After 22 years, Cliff Freeman is closing its doors. This is significant because Cliff Freeman has done some of the best TV commercials of all time and award-winning TV commercials are not enough to sustain success.

Before Cliff Freeman opened his own shop in 1987, he created “Where’s the Beef?” at Dancer Fitgerald Sample. This is arguably the most famous fast-food commercial of all time. Take a look.

As the story goes, Clara Peller, the elderly woman in the Wendy’s commercial was hard of hearing. So someone had to tug on her leg when it was time for her to deliver her line.

Freeman went on to open his own shop and he created some of the funniest commercials ever for Little Ceasar’s Pizza Pizza. This one called “Origami” is one of my personal favorites:

Cliff Freeman also created the character of Wendy the Snapple Lady, amongst others.

And now they are out of business. Some argue that it’s due to poor account service, others says they just didn’t replace business they lost, but I think you have to look at the fact that Cliff Freeman specialized in funny TV commercials and that isn’t enough in today’s ever-changing marketplace.

More and more consumers are spending time on the internet and with social networking. Cliff Freeman didn’t stay up. We need to keep our ears and eyes open. We need to remain relevant. Today it’s a two-way conversation.