Cost should not be the primary factor in making decisions about resources to employ for your brand.  Quality, ability and experience are much more important.

We are in a recession. There are pressures on budgets. The edict from the C-Suites is to cut costs and save money. The pressure is to get more with less. That has forced many marketers to look for bargains. The criteria for making decisions has become cost. And the result could be a weaker brand and loss of brand equity.

Too often decisions are being made based on cost. Bid services out to get the best price. Decide to go with lesser talent because it’s cheaper. Take shortcuts. Go with lower quality. All of these are shortsighted.  They consider only the short-term.

Great advertising requires great talent.  Great creative minds create great brands. Creativity, talent and experience are the keys to successful work.  And those qualities do not come cheaply. Sure you can buy talent for less. Sure you can save money, but is it going to take your brand where it needs to go?  Will it maintain the brand perception and brand quality at necessary levels?

Creativity is not a commodity.  It is not something to be bought based on price.  All creativity is not equal and cannot be judged on cost alone. 

As a marketer, your brand is your most precious possession. It deserves the best.  It deserves outstanding creative, top-level talent and quality experience.  If you purchase inferior talent as a way to save money but it weakens and tarnishes the brand, what is the real cost?

In these tough times many are putting their brand in peril by basing decisions on price without regard to how it will affect the brand.  It can certainly save you money but it could also cause you to weaken or worse – lose your brand position.