You Can't Have it All

In Advertising, specifically production of TV Ads, Radio Ads, and also Design work including Newspaper Ads there is a delicate balance between good quality work, deadlines, and cost.

There are three components that make up a job. They govern the process and the output.

The three elements are: QUALITY TIME COST

It would be great to be able to access ultra high quality work, with one day's turnaround, for very low prices, but each element is inversely proportional to the other two. For example: if you would like a high quality job completed in 2 days it will cost a lot. Alternatively you can access a low cost job, completed in 2 days, but it will be of lower quality. The third option is a low cost job, where you demand high quality which will therefore take longer to produce.

There are a lot of companies out there, who are all competing for the same work. Many offering lower cost and decent turnaround, but look closely and you will see that this simple principle is in play. Where a company offers and highly promotes themselves as TWO of the three components they will most likely lack the final of the three components.

Ad Agencies need to be mindful of this rule as it applies to both our clients AND our suppliers. We also need to weigh up elements and define the most important aspects of a job that we may need to buy in, for example a print job, the filming of a TV commercial, or distribution of flyers.

Just like the 80/20 rule, this rule applies to almost any situation where you are primarily buying a service. It is far less applicable to products alone.

The rule of thumb is that of the three components, you can pick two.