The services performed and the work product delivered under this agreement, collectively the ‘deliverables’ by contractor (advertising agency) to client are provided ‘as is.’ The contractor does not warrant that any deliverable will meet client’s requirement or that their operation will be free of error or risk of liability.

In no event will contractor have any liability whatsoever for claims arising out of or in connection with the accuracy or content of the deliverables, including, without limitation, the use of the deliverables or conclusions drawn from any result or reports generated using the deliverables.

The above falls under section A of ‘We can’t create advertising that sells unless it’s researched to death and is rendered useless’. Any inquiries should be directed to Adbusters.

What ever happened to risk-taking and out-of-the-box thinking? Is the advertising business in Canada dead? Do we only have out-of-the-coffin thinking?

It is time for us to get mad as hell. It is time that we begin giving clients a product that we actually believe in and believe is right for them. Work is better when it is not over-researched or researched at all. Most solid creative and account people know that the best way to get great product is not through excessive research, but by gut feel or by instinct.

Great clients understand this, too. If Anheuser Busch weren’t one of the truly great clients, do you really believe the Budweiser ‘Whassup?!’ campaign would ever have seen the light of day? Not likely. The same is true of Nike, another great client as can be seen by their latest ‘Shade’ campaign. There is no way we would have seen these campaigns without such enlightened clients. Good clients demand more than the no-risk road of mediocrity that the advertising business is now running on.

Am I worried that someone in some big agency is getting annoyed reading this? No. Why? Because they are too busy wearing their dull suits and hiding behind too much research. Too many are taking the safe route to easy client approval. That is why there are so few good agencies in Canada like Taxi, Diesel, Bos, Flavour and Zig. That’s why in the U.S. we haven’t seen more great agencies flourish like Wieden & Kennedy or Goodby Silverstein. These agencies are run by talented and creative entrepreneurs who truly believe in what they do and have the integrity to express those results and beliefs to their clients.

Am I upset with the industry? You bet I am. I’m upset that our talented creative and account executives don’t have the same opportunity to create outstanding work as in years past. I’m upset because, in the whole world, there are only a handful of agency icons we can still look up to. Did our business die when the icons died? Some disappeared into their corner office. Some just got too old to care anymore because they weren’t being listened to. For sure, most of the risk takers are gone. Both clients and agency staff are looking for leadership, someone to take charge, take risk, innovate and motivate and inspire.

OK Frank, enough opinions! You have 500 words to answer the question: Was there any ‘industry advancement during the past year and did anything good take place?’ The easiest thing would have been to answer with 500 words of positive clichés. Post 9/11 2002 wasn’t a good year. Though it was great for PJDDB, it was tough going for everyone. Most agencies survived, at least for now, but a few, both large and small, left the business.

My forecast for the coming year is more consolidation. The major agency conglomerates will continue to buy up the good smaller shops and let the poor ones expire. The conglomerates will gain a more solid foothold and grow by an average of 5% to 8%. The independent shops will win a larger share at the awards shows by developing great work. A few Major Agency Presidents will be out looking for work.

Remember: taking a risk on great creative hunches can result in campaigns that don’t merely carry a message, they create a movement. And I don’t mean a movement in your pants because you’re afraid your client won’t buy it, though I imagine the large agency managements will continue to change their pants often.

PS: The author holds himself totally responsible for the content of this article.

Frank Palmer is CEO of Vancouver-based Palmer Jarvis DDB.