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There’s a hugely conversation happening in our
Sherwin Schwartzrock creative director smARTer Minneapolis, MN
important
industry right now: identifying really means, and how that translates
and understanding what authenticity
into business. That’s our job. Because the old concept of design – making things look pretty – just
doesn’t work anymore. We have to be strategic; relevant; true. Sometimes that’s easy. Like one of our biggest clients, a hospital, is a great brand to work with because they’re literally saving people’s lives. Every day. I mean, how can you not love working for a company like that? You look at the nurses who have been delivering babies for 20 years and they still see every birth as a miracle. How cool is it to be the standard-bearer for a brand like that? But everything is super competitive these days. Consumers have real choices in the marketplace. And they’re smarter than ever. Especially millennials. Their bullshit detectors are pretty good. They can sense it a mile away. That’s why it’s so important for companies
to convey the truth; to add real value to the marketplace versus just selling another widget at whatever cost. My partners and I have learned that we have a say in who we identify with and
who we communicate for. And that we, like the clients we serve, can add value to society
instead of just being another ad agency; to provide a service not only to them, but
also to their customers – instead of the way it was during the Mad Men era
when people in this business could get away with pretty much anything.
And here’s the thing: If we in this industry do our jobs really
well – if we help our clients identify their key value
propositions and then share them with the rest of
the world – we get to go to a job every
day that we’re passionate about.
That we love. That fills
us with joy.
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