Dear Client, are you merely “keeping the lights on”?

I do some of my best thinking in the car on the way to work. I really don't mind the commute. A quick stop at Starbucks. Cream. Sugar. A few metered ramps and my congested exit followed by a jammed parking lot. I'm not complaining. Not at all. It's my time to think before a day of back-to-back meetings and frantic fire drills. Plus, my seats are heated. Which is nice.

This morning, like most mornings, I navigated the northbound gridlock with one eye on my twitter feed. The usual. Pete Cashmore's overnight posts. Lance's early-morning road ride. Cryptic Dalai Lama ramblings. And occasionally, if I'm lucky, a nugget of wisdom from Lee Clow. Or, more accurately, his beard @LeeClowsBeard.

Lee Clow was formerly the Chief Creative Officer at TBWA. Now he's their Chairman and Global Director. If you're lucky, you've seen his facial hair. If you've watched TV at all in the last few decades, you've seen his work. Most notably, "Think Different" and Apple's launch of the Macintosh computer with its legendary "1984" superbowl ad.

This guy's a veritable cornucopia of advertising wisdom. If you're not already following him on Twitter, I'd highly recommend it. This morning he tweeted something especially insightful:

"Ideas are the currency of advertising. Reward your great thinkers accordingly."

It got me thinking about the whole client/agency relationship again. Specifically, formal client requests. But, more importantly, the "bonus ideas" occasionally offered up by an agency.

These bonus ideas are what some shops dub "creative opportunities." Usually, pie-in-the-sky requests to do something "cool." They're usually out of scope and often times a little wacky, as compared to your normal marketing routine. Warning: your agency's motivations might not be entirely pure. Sound the alarm. It's true. As much as your agency may claim they're not motivated by hardware, they will admit that winning the occasional Effie, Addy, Clio or Lion definitely won't hurt in the next the new business pitch. (Yes, they're using your brand's success to propel the agency to new heights.) It should be noted that these are all good things. For both your brand and the agency.

If you're not seeing these bonus ideas I'd ask why. My guess is it's one of three things:

1) the agency is busy pitching new business.
2) the agency is dying on the vine.
3) you're an idea killer and they've decided to focus their efforts elsewhere.

If it's the third option, congratulations. You're officially "keeping the lights on."

Long story short, some of the best ideas come out of the blue. If your agency isn't serving them up, ask them why. If they are, approve one every once in a while. It'll keep the ideas coming. And, assuming your agency has multiple clients, it'll ensure those ideas keep coming to you.