As we all know, marketing is a pretty hairy place. There are often competing agendas, and there are often some pretty intricate, confusing lines of communication and control. Sometimes we’re not even sure who our client is. Sometimes there are three clients. Sometimes there are ten. It can get confusing, it can get messy. So we want you to know, right away, these are where our priorities lie in any project.

First and foremost, we’re absolutely committed to creating the best work that’s possible. Quality of work is always first and foremost in our mind. Our business, our reputation, completely rests on it, and our philosophy of interactive advertising hinges on it. Without our creative reputation, we’re nothing. And without great creative, your work will suffer. Of course, of course, there are times where a compromise must be made. Lots of times. More times than any of us care to think about. We’re not prima donnas. We know the drill. We’re not gonna kill your project midway because you suddenly want something green. No. We’re just saying this is the most important factor in any engagement for us – doing the best work we can, given the environment.

Secondly, we are honest. We’re not gonna lie to you, and we’re not going to pretend that we think something’s a fantastic idea when we don’t think it is. We’re not going to pretend it’s a great idea to blow a hundred grand on something that we know, deep down, isn’t the best use of your money. It can get a little annoying at times, of course, but we feel like we owe it to you to play it straight. We’re not obstructionists – if something feels like a bad idea, we’ll present you with alternatives. But again, our reputation, and our relationship with you, is based on trust and a knowledge that we’re not out to screw you over.

Next, we are committed to you and your needs. We will do everything we can, everything in our power, to make things happen for you. You are our client. Your needs are ours. This is a service industry, and we do everything we can to make sure your needs are taken care of. We are doing our darndest to stamp the word “no” from our vocabulary. If something seems hard, or if there are obstacles standing in front of us, we’ll work with you to find a way to make something happen. One of our clients told us once “I like working with you guys because when I hire you I know it’s gonna get done, I don’t need to worry about it not working, or not being on time, or not looking right. I can rest easy.” We were really proud of that, and we’ve taken it to heart.

Finally, we are committed to getting your project done on time and on budget. Interactive production is hellishly complex. Millions of things can go wrong. We’ve got a crack team of interactive producers who will do everything in their power to make sure the project gets done.
Balancing these four beliefs sometimes gets a little hairy. It’s sort of like Asimov’s Three Rules of Robotics. Listen to humans. Unless they tell you to hurt another human. Don’t hurt yourself. Unless a human tells you to. Sometimes priorities conflict. We know that. Sometimes you need something done faster than is ideal to do great creative. Sometimes you may ask for things that may not be in the project’s best interest. Again, you know the drill. There’s an art to managing these beliefs, and we, like everyone, are still learning. If you ever feel like we’ve got one priority too pronounced, let us know.

We spent our formative years pooh poohing client services. We weren’t an agency, so why do we need account services? We didn’t have accounts, after all, we had projects. Additionally, our producers are some of the most capable and helpful in the business – they’ve always been more than just project managers. They’ve always had your interests at heart, even if they didn’t seem like they did. Honest. Still, though, we’ve recognized, recently, that we need to offer our clients something more. We need people to be there for them. This has, we can assure you, radically improved in the past few years.

Our client service team is lead by our president, Bruce Winterton, and they are a very helpful and capable bunch. SInce we’re not really an agency, and we don’t have revenue targets by account or anything like that, we can honestly say our client service executives are here to help, not to sell. Look! we call them “client service” instead of account service, because we know, in our line of work, it’s about the clients, and about the projects, not some dream of winning an “account.”

When jobs start, you’ll know who your client service executive is – either a partner or a client service specialist. We do this by client, so everyone at your company will have the same client service executive to talk to, and they will get to know everyone. They will come visit you. They will be there to complain to, or compliment. And, they will be part of the team here at The Barbarian Group. They’re not there to get you to sign some yearlong contract or a maintenance contract. They’re there to take care of you. To be an ear if you have a problem, and to help sooth us from our dogmatic ways that we’ve been blathering about in this book. To keep you happy, us honest, and the project on track. If at any time something isn’t working for you, let your client service executive know. We’ll do our best to fix it. Of course we can’t, always, but we want you to know that everything is flexible. Everything is here to help you. That’s what we do – we solve your problems. Let’s rock.