Read the internal memo-excerpt below:
Overall, CareerBuilder's revenue shot up from $100 + million to $700 + million. Number one in share. Number one in visits. Number one in listings. C-K contributed enormously to that – all in less than 36 months. A week and a half ago they told us our performance report card would be at 100%! We were so friggin' happy!
There was only one place we didn't score at the top: with the 238 people that comprised the USA Today Super Bowl poll (all located in Houston, TX and McLean, VA) who voted us 16th and 27th. (That means there were 41 ads below us.)
To our amazement, to our total astonishment, all that astounding business success was less important than one poll. They wanted us to make them famous; we did that in spades (brand awareness up by 64% - even Millward Brown, the venerable research firm said their brand building model couldn't explain such incredible growth.) But the TV ads did not make the top 10 in the USA Today poll – a poll that everyone knows doesn't mirror results (see the continuing Bud sales decline for one!) - they just told us they will do a creative review.
Wait a minute we said, what about the incredible growth that is going on, the shares, the revenue, the awareness, the two best internet sites ever, the massive buzz, etc, etc.
What about all of that? That's huge.
"Yes," they responded, "but you (C-K) didn't get the top ten in the USA Today poll." Hold on… we crushed every possible business metrics/barometer for success. Out of all the metrics and polls, it's all about this one?You have to be (explative) kidding, right!? "No, that's it. It's because of the poll." That was about the extent of the conversation.
C-Kers, we have to tell you – in our entire history, hell in the history of this crazy thing called advertising, I'm not sure there has ever been any thing as baseless or as unbelievable as that. It's so ludicrious and they are so serious about that poll it's almost funny.
Being floored would be an understatement. We can proudly take credit for their success. We certainly don't think one poll builds a brand. We don't think that our tremendous results should be defined or denigrated by a measurement that everyone knows is not related to business success. Most importantly of all we take great pride in being a very hot, highly successful agency. We consistently and dramatically help brands change the conversation in their category. We did it in spades for them. Despite all the great work and making them famous, their sole reason is, at best, unsophisticated, unbusiness like and from the standpoint of how to run a business, unprofessional. They may not be the kind of people we should do business with. Therefore we can't justify any reason to participate in a review and have just notified them accordingly. The good news is that we are on a roll that looks even better than the incredible 2006 growth of 23%. We're moving on!
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