Given that Jack Morton has been around for over 70 years now, we’ve been able to develop a really good sense of self.
We know our strengths and we understand our heritage.
The years we’ve taken becoming the business we are today was time well spent.
Relationships work the same way.
The longer the courtship the better the marriage.
Shotgun weddings have a tendency not to last.
So when the opportunity to work with a client comes along, don’t feel the need to rush them down the aisle.
Get to know them, understand their likes and dislikes.
Because the relationship will be that much stronger for the time you put into it.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Monday, 10 August 2009
Who's A Clever Boy Then?
Who's heard of the 1958 film Teacher's Pet?
No-one?
Ok, that's not much of a surprise.
Despite staring Clark Gable and Doris Day it was never really destined to be a long-term classic.
But it’s worth remembering, or at least looking up, for one stroke of genius.
The producers smartly cast 50 influential Hollywood reporters as, well, reporters.
Some of them even had speaking roles.
Shockingly, the film got rave reviews when it was released.
Who saw that coming?
The key is to engage and involve your key stakeholders.
Sure, it might be a little painful, and may take slightly longer, but you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to the end result.
No-one?
Ok, that's not much of a surprise.
Despite staring Clark Gable and Doris Day it was never really destined to be a long-term classic.
But it’s worth remembering, or at least looking up, for one stroke of genius.
The producers smartly cast 50 influential Hollywood reporters as, well, reporters.
Some of them even had speaking roles.
Shockingly, the film got rave reviews when it was released.
Who saw that coming?
The key is to engage and involve your key stakeholders.
Sure, it might be a little painful, and may take slightly longer, but you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to the end result.
Friday, 7 August 2009
Dennis The Menace
We all know a Dennis.
He’s the guy that you’ll find in every company, stalking the halls in a negative frame of mind, bringing down the people around him.
Sometimes you’ll find yourself questioning how he gets away with the kind of behaviour that would see other people dragged into the boss’ office.
Someone will say with a shrug and an ironic laugh, “it’s just the way he is.”
The problem is, Dennis can be good at what he does so the benefits of having him around outweigh the pain involved.
But what happens when the cost of Dennis’ toxic behaviour (in terms of its impact on the team around him) outweighs the value he brings?
What if that maverick behaviour rubs off on other people, who figure “well, it works for him...”
That’s when the problems really start to escalate.
Dennis spends his life in ‘his zone’ – it’s what makes him good at his job.
It’s also why he’s usually unaware of his impact on the people around him.
Someone needs to talk to him, explain what’s happening and give him the chance to turn things around.
Otherwise it’s a relay race where one of the team is hitting their mates over the head with the baton
And that’s no way to win.
He’s the guy that you’ll find in every company, stalking the halls in a negative frame of mind, bringing down the people around him.
Sometimes you’ll find yourself questioning how he gets away with the kind of behaviour that would see other people dragged into the boss’ office.
Someone will say with a shrug and an ironic laugh, “it’s just the way he is.”
The problem is, Dennis can be good at what he does so the benefits of having him around outweigh the pain involved.
But what happens when the cost of Dennis’ toxic behaviour (in terms of its impact on the team around him) outweighs the value he brings?
What if that maverick behaviour rubs off on other people, who figure “well, it works for him...”
That’s when the problems really start to escalate.
Dennis spends his life in ‘his zone’ – it’s what makes him good at his job.
It’s also why he’s usually unaware of his impact on the people around him.
Someone needs to talk to him, explain what’s happening and give him the chance to turn things around.
Otherwise it’s a relay race where one of the team is hitting their mates over the head with the baton
And that’s no way to win.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Don’t Order The Soup
I started my career in catering, and trained as a chef.
Great cooking skills weren’t the only things I took away from that early phase of my working life.
I also made a simple rule for myself which, I never dreamed of breaking.
My Rule?
Never have the soup.
It’s simple really.
I always considered it as a waste of a choice.
But there I was this week, sitting in a restaurant and finding nothing that really grabbed me on the menu.
So I ordered the soup, and it turned out to be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted.
As I finished the bowl, I found myself wondering how many other options I’d closed my mind to, based on ill-informed reservations and prejudices.
The wasted choice wasn’t picking the soup from the menu, it was all those times I’d missed out on something great because I thought I knew best.
Great cooking skills weren’t the only things I took away from that early phase of my working life.
I also made a simple rule for myself which, I never dreamed of breaking.
My Rule?
Never have the soup.
It’s simple really.
I always considered it as a waste of a choice.
But there I was this week, sitting in a restaurant and finding nothing that really grabbed me on the menu.
So I ordered the soup, and it turned out to be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted.
As I finished the bowl, I found myself wondering how many other options I’d closed my mind to, based on ill-informed reservations and prejudices.
The wasted choice wasn’t picking the soup from the menu, it was all those times I’d missed out on something great because I thought I knew best.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
PLU... People Like Us..
19th Century biologist Sir John Lubbock had a great job – he got ants drunk.
He wanted to study the effects of alcohol by testing it on insects, and I guess the ants responded the best.
Interestingly, he noticed that the sober ants would carry their drunken friends home, provided that they were from the same colony.
Strangers were cast aside (to sleep it off I imagine).
The lesson in all this, aside from ‘choose your drinking partners wisely’, is that we all strive to make connections with people like us.
A community isn’t something that can be invented or simply willed into being.
Communities happen naturally, when people find each other through a shared connection – that might be geographical, cultural or preference based.
The key for brands is not to control the community, but to find a way to become part of it.
And you have to be convincing, or you run the risk of being cast aside too.
He wanted to study the effects of alcohol by testing it on insects, and I guess the ants responded the best.
Interestingly, he noticed that the sober ants would carry their drunken friends home, provided that they were from the same colony.
Strangers were cast aside (to sleep it off I imagine).
The lesson in all this, aside from ‘choose your drinking partners wisely’, is that we all strive to make connections with people like us.
A community isn’t something that can be invented or simply willed into being.
Communities happen naturally, when people find each other through a shared connection – that might be geographical, cultural or preference based.
The key for brands is not to control the community, but to find a way to become part of it.
And you have to be convincing, or you run the risk of being cast aside too.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Make It Memorable
My mate Scott Wilson, MD of Weber Shandwick’s Consumer Division, tells a great story about Antigua.
He was once in the fortunate position of having to promote the Caribbean paradise as a holiday destination, and was trying to find a hook. “We’ve got lots of beaches” they said.
But so what?
So Scott counted them, (OK I’m sure he didn’t actually count them but he found something out)
It turned out that Antigua had exactly 365 beaches.
And you know what that means – one for every day of the year.
Now, you can bet your flip-flops that everyone that read Scott headline, or hears that line about Antigua (including you) will never forget that little nugget about its abundant beachiness.
There’s always something – a hook, snippet or phrase – that you can leave people with.
It means that you’ll stay front-of-mind with them and give them a reason to recall your last meeting.
In fact, if it’s a good one, I can promise that they’ll even mention it the next time you speak.
He was once in the fortunate position of having to promote the Caribbean paradise as a holiday destination, and was trying to find a hook. “We’ve got lots of beaches” they said.
But so what?
So Scott counted them, (OK I’m sure he didn’t actually count them but he found something out)
It turned out that Antigua had exactly 365 beaches.
And you know what that means – one for every day of the year.
Now, you can bet your flip-flops that everyone that read Scott headline, or hears that line about Antigua (including you) will never forget that little nugget about its abundant beachiness.
There’s always something – a hook, snippet or phrase – that you can leave people with.
It means that you’ll stay front-of-mind with them and give them a reason to recall your last meeting.
In fact, if it’s a good one, I can promise that they’ll even mention it the next time you speak.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Taking A Fall
Consider this post a special dedication for my son Fox.
As you’ll already know, he carries a tremendous amount of responsibility on his small shoulders as the lead in Billy Elliot: The Musical.
Every night he’s on stage, I stand outside the theatre and listen to the audience blow the roof off the building when Fox does his show-stopping signature song ‘Electricity’.
There’s a crescendo right at the end of the song when Fox adds an extra spin, runs up the wall and does a backward somersault.
It’s a spectacular move and the audience loves it. (Here it is )
But then on Saturday night, they didn’t seem to love it as much as usual.
It turns out, Fox missed his mark and didn’t do the flip.
He was inconsolable all the way home because he’s such a perfectionist.
So I explained to him that when your A-game is as good as his, you need the occasional fall from grace to put it all into perspective.
When excellence is your day-to-day reality, it stops feeling like excellence and starts to feel rather ordinary.
When a mistake is made, it’s a great chance to remind yourself just how great you usually are.
As I told Fox after the show, without the low you can’t judge the high.
Until you’ve felt the sting of defeat, you can’t possibly enjoy the significance of the victories.
As you’ll already know, he carries a tremendous amount of responsibility on his small shoulders as the lead in Billy Elliot: The Musical.
Every night he’s on stage, I stand outside the theatre and listen to the audience blow the roof off the building when Fox does his show-stopping signature song ‘Electricity’.
There’s a crescendo right at the end of the song when Fox adds an extra spin, runs up the wall and does a backward somersault.
It’s a spectacular move and the audience loves it. (Here it is )
But then on Saturday night, they didn’t seem to love it as much as usual.
It turns out, Fox missed his mark and didn’t do the flip.
He was inconsolable all the way home because he’s such a perfectionist.
So I explained to him that when your A-game is as good as his, you need the occasional fall from grace to put it all into perspective.
When excellence is your day-to-day reality, it stops feeling like excellence and starts to feel rather ordinary.
When a mistake is made, it’s a great chance to remind yourself just how great you usually are.
As I told Fox after the show, without the low you can’t judge the high.
Until you’ve felt the sting of defeat, you can’t possibly enjoy the significance of the victories.
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