What Should Great Marketing Communications Cost?

In the story Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver discovers he is a giant in one world and minuscule in another world. This is what it feels like running a boutique marketing communication firm sometimes. When we present our work and pricing to experienced marketers, they are usually ecstatic. (In fact, our work has been white-labeled several times and marked up more than 300%.) Yet when we are contacted by inexperienced marketers — who approach us because of our reputation and work quality — their pricing expectations occasionally seem to be informed by Fivver. Often we’re fascinated by these smaller organizations’ strategic challenges or the possibility to demonstrate creative greatness, so it is distressing to have to turn the work away.

Finally, to conclude this short blog post, I thought I would bring it back to Gulliver. But since I haven’t read Gulliver’s Travels in a very long time, I just checked Wikipedia to see how the story ends. Apparently, Gulliver can’t reconcile these circumstances and becomes a recluse, spending several hours a day speaking with his horses. Since I was hoping for a happier ending, I am hoping more experienced marketers call us soon.

Lawrence M. Kimmel is CEO of Rung-UP. He can be reached at Hi@Rung-UP.com.