Agencies Need to Focus on the Idea

Oh, the idea. The idea. The idea. Are we sick of hearing about the idea? Yes, but according to Brighthouse CEO Joey Reiman, it's the only thing we have left to save the ad agency business. We've heard it before but Reiman, in a new book he's promoting of course, says agencies should stop giving ideas away and start holding out for the big money.

Reiman writes in Ad Age, "Advertising agencies have become an antiquated broker business, selling space to clients with creativity thrown in for free. The result is a marketing world that is ad rich and idea poor. Consumers don't want to be bombarded with ads -- they want to be inspired by ideas that will change their lives. Ads create transactions, ideas create transformations. Ads reflect our culture, ideas imagine our future."

All well and good but remember, this is the ad agency business, we don't like change. It's too much work.