Yet despite all the trepidation we all have about uttering the word no, I believe it is often harder for agency executives to say yes. Allow me to explain. .

In recent months, more and more corporate marketers have discovered the multicultural markets. Today, it isn't unusual to be invited to multiple new-business pitches. And now many advertising and marketing agencies specializing in the ethnic markets are able to pick and choose which brands they want to represent. But as the marketplace evolves and grows -- with new challenges facing the advertising industry -- ad agency execs need to stop and reflect on what is really important.

While I was attending one of the minority executive programs at the Tuck School of Business, Leonard Greenhalgh, professor of management, said that there are times for companies to compete and times when these same companies should collaborate. In a time when creative thinking is at a premium, it seems hard to imagine that competing agencies would ever consider collaborating on anything.

But they do.

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In the not-so-distant past, as I was returning home on a flight after a long day in Sacramento, Calif., I ran into an old colleague from the American Cancer Society, Jane Cohen. A woman of a variety of trades, Ms. Cohen found a place for her promotional prowess at the Los Angeles Regional Office of ACS. And, after quickly discovering that she had a captive listener on that Southwest Airlines flight, she proceeded to engage me in a conversation about the growing number of unnecessary deaths attributed to colon cancer. What I heard from Ms. Cohen shocked me. More than 1,400 Asian Americans of Chinese heritage are diagnosed with colon cancer (aka colorectal cancer) in California in a given year, with many dying from a disease that is more than 90 percent curable if detected early. Yet no one had the means or the resources to educate the growing number of Chinese and Chinese Americans about the need for early screening to find the polyps that could lead to this treatable condition.

Hearing about this made me feel hopeless. I was saddened by the enormity of the task and humbled by the fact that a handful of people could easily make a difference if they would only step up to the challenge. But why would they?

I knew that our agency was too busy to master a public education and outreach program alone. And, our advertising and public-relations teams would be taxed by yet another pro bono project. I then thought about asking our competitors to help. Would they be willing to join one of their competitors in a field where creativity and egos reign supreme? The only way I would know for sure was to ask. And as Ms. Cohen often says, "If you don't ask, you will never get."

I started by calling Dae Advertising in San Francisco, our friendly competitors who were masters of the San Francisco Bay Area. Founder and creative director Greg Chew didn't hesitate to say yes. And their affable but highly astute president, Vicky Wong, joined her colleague in agreeing to help out.

Then I asked InterTREND Communications out of Long Beach, California, a firm that has the ability to get all of our competitive juices flowing with the mere mention of its name. Its president, Julia Huang, who is also president of the Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF), also agreed to join the cause.

And finally, there was AAAZa Advertising, a division of New-A, a New York holding company that also owns Admerasia. Its president at the time, Jeanine Kim, didn't hesitate to join the team. Together, our four agencies began a journey that required that each and every executive -- including creative directors -- check their egos at the door. Not always an easy task.

Recently, after we inaugurated our third of three specific yet distinct campaigns, three of the original four agencies remain committed to the fight against colon cancer. And after working in some capacity on all three campaigns, I continue to marvel at the fact that advertising people can and do make a difference each and every day.

And, while many people continue to say that it is difficult to say no, I have learned that it can also be difficult to say yes. Each of these agency-partners could have easily and understandably refused to work closely with a competitor. But by saying yes, they agreed that there is more to agency life than beating another firm in a pitch. Winning is everything only when the win is shared with others.

I applaud all agency people who do what that they can to make a difference. Why? Because saying yes will make advertising a bit more humane. And, more importantly, save a life.

(Source: Advertisng age)