Let’s stop selling “more content”: what brands need is judgment

I’m going to say something our industry doesn’t always like to hear: many times we sell quantity because quantity is easy to show. Twenty posts a month, three videos a week, a report full of charts. It looks like work. And it is. But it is not always the work the brand needed.

We measure what is easy to measure

Counting pieces is simple. Counting whether those pieces brought the brand closer to what it wants to be is hard. That is why, when it’s time to quote or to report, the deliverable ends up being whatever fits in a table: posts, reach, followers. All of that has its place, but none of those figures answers, on its own, the question that matters: is this brand today clearer, more recognizable and more chosen than it was six months ago?

An agency shouldn’t charge for filling a calendar, but for deciding what deserves to be in it.

Judgment is the product

When someone hires a strategy and communication team, what they are really buying is judgment: what to say and what not to say, to whom, in what tone, at what moment. Producing is the visible part. Deciding is the part that is worth it. A well-executed piece of a wrong idea is still a mistake, just better presented.

That explains why two brands with the same budget and the same tools can get very different results. It is not the size of the calendar. It is the clarity behind it.

Saying no is also work

I believe one of the most underrated responsibilities of an agency is being able to tell a client “not this.” Not publishing something that doesn’t sound like the brand. Not joining a conversation that isn’t theirs. Not opening a channel that can’t be properly attended. Saying no is uncomfortable in the short term, but it is what protects a brand in the long term.

What I ask of my team, and what I would ask of a client

From my team I ask that, before producing, they can explain in one sentence what each piece is for. If it can’t be done, it is probably not ready yet.

From a client I would ask for something similar: to demand reasons from us, not just deliverables. To ask why we do what we do and what we expect to happen. And to let us ask the same of them: clarity about their business, their goals and their limits. The best relationships between a brand and an agency are conversations between people who think together.

An invitation

I’m not saying production doesn’t matter. It matters, a lot. I’m saying that producing without judgment is well-made noise, and that brands deserve better. At SraLola we believe brands are not improvised, they are built, and building starts with thinking.

If you agree, or if you think I’m wrong, I’d love to talk it over.