The Secret Of Success

OK, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.
But feel free to spread it around.
I’m going to tell you how to win every pitch.
Without fail!
Bring your unique viewpoint and set of skills to every opportunity
Show integrity around your idea .
Fight for what you believe in.
Celebrate the success of your team.
Bring your knowledge and insight to every meeting.
Give it everything you've got
Believe 100% in your solution.
Be prepared to learn from every opportunity.
Keep building those relationships.
Of course, I can’t guarantee that you’ll land every account or project.
But I promise you’ll emerge victorious from the process every time.
How easy is that?

The Dichotomy

We've all heard them a million times before.
"They didn't really get us"
"It was just a beauty parade"
"I'm not sure how it went - they were hard to read"
Standard post-pitch analysis.
And they're all the direct result of the dichotomy that lies at the heart of how we work.
We spend our lives pitching.
Putting ourselves out there in the hope that the clients will like our effort.
Like a serial-dater doomed to a life of singledom.
The problem is, we're so focused on what we want to achieve, that we get lost in the mix.
What does the client want?
How can we win them over?
Will they like our ideas.
Our true selves tend to get left behind, as we try to represent the version of us we think they want to see.
Here's the thing...
Client know what they want.
When they issue a brief, they've already got an idea of what they're expecting.
They've done a bit of research too - you can usually find it in the brief if you look hard enough.
What they're asking for is your point of view.
What do YOU think?
How do you feel?
You need to focus on the work you believe in.
Bring your view and your expertise to the table.
And don't compromise.
They're not looking for a mirror image, they'd rather have a window on your world.
So be yourself.
It's allowed.
Otherwise, it's just another first date where you try to be someone else.
Say all the right things, flatter them, butter them up.
You'll both leave feeling like it went really well.
And then wonder why the phone isn't ringing for the second date.

I Know This Much Is .....True!.....Da Da Da De Dum

I was talking a couple of days ago about relationships and connections.
The fact is, there’s just no getting away from them.
Especially in our hyper-connected, multi-stranded, trans-media age.
We’re all connected to each other and everything.
So we act accordingly.
And that’s a good thing.
Especially for brands.
But as we embrace the shifting dimensions of our new world, it’s important to keep in mind that there’s a real world out there too.
That means coming out from behind your facebook profile and going on an actual date
(George).
Brands have the same obligation.
They need to emerge from the cosy warmth of the virtual world.
And meet some of their consumers in a real-life scenario.
Face-to-face.
Maybe even hand-in-hand, if it’s that kind of a relationship.
The easiest way is to turn the brand into a playground and invite people to your party.
That one activity can teach you more than an entire year of research.
As long as it’s true to your brand and the vision you hold, it’ll work wonders.
You’ll establish new bonds.
Build a real buzz.
And drive new customers to connect.
It’s not the magic bullet (nothing is).
But it’ll certainly hit a few of your targets.
I guess my invitation’s in the post...

The Growth Of Brand Experience.

What the heck has happened to marketing?
Everything just seems a little more, well, real.
Our brave little discipline has grown up.
And it’s ready to stand up and be counted.
So what’s changed?
In a word - accountability.
Campaigns are no longer released into the world to fend for themselves.
They keep coming back to us, and they bring feedback with them.
If you’re aiming at the man in the street, he probably has a few things he wants to share.
For over 60 years, brands have been sharing their world-view with the wider world through advertising.
The message was sent out to build up its own momentum – no-one knew quite where it would end up.
But not so anymore.
First came the chatroom. Then the message board.
And now social media rules our world.
Our consumers have a forum for their voice.
And some of them want to raise it.
To complain.
To mobilise the dissenters.
To affect change.
That means our brands are no longer stuck on transmit.
They need to be switched to receive.
Every communication, large or small, mass or individual, is contributing to the one-to-one relationship between a brand and it audience.
The relationship is key.
And just like our personal relationships, the ones between us and brands are complex and layered, whether they’re everyday or long distance.
If you want to be true to the relationship, the experience has to be at the heart of your brand thinking.
It’s the only way to stay true.

Making Sense Of It All?

Wow.
We’re only three weeks into the new decade and already the pace of life is kicking our arses.
At least, I’m guessing it’s not just me who’s feeling that way.
The amount of time we have to complete our tasks is being squeezed.
There’s more to be done, and less assistance to help get it done.
And as if that wasn’t enough, we have to keep track of everything else that’s going on.
Because that’s how you end up with real world solutions, rather than hypotheticals.
So we read more.
Watch more.
Listen more.
Consume, digest, interpret.
Repeat to fade.
And that’s just our work lives.
What about home?
Remember I talked before about Nicolas Negroponte who talked about eggs?
Our lives used to be liked poached eggs – white for work and yolk for home.
Now our eggs are scrambled, and there’s no waitress giving us the choice.
So we work at home.
The phone’s always on.
If we need childcare, we arrange it from the office.
It’s all so messy.
So complicated.
And the bad news?
I don’t see things changing anytime soon.
Want some more good news?
How about the fact that marketing is changing too?
After all, consumers are all facing the same evolving reality.
And they’re subdividing into new sectors all the time.
What does the world look like for ‘austerity teenies’?
So many questions, it’s enough to make you want to go back to bed and pull the covers over your head.
But don’t despair.
I may not have the answers, but I’m setting myself the challenge of finding them out.
Where are we going and how do we get ahead of the curve?
That’s my mission for 2011.
I hope you’ll join me on the journey.

Happy New Year

Wow!
Its over.
Time to get back into it.
So much to do.
Where to start?
Let's all start with the thing that is going to have the biggest impact on the profitability of our business.
That's the place to start.
Ready .....go!