Good, Fast, or Cheap?

Over the years in business I have notice clients looking at media services like it was a commodity. They sometimes think of it like buying catchup and that one brand is as good as the next. Well I have a news flash, media production is not an assembly line process. Far from it. To be good at it, producing videos, websites, and print involves skill, creativity, and experience.

There’s an old saying in the biz that says clients always want you to produce media projects that are good, fast, and cheap. What clients need to grasp is that they can usually only get two out of the three. Let’s examine this further.

Cheap + Good = Likely to be slow
Good + Fast = Likely to be expensive
Fast + Cheap = Likely to be poor quality

Yes it is actually possible to manage to attain all three. This is more an exception than a rule and if you have a media vendor who can do this hang on to them, they are like gold.

Here’s some advice out there to companies looking to hire good media companies. The next time you’re in the super market looking for video, web or print services, don’t think of buying catchup, think more of buying a good wine. Buy a two buck chuck if you’re going to use it for cooking but please don’t take it to a fancy restaurant, you will spoil a perfectly good meal.