I confess: grudges, jealousy & salesmanship in adland. [Part 1]

By Gonzalo López Martí / LMMIAMI.COM

• The marketing racket is rife with jealousy.
• Turf wars are the order of the day among the various players in charge of the ever-increasing scope of day2day tasks a marketing rollout demands.
• For instance: it’s a known fact that direct marketing folks hold a massive grudge against them advertising blowhards.
• Why?
• Money issues.
• Ditto corporate identity & graphic designers.
• Similarly, the PR community has always felt it gets the short end of the stick when marketing dollars are divvied up.
• In the mind of your garden variety graphic designer, direct marketer or PR exec, it is utterly unfair that advertising agencies get the lion’s share of the budgets.
• Not entirely untrue, let me tell you.
• The assertion has a lot of merit.
• Take it from me, an ad guy thru & thru.
• I must confess I’m not a big fan of direct marketing though.
• Too intrusive and wasteful (in my humble opinion).
• Graphic design, on the other hand, sometimes errs on the ethereal, abstract side.
• However (here comes another confession) I truly believe that, when done right, PR is the purest form of marketing communication.
• Good PR is frictionless.
• It flows seamlessly.
• Sound PR obtains maximum ROI playing jiu jitsu with public opinion, sentiment & prejudices.
• Problem is, good PR requires flair, finesse and boldness (think the highly choreographed secrecy surrounding a new gadget launch by Apple).
• It is much easier to solve problems wholesale, by throwing money at them blitz-style.
• Hence, advertising gets the big dough.
• Yes, advertising: the good old-fashioned coarse brushwork art of repetitive, formulaic intrusion.
• Unfortunately, this is my message to the PR crew and other disgruntled marketing playas: pouting is useless, guys.
• Don’t even bother kicking &/or screaming.
• You’ll be escorted out of the conference room.
• As unfair as it sounds, many clients regard PR as just a bunch of overpaid press release typists.
• Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger.
• Mind you, you could’ve taken the driver’s seat of the social media revolution.
• The prize was yours to lose.
• Social media was a natural fit for the PR job description.
• Inexplicably you missed the bus.
• What the f**k were you thinking?
• What took you so long to react?
• What on earth were you doing when the train left the station?
• Copying & pasting a press release?
• Sour grapes.
• Water under the bridge.
• Whether we like it or not, traditional Madison Avenue animals still have a ways to gain the client’s ear.
• Mad Ave still manages to connive clients and co-opt talent, luring them into the swanky yet sinking traditional advertising ship.
• It ain’t rocket surgery.
• Salesmanship is the key.