A guy I'd known for many years and considered a friend landed at a new company. He asked our direct marketing shop to quote a project with unusual specs.
His plan was to give away free trials of his software on CDs. He wanted them to be as ubiquitous as the old AOL CDs. (Back in the '90s you may have used them as coasters.)
I reminded him that much had changed in the software business, and free trials were usually distributed via the Internet. But his mind was made up. (At this point I should have politely said, "Thanks but no thanks.")
He asked me to present the quote to a group that included his boss, the president. At the meeting, the moment I mentioned the CDs, the president was all over it, calling it a ridiculous approach. I decided not to cite the origin of the idea, and simply said we could do lots of stuff with plenty of impact for way less money. But he didn't want to move off the topic. During this stage my marketing pal largely kept his mouth shut.
Then finally the marketing guy asked me to present other creative ideas our agency had to share. It was a surprising remark, because this guy had worked with us before and knew we didn't do spec creative. But I took the high road and said something about the in-depth process we planned on stepping through after we had an agreement in place -- including one-on-one interviews to collect different perspectives.
That's all the CEO had to hear. He told me there'd be no need to speak with anyone but him. I said it was generally best to hear from a diverse group of people. He said it was a bullshit exercise and waste of money -- and he already knew exactly what the no-brainer headline needed to be.
Since I'd clearly entered a theatre of the absurd, I politely told the president he didn't need us, and suggested he write the ad himself.
My marketing friend? He's now an ex-friend. I spoke with him briefly after the meeting but wasn't in the mood to explain why his behavior was so disappointing. If he decides to apologize and finds another employer we'll give him another shot. But I ain't holdin' my breath.
Have clients thrown you under the bus -- and if so, how did you handle it?
