I had the opportunity to chat recently with Ron Fisher, former Creative Director at BBDO in Atlanta and one of the principals at Hutcheson Schutze, a now legendary creative shop.
Ron is an old school ad guy, which I mean as a high compliment. He knows how to get your attention for the right reasons. He knows how to produce memorable work and how to tell a story. Ron and I weren’t so much chatting as we were lamenting the erosion of traditional media.
There are fewer opportunities to do the print and broadcast campaigns we enjoy so much. Even worse, there is less reason to do that sort of work. It’s a conversation I’ve had dozens of times with dozens of ad guys. But Ron added a unique perspective.
“Word of mouth,” he said, “has always been the best advertising.” He added that new media and social media simply accommodate Word of Mouth quickly and efficiently. He closed on what I consider an optimistic note. “As long as people need to figure out ways to sell,” he said, “they’re gonna need ideas.”
Great point. And one I think is all too often lost in an increasingly noisy social media world.