The Importance of Face-to-Face

After following this industry for the amount of years that I have, something has come to my attention... I got to thinking about great creative work--and by great work I mean the stuff that year-in and year-out is consistently fantastic. Sales are strong, the client-agency relationship lasts far past the industry average and creatively they always stand out. You know, the good case study stuff:

Nike and Wieden
California Milk Advisory Board and Goodby
Absolut Vodka and Chiat NY
IBM and Ogilvy
Burger King and Crispin
Geico and Martin
Corona and C-K
Axe and BB

What do all these relationships have in common?

They share the same city.

(Or, to be technically correct, while it may be a different city name, it's still a short drive between client and agency.)

Great creative work takes constant shepherding by both client and agency. It must be re-sold, re-affirmed and re-championed nearly every day. It's hard work. And it's really hard to do without constant face-to-face interaction.

Now, of course there are many great relationships that survive long distance, but is the work consistently great for years? One comes to mind in Apple and Chiat but even there the latter had a bay area office for many years, and, in all honesty, SF to LA is one of the most convenient travel routes in the country.

With all the improvements in technology great work can truly come from anywhere. But with the subjectivity of our business, nothing replaces face-to-face interaction. If your client is far away, and great creativity is a business priority for both marketer and agency, make arrangements for re-occurring face-to-face meetings. If that requires a plane flight, put it in the budget.

Advertising can be done from anywhere, but as far as I see it, great creativity will always be a face-to-face business.

Comments

[Cooper Olson]

You forgot Taco Bell and FCB Irvine...yknow, case study stuff.