Wendy’s, GE, MCI Worldcom, Charles Schwab, Fisher-Price, Pizza Hut.