ALLOW ME TO MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE

Advertising agencies are always so focused on keeping their clients “happy” — that’s where most agencies make their biggest mistake.

Now, hang on a second while I clarify: making a client happy is often confused with making the client feel comfortable. The problem is, comfort is not a term associated with growth; rather, comfort is static. It can hurt a brand’s longevity. Comfort, in my opinion, is the enemy of success.

So I ask: are you here to make your client comfortable, or are you here to make them successful?

In order to distinguish a client from their competition, we must challenge their conventional wisdom. They may think their message is unique, they may be happy with the tone and voice they’re using; but it’s that familiar tone that blends them right in with everyone else in their category — that’s when it’s time to welcome them to their discomfort zone. This is the zone of creativity, of progress.

I’ve had clients who hired me to refresh their brands. Their websites were tired, their advertising typical, their sales leveling off. Yet, when shown a fresh approach to their thinking, they immediately freak out and revert back to their old, familiar, broken-in-recliner-chair methods. My job is to keep them out of their comfort zone. It may not make them very cozy, but it will help them grow.

Often, what a client wants is an ego massage. What they need is a disruption. Disruption is the art of asking better questions, challenging conventional thinking, and overturning assumptions and prejudices that get in the way of imagining new possibilities and visionary ideas. The result is a message that turns heads, moves needles, and changes industry standards. It creates success.
And trust me, there’s nothing more comfortable than that.