I’ve read our monthly blogs with great pleasure; each written by a wonderful Rosenberg Advertising family member. Although I am living through it, I am continuously amazed how much the advertising and marketing business has evolved, and feel great pride for the team we have assembled and how we stay on top of the ever changing world of communication we now live in! I particularly enjoyed reading the story last month from our first team member and my good friend, Dave Simon. He’s been with me for 31 years and still going strong today. Dave talked about the good old days and how we “used to do it.” I’ll be the first to admit I loved every word of his story and it definitely got me nostalgic and thinking, while the technology has definitely changed over the years, how we do it — meaning our philosophy and how we operate uniquely in our industry — has not changed at all.
When I started RA in March 1981 with one account, one phone, and a $95 per month office space, my business philosophy was based on two things– if I work my butt off, then no one can out work me and if I treat people how I wanted to be treated, I’d probably be doing better than most.
Funny that it took me four years at Miami University and an economics degree to figure that out, but it’s what I went with! Over all these years those simple philosophies have proved to be guiding lights as the business grew, weathered tough storms, then grew again. We’ve been fortunate to hold many long-standing team members, long-term loyal clients, and great vendor/media relationships. The successful ones all have the same thread running through them; mutual respect, good will, and treating each other the right way. I’ve proudly come to realize after 33 years that our philosophy to treat others as we would want to be treated has not faltered. I guess what is old is new again or in our case, maybe has always been new.
It seems today conversations about business basics sometimes take a back seat to the impressive array of technological options available. Talk about the latest cutting edge tactics is almost always sexier than talk about people returning phone calls and emails in a timely fashion. Don’t get me wrong — I love technology! It has improved our capabilities and allowed us to marry the power of great creative with thoughtful marketing strategy and bring campaigns to life. I love both conversations, but I like to believe that my old school mentality is just as important now as it was in 1981 when I started Rosenberg Advertising. I truly believe that all people connected to a business — clients, team members, or vendors — want reliable, friendly, and trusting relationships. They want phone calls and emails answered quickly. They want to talk with enthusiastic people who truly care about their business. This worked well for us in the 80s, in the 90s, and has continued serving us well into the 2000s.
In our ongoing quest to do our absolute best, each and every day, we must continue to grow creatively, embrace new technology and tactics, all the while still remembering that our business is a contact sport. Our future growth will be dependent on how we continue to balance newly emerging trends with the old school work ethic and attitude we wholeheartedly believe in.
