Work is Working.

I wonder how many people reading this right now have heard of Gary Hart.

Or Howard Dean.

Or Walter Hickel.

Or Spiro Agnew.

Or even Sarah Palin.

I wonder how many people reading this right now have heard of Robin Roberts.

Or Wilbur Wood.

Or Johnny Callison.

Or even Frank Howard.

In politics and baseball, these people were household names--appearing dozens of times a week on TV and in newspapers when I was a boy growing up.

I wonder how many people reading this right now have heard of 
Scali McCabe Sloves.

Hal Riney.

Needham Harper and Steers.

Erwin Wasey.

Or even D'Arcy.

In the ad industry, not all that long ago, these were big names. They were mighty agencies that worked with Fortune 50 brands and multi-million dollar budgets.

I wonder how many people reading this right now have heard of
Excedrin aspirin.

Comet powder.

Janitor in a drum.

Buitoni pasta.

PanAm airlines.

These were all big brands, not all that long ago. They had huge marketshare and tremendous brand valuations.

On Friday, which already seems a decade ago in the "weeks that feel like centuries whirlwind" that tump has created, I read an article in The Economist, as I so often do.

The Economist and The Wall Street Journal are vital if you're in the ad business. Reading them, you'll likely know more about business, including your clients' business than anyone else in your agency and even your client. Knowledge offers you a leg up. Yet most people accept their legs down.

Of all the destructive effects of "O tempora, O mores" (oh the times, oh the customs) on the advertising business, the most pernicious is the most widespread. 

The idea (I live this about 99 times/client) that advertising is a "one-and-done," not a "we have to do it all the time." You can see this with the rampant stuntification of advertising. Some all-but-inconsequential brand will come up with a mustard-flavored toothpaste, or ice cream or running shoe. They'll get a one-second chuckle from some smarmy "news" coverage they get. Some CMO will post that his brand valuation went up 408%. He'll parlay that free wank into a new job and think he knows what he's doing.

Brands used to be built to endure.

Which means, like if you own a house, a car or have a dog or children in you care, you have to "maintain" them. You have to fix cracks in the concrete. You have to change the oil. You have to exercise them. And make sure they eat right.

This is not a one-week/year commitment.

This is every day.

The current thinking of the MBAniacs is that pulse matters and to hell with sustain. 

We treat brands today like we treat most things.

There's no routine maintenance. There are no repair shops. When they get creaky or long in the tooth, we take them to the curb and dispose of them like a floating gold fish.

That's what Omnicant has done to DDBuried. FCByebye. And who knows what else. It's what WhyPayPeople has done to Y&R, JWT, and just about every agency they own. 

No maintenance. No caring. No longevity.

Value is not permanent any more than asphalt paving is. 

And there are no short-cuts to creating and maintaining it. There's no magic "tweet" formula or "viral" stunt that will implant a brand in your cerrebellum.

It takes constant.

It takes building blocks.
It takes methodical-ness.
It takes every day.
It takes dedication and commitment.

It takes money.

Brands are not wet-t-shirt contests.

They are not meant to create a stir for 12 seconds then disappear.

I refuse to believe that.

I believe they're built on

definition: who they are/how they behave.
differentiation: why you should choose them.
demonstration: showing, not telling.

dollars: putting your money where your mouth is.

Your advertising work isn't done when you run a campaign.
It's never done.

It's not a done, it's a doing.