Opinions are like...well, you know

Everybody's got one.

And when it comes to the College of Western Idaho these days, there's certainly no shortage.

The Idaho Business Review, and their 60+ comments, leave very little to wonder about where they stand.

TechBoise has an opinion, with more insight and intelligent conversation than what I saw happening on the Idaho Business Review's site.

Even The Idaho Statesman has an opinion.

So let's take a look at how this all got started. Much of what has been written centers around the television spots created for the College. For those who may not have seen them, here are the three spots, courtesy of CWI's YouTube Channel:







So, now that you've seen them, we can begin.

Whether you think the ads are good or bad is almost beside the point. Advertising, and particularly the creative that comes out as a result, is subjective. What one person calls "good" the next calls "bad."

The real question is, have these spots, and other portions of the enrollment campaign, been effective in generating adequate awareness of, interest in, and ultimately enrollment at the College of Western Idaho? Time will tell.

A couple of thoughts to leave with, however:

It escapes me who said it, but in any client/agency relationship, the agency deserves no more than 50% of the praise for the success, or 50% of the blame for the failure. That concept is true in this case as well. CWI is as responsible for these spots as those on the agency side who produced them.

As agencies, and agency folks, it is our responsibility to advise, guide, and direct clients on the best course of action as much as possible. That means proper planning, research and insight into the client's business or industry. Without that, we become nothing more than order takers, reacting at the client's whim.

Success takes time, and will certainly be the case here.

For those who were involved, I'd encourage you to take this opportunity to learn from what went right, and wrong, and come back with something even better next time. For those who are watching from the sidelines, this is another case where there's a lesson to be learned here.

Are you willing to learn it?

Technorati tags: college of western idaho, idaho business review, techboise, the idaho statesman, youtube