The Honesty Blog
Not in some corporate “radical candor” way. Just being honest with clients even when it’s uncomfortable.
Because the reality is, sometimes you’re hitting KPIs, the client’s happy, the retainer is good, the work is solid… but something still feels off.
Maybe it’s the branding.
Maybe it’s the packaging.
Maybe it’s the business model.
Maybe they’re asking social media to solve a problem that social media can’t solve.
And saying that out loud can absolutely put you in a weird spot.
A few years ago we had a client show us new packaging they were really excited about. Tons of work clearly went into it. We said we liked it.
Then we got off the call and basically all looked at each other like, “oh man…”
We hated it.
Not because we’re branding experts. We’re not. But when you’ve been in CPG long enough you develop instincts around what feels right and what doesn’t.
We didn’t say anything because the project already felt too far along and honestly we didn’t want to create tension.
The product bombed.
And I still think about that sometimes because a few months later we stopped working together anyway.
Would our opinion have changed everything? Maybe not. But I do wish we would’ve acted more like a strategic partner and less like a service provider trying to keep things smooth.
A lot of brands think they need more content.
Sometimes they do.
But a lot of times the answer is actually taking a step back and asking harder questions before pumping out more videos and graphics.
Because if the positioning is off or the product isn’t connecting or the branding feels disconnected, more content usually isn’t fixing that.
And honestly, if a brand just wants volume content, there are a million ways to get cheap UGC now. That’s not really hard anymore.
