I have a rant to go on. There’s no word that makes an advertising executive’s eye twitch faster than “quick.”
Not budget cuts. Not last-minute changes. Not even “Can we see another version of this?”
It’s “quick.”
In the last two weeks alone, I’ve received more than 100 emails promising a quick question, quick demo, quick idea, or my personal favorite, a quick suggestion. Apparently, I’m just one “quick 15 minutes” away from solving everyone’s problems. I guess everyone is GEICO now?
Let me be clear. Nothing in this industry is quick. If it were, we’d all be out of jobs by now.
Here’s the thing about “quick.” It’s never actually quick. It’s quicksand. You step in thinking it’ll take a minute, and suddenly you’re 45 minutes deep into a conversation about attribution models, incrementality, or why “awareness” is still somehow impossible to measure accurately in 2026.
What starts as:
“Hey, just a quick question…”
Ends as:
“Can you walk me through your entire media strategy, tech stack, reporting philosophy, and your thoughts on the future of AI in advertising?”
Yeah, that’s totally quick. Blink and you miss it.
Here’s the truth. Advertising is a craft. It’s not a drive-thru. Real advertising isn’t microwaveable. It’s not a TikTok hack. It’s not something you whip up between meetings because someone asked nicely.
It’s meticulous, theorized, planned, modeled, tested, retested, analyzed, questioned, and then questioned again when the data doesn’t behave.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is either selling something or has never actually done the work. When someone leads with “quick,” what they usually mean is:
- “I don’t fully respect the time this actually takes.”
- “I assume this is easier than it is.”
- “I want value before I’ve invested anything.”
Here’s the thing. Curiosity is great. Conversations are great. Selling is part of the business, but pretending complexity doesn’t exist doesn’t make it disappear. It just shifts the burden to the people doing the thinking.
The irony is that speed comes from doing it right. The funniest part is that speed in advertising does exist, but only after the hard work is done.
You move faster when strategy is sound, systems are in place, assumptions are tested, and decisions are informed. That kind of speed is earned. It’s not requested in an email subject line.
So, I have one quick request. If you’re reaching out to an agency, a strategist, a media buyer, or anyone in advertising, try this instead. Be honest about what you’re asking for, acknowledge the complexity, and respect the time it takes to do it well. Because the only thing “quick” about advertising is how fast people who do it for a living can spot bullshit.
And that? Well, it happens almost instantly.