Let's face it, there are a lot of very talented and creative advertising agencies out there in the world. We are blessed to be in an industry that strives on "Thinking Outside of the Box" (Even though I hate that saying).

Creativity is like a drug to the folks in our industry. We really get a great high when we come up with a concept that blows away our clients, our peers and win awards... we keep wanting MORE! We love it. So, please don't stop feeding the creative ego of the Creatives... it's important to keep us wanting more.

Ok, enough of that feel good stuff (I can say that 'cause I'm one of them :-)

The bottom line IS the bottom line. You need to make sure that the agency you hire keeps things in perspective - They are hired for results! The goal is to grow your Brand, Market Share & Profits. If they loose site of why they were hired in the first place, let them know that they are missing out on the best high of them all... giving you what they were hired for - results.

Over the past 15 years I have been preaching to my team "Creativity Without Strategy Is Art". There is nothing wrong with a nice work of art IF, it's for the sake of art. In the agency business, your artistic abilities better hit your clients Strategic Objective, not just win another creative award.

A successful, agency should be both "Creatively Strategic & Strategically Creative". This is what you should look for when hiring a new advertising agency... This should be the Ying & Yang of their business.