“Brands have to create great stories,” says advertising guru Chuck Porter, explaining the motivation behind becoming one’s own client. The chairman and partner in ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky is renowned for his work and was this year inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
According to Porter, advertising agencies have to adapt to the times. After cost-cutting measures were implemented in the 2008 economic crisis, agencies lost a lot of their revenue and this is unlikely to change.
“The economics of the business are pretty challenging right now, and I think they always will be,” says Porter. “Agencies have to become much more lean than they ever were before.”
In response to this, CP+B have become their own client:
“We’ve created our own brands,” says Porter. “In terms of the economics, it’s a long-term plan before it’s a pay-off, but we’re our own client and when it actually monetises we get the money.
However, CP+B doesn’t focus on industry trends and is not trying to reinvent the industry.
“We just try and do something really brilliant with the tools we have now,” adds Porter, explaining the company’s ethos: Do something great today, and tomorrow will take care of itself.
