It's worth saying it again one year later--it's a necessary investment ... (For Openers).

Congratulations to our Best of NAMA winners! Agri Marketing magazine is proud to work closely with the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in featuring the outstanding creative work by some great agencies and clients.

It's important to emphasize both members of the creative process team--agency and client--because their mutual commitment to the role of advertising in developing successful marketing strategies and communication tactics is essential. Advertising shouldn't be slighted as a critical component to the marketing mix, nor should it be oversold as the means to gain market share. It should be an investment decision made with the same thought and understanding as any other sales and marketing decision.

Why should you view your advertising decisions as an investment? Advertising is a tactic--a powerful one that is a critical, primary step in defining a brand and beginning to establish brand equity. Do nothing and your brand will default to how the market and your competitors define it for you. Do something, but do it poorly or incorrectly, and you've got a brand positioned poorly or incorrectly.

You get what you pay for in terms of both time (planning, research, etc.) and cash outlay (production and media). That's why it's so important to do it and to do it well. And that's why recognizing the winners at a competition like this is as important to the creative director at the agency as it is to the product manager or regional sales manager of the client. Bill Schuermann, Publisher