A Good Day to Count my Blessings.

There are certain brands that it is just a thrill to work on. And often, they’re brand names you don’t have to explain to your mom.

“Hey, Mom. Yeah, we just won the ComGlom-Aero7 account. … What? … Oh, they make these engine parts that go inside of, well, not the inside  but …, ummmm, they’re that one part of a power generator that…. You what? You gotta go? … Okay.”

So today our agency was awarded the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company account. Yeah, just the kind of brand I’m talkin’ about. My Mom knows who Goodyear is. Been around since 1898 (Goodyear, not Mom), makin’ kick-ass tires. And they have a blimp, to boot. How many clients have a blimp? How many clients would even think, “Hey, you know what we need? A blimp.” Ya gotta love the blimp.

I even like saying the word. “Blimp.”

In addition to being a venerable name, Goodyear makes great stuff. Their tires are on more school buses, more police cars, fire trucks, even the stinkin’ Lunar Rover. At the end of the day, an agency can’t do great work if it isn’t a great product. Fact is, I’m lucky to be able to work on lots of brands that make cool stuff, things that don’t suck, and actually deliver on the brand promise.

As I write this, I’m wearing an L.L.Bean shirt. It’s perfect. It’s well-made. It’s gonna last forever. And if I decided I didn’t like it, even if I made up some stupid reason (“Dear L.L.Bean, your shirt does not provide cable service”), this company would take it back and refund me; which is why they’re always winning best service awards every year.

Norwegian Cruise Line? Do you know how cool it is to write for a product you can see in the harbor from five miles away and one mile up as your plane’s landing in Miami? Plus it’s fun to debunk old myths about how cruising is for shuffle-board-playin’ Viagra addicts from Fort Wayne. You step onto one of their ships – like Norwegian Jewel – you are gone dude. You are off the grid. It’s like bein’ in a 4-star hotel where they change the scenery off your balcony every morning.

These are just a few of the brands I’ve had the pleasure of working on in my years at GSD&M, an agency with a roster full of equally way-cool brands.
So it’s a good day to remind myself what a great job I have. And so do you, if you work in advertising.

When the day gets long and you think your job kinda sucks, remind yourself that the Newtonian definition of work is “moving weight over a distance” and that we don’t have to do any heavy lifting in advertising. We don’t have to wear orange vests on the side of the highway. We don’t have to email Bev in Receivables asking her for the 10th goddamn time to send more copies of Form WCC-240, “the one with the tracking numbers in RED, Bev, RED.” We don’t have to say to every customer that, for a quarter more, they can have the big popcorn.

(Am I getting elitist again? I look forward to reviewing all of your complaints on my customer feedback site: biteme.com.)

Man, I love this business.

5 Comments

  1. Congrats to you and the crew. Great win.

    Reply
  2. Hey dude, nice little write-up. It’s exactly what I needed to hear today. A big congrats to the team down there on the great Goodyear win.

    Reply
  3. Very cool win, congratulations!

    Reply
  4. Awesome win, LS. What a breeding ground for great work. Congratulations!

    Reply
  5. Good for you guys. Even better for Goodyear.

    Reply

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Luke Sullivan

Author, speaker, and ad veteran available to recharge, reinvigorate, and refocus marketing, advertising, and branding firms.

I give a hugely energetic series of presentations on innovation, creativity, branding, and marketing. I spent 32 years in the trenches of advertising (at agencies like Martin, GSD&M, and Fallon) and I’ve put everything I learned into my book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. But for me nothing beats taking the message out and speaking to living breathing audiences at clients, agencies, and conferences. You can book me on the button below.

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