Change Will Do You Good

There are those who believe that you can’t have too much of a good thing.

I disagree.

Too much of anything is, by definition, too much.

Too many of the same sort of people in your company can make you think act and behave the same way every time.

As Tom Peters says “employ people who make you feel uncomfortable “

Culture clashes are good for everyone, since they present new opportunities to learn, discover and understand.

There is an ancient Persian saying “The most creative forces on earth are diversity and vision.”

If you surround yourself with people just like you, you’ll experience the same thinking, the same ideas, and the same blind spots.

We need work with people who have different mentalities, backgrounds, perspectives and ideas.

It will lead us to new solutions.

2ND...3RD...4TH...Guessing...

One of the toughest things about being an incumbent agency on any pitch is the ability to second-guess the client.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, whereas a lot of knowledge can be downright stifling.
There’s always value in being an agency of record.
The real value comes from understanding the clients goals and objectives.
Not from being able to pre-empt the potential pitfalls of the idea.
You may know the colours they dislike, the places they’ve been and the things they’ve tried.
But if you focus too much on the detail, you’ll only end up getting in your own way.
Don’t constrain your thinking with the lessons you’ve learned.
The other agencies are busy making it up as they go along, and they’ll be the ones who wow your client with some truly surprising thinking.
Energy and enthusiasm will win the day.
So try to stop yourself from saying “You know what, they’re not gonna like that.”
Because they just might.

Put It All On Red.......

One of the great things about being part of a group like Interpublic (that’s IPG) is that we’re increasingly finding new opportunities to work in multi-agency, multi-disciplinary teams.
It means bigger projects, new colleagues to collaborate with, and a bunch of prospective clients to get in front of.
All good.
Unfortunately though, in the agency world the idea is king.
So what happens when a great idea pops up – who gets the credit for coming up with it?
Who can remember where it came from, who built on what?
The easiest way to settle that is to not care.
Think about the client, they’re the ones who came up with the brief; they gave us the opportunity and put their faith in our ability to solve their problem.
As my old friend Graham Kemp (founder of The Marketing Store Worldwide) used to say they are the ones making the big bets
Any brief represents a considerable gamble on the part of a client.
They have to trust that it’s a gamble that will pay off.
So the least we can do is put our own pride aside and give clients their payback

Says Who?

Paul Daniels knew what he was talking about. “You’re gonna like this... not a lot!”
He knew how to manage expectations, by selling in an idea, with a caveat that his fondness for it was in no way a guarantee of approval.
So why then, do we insist on going out there and telling prospective clients “We’ve got a great idea for you” when we present?
If they’re in any way hostile, annoyed or bored, their first response is likely to be “I’ll be the judge of that” or “prove it!”
Great ideas should sell themselves, we don’t need to tell our audience what to think or feel about them.
The moment we try, we invite them to find a reason to dislike it.
If we love what we’ve created, it should come across in the way we tell the story.
Now, for my next trick...