Less talking, more doing.

Just read a great piece about advertising strategists written by the Ad Contrarian.

I was reminded of a two-day, off-site presentation, by these same strategists, that I was forced to attend several years ago. The riveting topic: The New Dynamics of Luxury Purchasing Behaviors.

There, I learned that people with greater discretionary income generally buy goods and services that require greater discretionary income.

That kind of insight does not come easily. Nor, it seems, can it be dispensed rapidly.

It required an entire weekend. And men and women with long obtuse titles, bloviating about “core brand essence” and “actionable communications integrity” and “platform architecture construction.”

And of course, it takes charts. Lots and lots of charts. Chock full of rhomboids, trapezoids and parallelograms designed to illuminate and bring clarity to issues only an Advertising Planner could possibly comprehend.

I employed some Euclidean geometry of my own to summarize the painfully long winded presentation and shared it with the Executive Creative Director seated next to me.

There’s a lot to be said for getting raises, carting home bonuses and moving up the corporate ladder. But there's even more to be said for shattering the faux formality of an executive conference room by making Diet Pepsi erupt from your boss’s nose.