This weeks Oscar ceremony got me thinking about some of the great movies I’ve enjoyed over the years.
One of my favourites is Francis Ford Coppolla’s The Godfather, written by Mario Puzo.
After decades of cheesy mob movies, this was the first film to explore the uniquely fascinating mafia subculture (even though the ‘m’ word is never actually used).
One word that is used, repeatedly, is consigliere.
Picture Robert Duvall’s character Tom Hagen, who was consigliere to the fictional Corleone crime family.
The word itself comes from the Italian for counsellor/advisor, and is believed to be essential role within the mob hierarchy.
If you remember, Al Pacino’s character Michael Corleone took control of the ‘family’ and promptly dismissed Hagen, arguing that he was not a "wartime consigliere".
In his eyes, they needed a new consigliere who understood the complexities of the legal battles it was about to face.
The thing is, I think our clients are looking for those all-important ‘wartime consiglieres’ now more than ever. .
They issue briefs and run pitches in the hope that they can find an agency that’s been tested in the heat of battle.
And emerged on the other side relatively unscathed.
They’re looking for trusted advisors who’ve proved themselves time and time again.
People who know their way around a business problem and can add value to the entire campaign, beyond their specific remit.
It’s a position of honour, and not to be taken lightly.
After all, we don’t want to end up sleeping with the fish...
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What's on my mind
About Me
- Kevin Jackson
- The glasses are important, since I’m almost totally blind in one eye. This means I have zero depth perception. Instead of making snap judgements, I have to think around a subject and look again to try and gain a sense of perspective. And that’s what I’m doing here - taking a different view of the trends and patterns around us to see if they’re as close as they seem, or further away than we thought. There’s not a discipline within the communications mix that I haven’t spent time in – what connects them though, is my passion for igniting advocacy and word-of-mouth. I’ve also worked on multi-platform campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands, we are all on first-name terms. Ultimately, whether it’s a consumer, business or internal audience, no one is exempt from my belief in engaging experiential communications. Over the last four years ago, I’ve been busy developing relationships across the telecoms, technology, FMCG, retail and energy sectors, to name a few.
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