You cant make it up ...er ..wait...you can

I make a lot of presentations, write blogs, tweet, read stuff, go to events.
In short there is a lot going on in my life.
So I have to admit that, as much as I'm sure that I coined the following opinion, I can't be certain.
But whether it came from me, or I absorbed it via osmosis, I firmly believe in the following statement:
You get paid for the job you do.
You get promoted for the value that you add.
Wherever it came from, it really makes sense.
Let's apply that thinking to a pitch scenario.
You get plaudits for answering the brief.
But you win them by not answering the brief.
It's not as contradictory as it sounds.
So allow me to elucidate.
We all know that world has changed.
That's as true for clients as it is for agencies.
Today's brief no longer resembles the briefs of yesteryear.
As my colleague Gareth said, they're now a mixture of research data, market background and wishful thinking.
For the first time in my experience there is no agenda in the solution.
Clients really do want to embrace the radical, the different, the groundbreaking.
It is now up to us to throw off the shackles and begin to tease out the clues in the brief.
We've all heard clients say "I can't tell you exactly what I want, but I'll know it when I see it."
Our job is to help them figure out what they want, before we can start to deliver it.
So no more colouring between the lines.


. 

Load of old s**t

Pitching is a difficult process, for clients as well as the agencies involved.

There’s the time, the trouble, the expense... on both sides.

X-Factor cliché alert – “It’s an emotional roller-coaster.”
So, now that we’ve established some empathy, let me get something off my chest.

There’s one thing I wish I could change.

Wouldn’t it be great if clients could just be a little more, well, truthful?

If the work is rubbish, tell us.

If we’ve missed the brief, let us know.

If there’s someone on the team who’s rubbing you the wrong way, call them on it.

I’ve been involved in 100s of pitches over the years.

And apart from one solitary occasion, no one has ever said anything other than a variation on “That was incredible, on brief, great ideas, energy, time, trouble, effort...you guys did an incredible job.”

If those comments were really true, you’d expect me to have won every one of those pitches.

But, of course, I didn’t.

Let me take you back a few years to a pitch for John Smith’s Bitter.

I say ‘a few years’ but I’m talking about the days before Twitter, mobile phones and PowerPoint.

When the design department submitted their concepts on the wall of a cave.  

Anyway, I was playing the part of 3^rd assistant bag carrier, a part I played very well.

Halfway through the presentation, the marketing director got up from his chair, strode to the creative boards that we had laid round the room, gathered them up and, with a cry (the memory of which still send me into a cold sweat)  threw them out of the 2nd floor board room window.

He ordered us to leave.

As we hurriedly packed our bags, his words rang in our ears.

He told us that this was the biggest load of old s-h-one-t that he had ever seen.

And if we wanted to rescue our agency relationship, we’d better go and do something about the quality of work.

He then listed all the things that he felt were wrong with the campaign.

We rushed down stairs picking up the boards strewn across the car park in the rain.

Was it a harsh reaction? Undoubtedly.

Was his response fair? Maybe it was.

Did it work? Yes it did.

There were some dark days that followed.

Lots of hard work, and soul searching.

But we emerged from the process stronger and more focused than ever before.

You see, being nice about a pitch doesn’t help the agency develop.

The “It was very close, you were pipped at the post” conversation adds no value.

You were terrible; these are the three things you should work on.

Now we’re talking.

We’re grown ups. We can take it.

Truth is hard to take and we all want to be nice but honesty really is the best policy.

A battle royale.

I’m a big fan of whatever it is we do for a living.
Events, brand experiences, experience marketing.
Whatever you want to call it, if you’re doing it, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s fascinating.
But what’s really got me thinking at the moment is the shifting  ...er, lets call it ‘tension’, between the delivery arm of the industry and the content creation part.
So which is the most important?
Well, one of the strengths of what we do is our ability to produce the media through which we work.
Kind of like being your own Rupert Murdoch, but without all that troublesome Leveson business.
That ability to stay on top when it comes to production is vital. 
It keeps us connected to the audience, it allows us to bring in the latest technologies, and it gives the client absolute editorial control on the day. 
Then there’s the brand consistency, reputation, and all those other important things. 
But content creation is really the heart of the experience, isn't it?
I’ve said it before, content is king.
Not only is it the purpose of the event, but it has a life before and after the event. 
Done right, it lives forever on-line, amplifying the message and extending the reach of the campaign.
And I think we can all agree that it’s exciting to be part of an industry that really produces results.
At the moment so far so good, you can be in one camp or the other and do a great job for your clients, wherever you happen to pitch your tent.
But here’s the thing…
Recently, three clients have asked me roughly the same question: “If we were to allocate additional funds to the activity we’re planning, where would you spend it?”
You may choose to advise your client to spend it on the production, by improving the sound or the image or the lighting. 
But would the audience even notice the negligible difference?
You may tell your client to spend it on increasing the content of the event. 
Use video and guest speakers, or maybe even capture the whole event on film so it can be disseminated, expanded and amplified. 
But wouldn’t you (and they) like to know what was achieved through this event?
Surely, the best way to derive value from that discretionary extra budget is to measure the results? 
And by ‘measurement’, I’m not talking about the venue facilities or the temperature of the coffee.
I’m talking about hard metrics, sales, contacts generated.
I was recently asked (during my last lecture tour) if the shrinking of the event industry over the last couple of years, especially with regard to events for the financial community, was down to perception that running events would look like frivolous spending and that perception would reflect badly on the brand.
My answer was no, it wasn't about "perception" it was down to us as an industry not having a consistent methodology for measuring results and effectiveness.
The advertising industry realised a long time ago that, if you can't measure effectiveness, there’s no long-term future for the campaign or indeed industry.
If we can’t point to an event and with hard data prove that it drove sales, increased awareness, encouraged consideration and promoted trial, then "perception" is going to get us every time and quite frankly we deserve to have our events cancelled.
So, back to my original question. 
What’s more important, content or production?
No conferring, answers on a post card. 

Look who's back.......

I don't know what it was.
Perhaps it was the change of jobs.
A change in the air.
Or maybe just 'change' in general.
Whatever it was, I guess I lost my blog-writing mojo.
But as Austin Powers probably once said, "I'm back, baby!"
So batten down the hatches.
Make yourself comfortable.
And get ready for a blogslaught.
Depth Perception is back on the air.
So join me for some fun, laugher and tears.
Together, we'll traverse the wacky world of experience marketing.
I'm on an all-new voyage of discovery, and you're coming with me.
Tickets, passport, money...
So watch out for the first of the new batch.
Just try not to get it wet, keep it out of bright light, and whatever you do, don't feed it after midnight...