I’m a firm believer that though we can’t always control the events that affect us, we can always take charge of our responses. I would say that the ability to see a range of possibilities in every turn of events and to make the best of things is probably a quality shared by effective marketers.

A popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” This deep and lasting recession shows that companies which persist in doing the same old things are often getting different—and disappointing—results.

This is not a time for business as usual. At The Bloom Agency we’ve thought deeply about how to get through this downturn. For the most part our clients have reduced their marketing budgets. And I have made it clear that staff reductions and furloughs would be an absolute last resort.

For us, the answer has been to become more of what we are. I’ve always encouraged our staff members to develop new skills, cross-train, and learn as much as they can about our clients and our business, whatever their customary role. This downturn has been a time of tremendous learning, with all employees venturing out of their comfort zones to take on new responsibilities. We’re proud of our team-based structure. Over the past six months I would say that we have become a high-performance team, operating with a level of excellence that is gratifying to everyone.

But most of all we have decided to provide our clients with more value. We’ve added a sales training and coaching capability, which has already provided substantial benefits to several client companies. We’ve shown our clients that we can function smoothly and seamlessly as their marketing department—including taking on the role of marketing director. We’ve beefed up our role in planning presentations, proposals and events for clients, and facilitating workshops and strategy sessions.

As I look around, I see that the majority of agencies seem to have taken the opposite approach. Seeing that clients have less to spend, they are cutting their fees and taking on many small projects in lieu of the long-term retainer arrangements that used to be the norm. And of course many, if not most, are cutting their own resources significantly.

Our approach, to take on more responsibility with our clients, and to make certain that everything we recommend will contribute to their health and growth makes me think it’s time to change The Bloom Agency descriptor. Yes, we do provide Creative Marketing Solutions, but today it would be more complete and accurate to define us as Business Development Specialists.

This expanded role is a natural evolution of the “anti-agency” I set out to create in 2000. Right from the start, I was determined to keep the focus on our clients’ business goals. Other agency owners are astounded when I tell them we have never taken commissions on media placements or marked up suppliers’ charges. They don’t see how an agency could be profitable without these standard charges. And I can’t see how relationships of trust could ever exist if we were constantly in the position of putting our clients’ best interests in competition with our own.

Like everybody else, I’ll be glad when the economy rebounds. And I feel pretty confident that we will come through with our team intact and more resilient for the experience, our clients stronger for the role we played in tough times, and some new accounts who value the many ways we can contribute to their business growth and success.

We’ll be in a different place, and I think a better place. All because of the “marketing minds” we have here who can’t help asking: Where’s the opportunity in this mess? How do we get to the silver lining? What can we make of this turn of events?