Blogger Baseball Cards

Russell Davies just wrote this brilliant, poetic post, mostly an amalgamation of other presentations he's done in the past.  It's a must read...

And it got me thinking what separates the good from the great in our business.  In the end, the great have managed to avoid, as much as possible, having the humanity ripped away from their work.

Advertising, and marketing in general, is about capturing the imagination, finding those little nuggets in people lives that relate to the brands we represent.  We are not simply selling products, but providing customers with some of the tools they use to help identify themselves. 

But, too often, managers do their best to distill the process down to a series of 1's and 0's, attempting to plug numerical holes, rather than bravely forging and nurturing new relationships.  Marketing without humanity is no different than some two-bit used car salesman, painfully and conspicuously unconcerned with anything but the sale.

The great ones realize the business we work in is chaotic and emotional, and should be treated as such, from creation to completion.  It usually doesn't make easy sense, and there is no formula or mathematical equation that will offer any lasting solution. Only an understanding that, in the end, it's about improving and enriching lives, not taking advantage of them, that will lead us to where we want to be.

And, as a side note, I actually said, "this is by Russell Davies, one of my favorite planners" to someone tonight.  Maybe it's about time we come out with blogger baseball cards or something...