R-e-s-p-e-c-t, experienced professionals versus gadgets and gizmos

One of the many awesome things about working in marketing and communications is the incredible talent in the industry. From marketing professionals to communications specialists, to video producers and associated talent, graphic and visual designers, photographers, media, media agencies, creative agencies, social media gurus, and the list goes on.

We have been so lucky throughout our careers to have worked with such wonderful talent at every level. We take our hats off to our colleagues across this vast, vast industry – we salute you!

The rise of technology has sadly seen many of our colleagues’ roles become redundant, and even more worryingly, we are seeing more and more clients turning their own hands to tasks that were previously assigned to trained professionals.

The advent of social media for personal use has also seen the rise in people believing they understand the nuances of social media for business. Sadly, we have seen too many businesses fail spectacularly on social media because they don’t understand the fundamentals of marketing and communications.

Now, we’re all for technology and the rise of technology such as Canva and iMovie. These have been great for non-professionals who want to get their ‘creative on’, hey, we even use some of these platforms ourselves.

Where we do mention our caution is completely replacing trained professionals, such as graphic designers, video producers, and website developers, in favour of ‘cheaper’ alternatives. It has been disheartening over the last decade to hear people say “oh, if you don’t have time, I’ll get my 10-year-old to edit the footage on their iPad, they’ll do a great job”, or “I’ve just knocked up this design in Canva, I think this looks better than something a designer would do.”

The rise of AI and Chat GPT is also signaling a worrying trend, are communications professionals next on the hit list? We particularly enjoyed when a colleague presented us with an article they had asked ChatGPT to write for them, only to be handed our own work that we had previously written.

We can tell you from experience, having sat behind the camera on numerous occasions watching incredible video production teams do their job, from the director, to producer, film crew and editors, the final product far outstrips anything we could produce ourselves. And the results speak for themselves. The work these professionals produce are created to represent your brand. If you want your brand to speak volumes about professionalism, integrity, experience and trust, then you need to place that same trust in professionals.

We have been working in this industry for a long time and have learnt a lot of tricks along the way, but that certainly doesn’t make us professional designers, video producers, journalists, or web coders. Sure, we can play around with some basics, but we would never replace the skill, precision, creative approach and specialised lens these professionals bring to their roles. Just as we would never attempt to change plumbing or wiring in a house, marketing and communications professionals should also be respected and recognised for their experience and talent.

If the issue is about time taken to produce an item, or the cost associated with hiring professionals then we ask you to reach out and talk to these specialists so they can work through a comprehensive understanding and brief of your requirements. The time and value for money you will receive from these specialists far outweighs the investment in time and money businesses will outlay trying to do things themselves.

Our advice? Know and appreciate your limitations. We love our colleagues across the marketing and communications space and will continue to advocate for them. ChatGPT, social media, online design and video production platforms are fantastic, however nothing beats the outcomes produced by specialist talent. Their advice and input to your business will see you reap greater rewards.