In the current issue of Fast Company, Joe Doucet, Design Director with Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners makes some interesting observations.
First there’s this, “You have to become the person for whom the work is being done. And what that means in terms of my work here is that it’s never done for a client; it’s done for the people the client is talking to.” So true. It is the job of any ad agency to connect with the eventual client…the consumer.
The agency assumes the role of “the river guide.” The guides know the fish, the bait, and the secret fishing holes where the big fish are just waiting to be caught. All the client has to do is trust the guide and follow his direction and he’ll catch fish. The ad business is much the same, unless of course you get a client who hires you, then figures he knows the “fish” better than you do. But that’s another blog for another time!
Back to Doucet. He also says, “The majority of the products in a Target and Wal-Mart store aren’t that different. It’s the experience, the message, the lifestyle that you’re buying into.” Of course we’ve heard this before. There’s very little difference between the 50 cent coffee and the Starbucks coffee that sells for several times that. What you are buying at Starbucks is the experience.
In the Christian media industry, there’s really not that much difference in the actual product. There are many ministries and churches offering good, sound spiritual insight. And although it’s tough to admit to any actual competition in this industry it is a fact that must be reckoned with. How will your ministry stand apart? What will you provide experientially that will separate you from the crowd? When a “customer” comes in contact with your program, your message, your church, or your Web site, will that experience keep them coming back?
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