There are no bad clients. (Or are there?)
A version of this piece previously appeared in Mojito Volume 2.3, the Mint eNewsletter.
Recently, I was in one of the best client meetings of my life. We were sharing television concepts with a long-term client. Mint makes new spots for this client every year or two, so that was nothing new.
What was new this time was the client’s guidance: “Let’s do something out of the box.”
I’ve been in the business long enough to know that often (maybe most of the time?) when clients say this, they don’t really mean it. What usually happens is that theagency goes through the process of writing a strong brief, developing creative that reflects the brief, and is really excited to share the work…only for the client to chip away at the ideas so that they eventually resemble exactly what they’ve done before.
Thankfully, this was not one of those times. The client threw down the gauntlet, and Mint came back with some truly out-there ideas. Some were arguably off-brand…but we had previously discussed that possibility with the client, and they were open to it. The client loved the work. We showed six concepts, and four (maybe five?) caused
the client to laugh out loud. And yes, with us, not at us.
This business can be rough sometimes, and this meeting was a nice reminder that it can also be rewarding.
I thought this was about bad clients, Al?
Right, so after the high of that meeting, I was moved to reflect on times when things didn’t go well. One former client in particular came to mind. I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out, so here goes…
I’m not going to mention the client’s name or their company’s name or even the industry that they are in. What I will say is that we won an agency review to land the
business.
So you’d think they’d be inclined to like us, our work, etc., right? Nope. From our first project on, the head decision-maker at this client was critical of our work. To top it off, they weren’t even very nice about it. They went so far as to bring in a writer they had worked with before to “script-doctor” our creative. Which to me is the epitome of “I don’t really want Fresh Thinking…I want the same thinking I had before.”
Needless to say, that client relationship didn’t last very long. But not before “their” writer — who worked out of our office a few days a week — went out to lunch one day and never came back. It’s a crazy business.
Bonus bad client content.
More recently, we had started working with a new client. On paper, this was a match made in heaven. They needed an agency with expertise in direct mail, and Mint’s got that by the postal truckload. I’d say that we won the business on the strength of a point-by-point analysis of their current control piece — which included suggestions on how to improve various aspects.
However, in one of our first presentations, the bloom was already off the rose. You see, Mint has a long-held tradition of occasionally including a “Lucky Strike Extra” in our creative. Something that wasn’t in the brief but that we feel makes sense. A creative lagniappe, if you will.
Anyway, after the meeting, we got an email from the client that they didn’t really like us going the extra mile. Imagine that. Oh well, you can’t make everyone happy.
Did this piece cause you to have PTSD? Have a “bad client” story of your own? Or even a “bad agency” story? Send it to Al at al@mintadv.com.
And, of course, if you’re looking to make a real change and crave Fresh Thinking for your brand, give Mint a shout. (Shout twice if you like it when your agency throws in a “Lucky Strike Extra” once in a while.)
Thanks for reading!