Pay a little expect a lot. Pat a lot get a lot.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Here's what happens:

Client wants to pay as little as possible for a service - let's say advertising or photography.

Provider decides to go along and give client a good price (pick one or more) 1 - to generate some needed cash, 2 - to make a good impressions and maybe get more business, 3 - to do a good turn for a good client, 4 - any one of a bunch of other good or bad reasons.


And usually the provider indicates on a proposal or invoice that a discount has been extended. Which client often promptly forgets . . .  as they start pushing the schedule and asking for more revisions, options or services (like retouching, for example) than the deal called for. Then they complain when they are charged for things that go beyond the original scope of work.

And everybody involved winds up in a bad mood.

Charge what's fair for a clearly laid-out scope of work.

And pay what's fair for a clearly laid-out scope of work.

It's really pretty simple.

Are you kidding me?

OK, you want a new logo for your fast-food chain.

Something that doesn't look so "old-fashioned". (Another voice might say it's a "classic" look, but let's not get off message here.)

Fine. Go ahead. Spend a few hundred thousand getting some design studio to study the hell out of it and then come up with some that's, well, OK.

Just say so. "We just kinda got tired of the old one and we like the new one better. It's kinda 'now', you know?"

Don't feel the need to try to bullshit us with a lot of gobbledygook. Don't (and I'm talking to you Craig Bahner, CMO of Wendy's) try to convince us that this beige approach above "signals the innovation and fresh thinking taking place at Wendy’s, while reinforcing that we are staying true to our values as a distinct and beloved brand.” 

What a load of crap.


Something tells me this guy is pals with the marketing genius at Avis who decided to drop their classic tag line for a bunch of words.

Probably also the guy behind their lame "now that's better" ad campaign.