For the last couple of years, large and small businesses alike, have been navigating some pretty choppy waters in order to keep their operations afloat.  You can liken it to paddling down the Delaware in a two-man canoe and then all of a sudden, you find yourself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; same canoe, maybe minus a paddle and even throw in some sharks with ?lasers? attached to their heads.

The Advertising Industry is certainly no exception. As a matter of fact, it was pretty decimated. From New York to Detroit to Where-Eversville, everybody was paying the price.

And we still are.

What is that price?

For the most part, it?s usually twice the work for half the budget. For some people this is fine. I mean no one likes to work at a reduced rate but if the volume is there, then resilient companies will find a way.

It doesn?t just happen on the vender side; which happens to be the side I?m on. It starts from the top.

The Government squeezes the Shareholder.
The Shareholder squeezes the Board.
The Board squeezes the Corporation.
The Corporation squeezes the Agency.
The Agency squeezes the Vender.
Lastly, I basically squeeze one of those little squishy, stress balls that I keep on my Ikea desk in my office. Either that or I kick the dog.

Sorry PETA.

Now that?s just the bullet points. There are a whole lot of people involved in this squeezeathon. There are Obamas, Congressmen, CEO?s, CFO?s, Marketing Gurus, Account People, Cost Consultants, Creative, Producers and again, me and my dog.

Sorry PETA.

But how does all of this affect the Agency and the Vendor (me)?

I?ll tell you how?

You know that old saying; ?the client wants it perfect, now and free??

Well?

The cynical response has always been, ?pick two?.

I think we?re at a point though, where we need to take a different approach or, as it may be, a whole different attitude towards our working relationships with our clients. Everyone is being challenged to cope with smaller budgets and tighter deadlines. But we still have to deliver the high level of creative execution that the client is accustomed to.

It?s not easy to deliver Avatar type creative if you have 70?s porn kind of budgets.

That?s a lot of pressure and something has to give.  Agencies and vendors can?t afford to simply say, ?yes? to clients without considering the consequences. We still need to ask clients to ?pick two?, but we need to do this in a practical, collaborative and solutions oriented way.

There are a few ways to approach this and the crux of the issue is Managing Expectations.

I did this a lot in High School. I would say, ?Mom, I?m probably going to fail Calculus. Then I?d come home with a D and she was real proud of me.

As a vendor, quite often a client comes to us with a concept. It can be for a television commercial, a website, a viral video, Facebook or mobile application, whatever. For the most part, we can execute anything. The only problem seems to be that there has already been a schedule and a budget attached to the concept by the time it gets to us. It?s not uncommon these days for the concept to be totally out of line with the schedule and the budget.

It?s like walking into a gunfight with a switchblade.

Let?s forget about price for a moment, assuming we can cut rates in order to make the budget work. What happens if we can?t make the schedule work because it?s simply not possible? There are a ton of intangibles with scheduling a project and it?s not all about how fast our artists can work. There are approvals on many different levels, revisions and changes in creative along the way. All of which wind up affecting the timeline. As vendors, we?re used to pressure and deadlines but somewhere along the line, clients and vendors have stopped communicating to each other early on in the process.

We as vendors play a big part in this. I can definitely say that when an opportunity comes along that you want to be involved with, it?s hard to say no, even if the schedule and money is tight. The last thing you want is to let the competition grab it and foster a relationship with ?your? client. So you take it and that can be irresponsible.

You need to check your motives and make practical business decisions. You don?t want to hold on to your girlfriend just because you don?t want your best friend to start dating her. Right?

This is why managing expectations are so important. If I?m going to be accountable, it would help to be involved earlier in the process. There are a lot of things we can pinpoint early on that might save a ton of time or money later in the process. Especially with all of the platforms we are working across today. There are different challenges to think about in regards to interactive work as opposed to traditional video work. There are new techniques and technologies like Stereoscopic 3D that is becoming more and more relevant to the work we do. These types of jobs can take up to three times the amount of time to execute. It?s important for clients to be aware of these types of things.

The best way to solve this problem and be successful at managing expectations from a production point of view is to use your vendor (us) as a resource. Not just a resource for good sushi and an Xbox 360 but as a resource to consult in the early stages of a project. If we are able to get involved with our clients at the creative brief stage, we can begin a dialogue that might be extremely helpful toward developing concepts that will fit the timeline and budget. I also think that it can be a productive exercise to have venders pitch ideas and execution that fit the budget and timeline, with the agency during the early presentation stages.

Clients like having options. One thing that can be done early on is show clients a range of solutions for executing the creative. A low, medium and are you crazy? Range of budgets attached to specific creative, gives them a choice up front and that way everyone knows what to expect for the time and money.

Just because there is limited budget and a tight schedule doesn?t mean we can?t make a fantastic spot. But if we know what we?re dealing with early on, we can help find creative solutions to run up the flagpole as practical options.

It is our job to be honest with our clients about what can and can?t be done. We are more than willing to take the time early on in the process and answer any questions a client might have, even if a project is in the far distance. We would love nothing more than to be considered a partner to our clients and above all, an accessible resource.

Now, can I get a slow clap started here?

No?

OK.

Peace

J