You can't always want what you get

I saw this blurb in my weekly Accounts on the Move email:

“SECRET WEAPON MARKETING WINS 1-800-DENTIST
Secret Weapon Marketing, the agency that handles only three clients at a time, filled the final slot in its three client roster with 1-800-DENTIST. Creative duties were previously handled in-house.”

I love Jerry McGuire, so I must love Secret Weapon.

I don’t know anyone there, although I’ve admired a lot of the Jack in the Box commercials over the years, all of them directed by Dick Sittig, the agency's founder and Creative Director.

Skeptics will scoff at their three-clients-only policy as a gimmick, or an excuse, or just a plain old money loser.

I say it’s genius. For one, it’s a great way to save time and money doing countless RFPs, which greatly increases employee's mental happiness. It allows them to focus on the business at hand, building client relationships, doing great work, and, heaven forbid, enjoying the work they do.

Plus, I would argue that it makes the agency more attractive to clients, regardless of how many clients SW takes. Every schoolboy who’s ever had a crush knows that some folks only want what they can’t have (at least that's how I explain my high school dating drought). For once, it’s the clients who should be nervous, with the possibility that they could lose their agency if another client comes along and steals them away.

And of course, it’s a different way of thinking about doing business. It changes the model. It’s twisted, and I love that.

One of my favorite quotes in one of my favorite movies is about the time and dedication that it takes to truly do a great job on behalf of another, and it can’t be underestimated. Secret Weapon understands this.

I just hope they're really really good at negotiating their fees.