Posts tagged a business consultant
social media ain’t antisocial
Feb 16th
Well.
Because I was in a recent business meeting where we were discussing social media and I was surrounded by a bunch of old farts (of which I am also) who were blathering about kids texting too much, how twitter is killing reading and basically all that old person garbage about how the internet is crumbling the foundation of civilization I thought I would write a quick factoid article on how social media is anything but anti social.
I am usually pretty harsh on the whole social media thing. Mainly because I don’t believe most social ‘tools’ (facebook, twitter, etc.) were created for marketing. They were … well … created to be social hubs not marketing hubs. But marketing people, being marketing people, came along and said “wow, how can I take advantage of that?”
Anyway.
Let me spend a couple of minutes on social as social hubs.
Because they do NOT diminish reading skills (by texting & such), or diminish social skills (conversation & talking) nor do they enhance marketing (for the most part).
Some factoids.
PewInternet research has shown that social relationship and sense of community are NOT diminishing but rather growing … and growing n non traditional ways. Simplistically instead of a tighter cocoon of friends there are now truly social networks … expanded groups of like-minded people (and there can be very obscure ‘like-minds’ but no less passionate & interesting) can be brought together regardless of geography. Social relationships now have no boundaries. Doesn’t mean they are any less meaningful in fact they can be empowering. Those who felt ‘alone’ … unlike others … are now empowered to find ‘others’ an, in fact, are quite pleased to find many others. Social relationships are being empowered. Let me close this section with this … PewInternetResearch: “Our research shows face-to-face time between teenagers hasn’t changed over the past five years. Technology has simply added another layer on top.
PewInternet research also shows that the internet has actually positively affected core ties and significant ties (definition: core ties identified as close/intimate relationships and significant ties as people to whom one is somewhat closely connected). Internet enables more contact (quantity) than ever before. The quantity translates into stronger, deeper ties with cores and significants.
PewInternet research reflects that 32% of respondents say that internet engagement has increased the size of their face to face network. Only 3% said it decreased them. Overall internet users have somewhat larger face-to-face social networks than non-users.
Research has shown the internet has strengthened church and fraternal organization involvement rather than diminish them (this is an indicator of social involvement).
Ah.
And texting.
Pewinternet research has found that more frequent texting actually encourages more face-to-face time. In addition research shows it is not about the quantity of texting but rather texting takes more careful crafting that telephone/face-to-face as well as texting more often happens at night/home therefore people share more intimate feelings.
3 out of 10 teens say “they are more honest when they talk with friends online.”
PewInternet research also indicates the internet doesn’t create false selves (and the predators are a miniscule minority … similar to the face-to-face predators who hide as Sandusky-like neighbors) but rather helps people bring out their true selves. Social scientists have suggested that “one can share one’s inner beliefs and emotional reactions with much less fear of disapproval and sanction.”
Oh (because it is topical and, oddly, among all the garbage about the degeneration of our youth caused by the internet social revolution actually came up).
Internet does not create social revolutionaries. The internet just means that anyone can have a voice. But the internet is as fragmented, no, more fragmented than cable tv.
Do you know every station you have available? Have you ever even watched every channel? <answer: no> Internet is the same. Just because someone has a voice doesn’t mean someone will hear it.
Yes. On occasion something can gain critical mass.
And, yes, that is what people call ‘viral.’
But in the scheme of things they are few and far between. What the internet does do is permit likeminded people gather. And if there are enough likeminded people who gather … and they become some derivative of a critical mass … that still isn’t a revolution … it is simply a voice loud enough to be heard.
Oh. And that voice has to say something meaningful & relevant.
Internet doesn’t (and cannot) create things from a void but rather it gives voice to those things that need to be said (and a LOT of things that don’t need to be said).
Suffice it to say with the internet that the good will be good, the bad will be bad and everyone can take a place in either the good or the bad line.
<note: marketers should read the social revolution section, insert marketing for social revolution and take a moment and ponder>
Lastly.
Reading.
Conventional wisdom suggests that YouTube, videogames, cable TV and iPods have turned us away from the written word. All these new fangled innovations have replaced paper and longhand letters only to shrink reading & writing into bite-sized status updates, text messages & colloquial emailing (or so the theories abound).
Conventional wisdom, in this case, is wrong.
A large-scale study by the University of California at San Diego and other research universities revealed what some of us have long suspected: We’re reading far more words than we used to as we adopt new technologies. “Reading, which was in decline due to the growth of television, tripled from 1980 to 2008, because it is the overwhelmingly preferred way to receive words on the Internet,” found a University of California at San Diego study.
Take a look at Facebook. It clearly shows we’re writing more than we used to. Take a look at the blogosphere … the young generation has more opportunities to write and read than ever before. And write and read in response to other writing and things they see.
<note: we adults also have the opportunity to interact with their reading & writing if we choose to>
That’s it.
After listening to a bunch of old farts babbling away about the good ole days (and taking a look in the mirror to be sure while I may look like then I wasn’t sounding like them) I thought would write this.
as one social scientist stated in a Guardian article: “Step back. The telephone, the car, the television – they all, in their time, changed the way teens relate to each other, and to other people, quite radically. And how did their parents respond? With the same kind of wailing and gnashing of teeth we’re doing now. These technologies change lives, absolutely. But it’s a generational thing.”
In my words? There is nothing anti social about what is happening in the social media world.
confessions of an ad man
Jan 29th
Well.
Maybe its because I get to talk with a lot of teen/20somethings or maybe its because all my friends are cynical bastards … but I seem to defend the advertising business a lot.
And maybe because of that I thought I should take a moment and share some truths.
Because the business (for the majority) is not made up of liars, hucksters, clowns, alcoholics and smarmy assholes.
And mostly we try and tell the truth to businesses and consumers. I say mostly because I admit that there are some moments inside an agency where one of the minority (from the above aforementioned majority) find a voice (most typically with regard to new business) and says things that send a shiver up my ethical spine.
Regardless.
Some truth (I imagine this is just an abbreviated list of truths of which we could add many many more if I were to think about it more).
Advertising is not always about just selling stuff.
Advertising isn’t just a catalyst for buying (or convincing someone to buy) … it is a catalyst for how people see things, think about things and, sometimes, actually do things. I heard Spike Lee once say .. “I feel a responsibility for everything I create <because millions will see it>.” Advertising may be the most powerful thing out there to affect people. We know we are in a business but we also know we impact people significantly more than the sales numbers ever reflect. We in the business never forget this (albeit it may look like we have on occasion). Ok. Let’s just say that the people in advertising who really ‘get it’ never forget this.
That said …
Yes. Creativity is about results & awards (or recognition).
We understand what we do makes an impact … and should be measured by some type of results. On the other hand … because it is creativity we like some creative validation that you didn’t just have to throw mud against the wall to make something stick. The truth is that advertising people thrive on both. And we have to because sometimes bad advertising can generate results. And people get fooled by just looking at sales results (and not examining the results in terms of what people actually think … because that impacts future behavior). Good advertising can generate better results (and better long term impressions). And awards help better delineate between the crappy advertising that shows results and good advertising that shows results.
We like results & recognition. And we like people talking about it … speaking of which …
Social media is actually not that social.
We care about social media. Probably more than most business owners actually do. Many businesses create an illusion of ‘social’ but in reality maintain a relatively non-social business model (as defined in traditional social terms). So. The truth? The term social media has taken on galactic size proportions standing for everything … and nothing. Here is the truth. Most social media vehicles are simply information disseminators. They aren’t social. They permit people and businesses to narcissistically spew forth ad nausea about themselves. What makes the web different is that there is an OPPORTUNITY to respond. If you take part in responding … well … it still isn’t social … it has simply become a dialogue (sort of). It only becomes social when there is some interaction like talking with someone at a party. Trust me on this one … in most cases it remains at stage one (the spewing part). For the most part the current social world is a monologue.
Oh. Just like TV.
Now. This doesn’t diminish the importance of social media and the future … it’s just that the good agencies keep perspective and actually recommend what is going to be the best for a clients’ business.
Ok. Back to TV.
Television is not dead.
One TV ad on American Idol can reach more teens then a PitBull tweet. And make a bigger impression (because you have those funny moving picture thingies).
Anyway. As long as tv executives keep their heads out of their asses often enough to actually produce programs people will watch … there will be TV ads. And as long as there is TV advertising there will be a maddening mix of insightfully educating entertaining executions and pedantic pedestrian drivel waste of :30 seconds.
Why is that? ….
We don’t know what works (for sure).
Sure. There are some basic principles that can insure your advertising will be in the “good” portion of the gene pool but, in the end, setting research aside … people are fickle and clients (in general) find it difficult to make the hard choices (because they prefer to ‘please’ rather than ‘prod’ the mind) needed so that the advertising actually has enough sharp edges on it to stand out. I will say this … give a good advertising agency (not a hack agency) one year to do whatever they believed was the best thing to do and I would bet over 80%+ of everything they did would be good (people like it) and effective (creates results).
Anyway. We are probably like songwriters. We write songs and we know some are better than others when we write them. We also kind of recognize when we write a hit – on the off chance when we write something like that – but you can never be sure until it is actually out there for all to hear & see.
And we do care what people think …
We do care about clients (most of them).
There is nothing better than knowing you have created something people like and generates results in partnership with a client you respect.
Nothing.
The only advertising people who have no/little respect for their clients or nothing good/nice to say about their clients (most typical comment is “they just aren’t that smart”) aren’t good advertising people. And you don’t want to work with them anyway.
And we do care about the people who buy the stuff too, but …
The consumer is not the king/queen.
Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble but if they were (kings & queens) they could demand anything they wanted and businesses would go out of business chasing their fleeting whims.
Here is the truth. A sale is a partnership between the seller & the buyer. At its best it is a marriagelike relationship. In either case … things are balanced … with one not significantly more important than the other. And why is this important? Well. With balance there is trust. And that is the basis for any long term brand or business proposition. Treat them like a king/queen? Yikes. At some point they will believe they are one and … well … treat the company like a serf (that is bad by the way).
Speaking of how people are treated …
Creative people always have a thread of insecurity (or fear).
If people want to wonder why creative people (or agency people in general) do wacky things … well … try this on for size. Remember what it felt like the first time you were in love and decided to say it out loud? You were scared shitless it wouldn’t be reciprocated. Or, worse, someone would just laugh. Well. That’s life in advertising on a daily basis. Creative ideas and ads and thoughts are emotionally, typically insightful, parts of our soul we elected to have the kahones to share with the public. In the end no client is the enemy, the consumer isn’t the enemy … fear is the enemy. Understand that and you understand the people in the business.
Ok.
I am sure I missed some other truths, but those are probably the biggies.
Good advertising people don’t lie. Either by omission or in actual ‘untruths.’ And they actually have the clients’ business interest in mind with almost everything they do … because when a client is successful, even if an agency may not get credit, they almost never get fired.
That’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (at least for today).
ad agency client service: best job in the world
Sep 9th
I have worked within the advertising agency business environment my entire career. Began in Media, shifted to account management (interfacing with clients), learned strategic planning/account planning along the way, shifted into senior management and have handled new business, some business consulting assignments and ultimately have managed entire agencies. Throughout my career I have not only touched pretty much every aspect of a marketing/advertising/business consulting company but also have touched upon just about every industry and business type out there (excepting waste management possibly). All that said. The best job in the world is in account management. Sure. I imagine it has a lot to do with your personality and what floats your boat but there is absolutely no job in the world that will insure you will never be bored, always be challenged, have the opportunity to lead as well stand aside and still share in successes more than a position in account management. It is not for the faint of heart. You have to have resiliency of kevlar and a slight strain of paranoia to balance a sometimes quasi-arrogant attitude to push you way through a seemingly endless maze of objections and doubters to great ideas and great work.
Bill Gray, CEO of O&M said this at the 2005 4 A’s conference about account management :“Great account people have great observational skills, seek simplicity as the foil to complexity, take great intuitive leaps, are not linear thinkers and have bias to action.”
Anyway. I say all that as a preface to something I liked to give my team members when they joined (or I joined an agency). While I wrote it many many years ago as a young supervisor I have always hesitated to revise it. Yes. It could be improved. Yes. It could be smoothed. But, yes, it says pretty much what it needs to say.
Welcome to the description of possibly the greatest job on earth:
——-+
Welcome to account management. You are a unique person at the agency. You have to know as much about your clients business as an employee of that company does (maybe a little more). You also have to know more about your own agency than the client does (a lot more in fact). You are paid by the agency, but you won’t ever get paid unless your client is successful. You are a business consultant – internally and externally. You are an expert in ‘objection management’ (or at least you better become one if you want to be able to get ideas implemented) and you are a decision maker.
Think of yourself as the one who drops the pebble into the still pond. Your job isn’t just to drop the pebble but more so to recognize how the ripples will spread out and affect everything surrounding you. As a junior account person your pond may be small (simply opening a project effects a number of people), but the key to becoming a senior manager is recognizing how decisions dropped into the business pond ultimately impact when the ripples hit the long-term horizon. You won’t get them all right. And you’ll have to be flexible enough to know when to course correct versus “stay the course”.
It’s a tricky job. But it’s a great job. It is never dull. High risk. High reward. Being the closest to the client you get to truly share in their successes more than anyone else in that agency. As the main contact with the client you get to share all the agency successes. The highs are high. The lows are low. But (this being written by an account person with over 20 years experince) it is the best job in the agency.
Some rules of the road for account management within my group:
Create a Positive Environment.
People in the agency take your lead. If you are passionate, they will be passionate. If you show you respect the client, they will respect them also. It is up to you to create an environment that makes people want to work on an account. Sure. On occasion you will be asked to work on an account that you will scratch your head and trying to figure out what YOU like about the account.
Well. That is actually part of being a great account person. Finding that initial spark yourself. Finding the passion for that account that you can share with others. Trust us .. there are people on the client side who LOVE what they do. Find out what it is. Tap into it yourself. Be accountable. Be honest. Be an expert. And share the passion they have.
You have to be a little of a ‘chameleon.’ No. that does not mean changing your ideals or beliefs. It simply means you have to assume some of the characteristics of your account environment so that you can blend in and become part of the client. Then you will be successful. Then you can create a positive environment. Then you can convince your client to take some chances and that typically leads to bigger results successes. (then everyone is positive when that happens.)
Lead versus follow.
Lead, lead, lead. That’s your job. You always have to know where ‘you are going’ so that you can help people better understand why they have to do what they are doing. Always have long-term attitude embedded in everything you do. Following (particularly your client) often means you have entered the ‘short term trap.” This is a doom loop that you can only break out of by being a leader.
And you can only be a leader if you are informed and educated. You have to know more than the other person. Internally as you guide people through the process you have to be able to share the knowledge that lets them do their job better. In order to lead the client you have to know their business and/or products. You cannot talk with a car client unless you have driven the car, been on the lot with the salesman and even maybe visit the manufacturing plant.
In the absence of anything better, even a camel will walk to the closest water .. even if it is poisoned. Even the smartest clients need to be led. Without leadership given the myriad of projects clients can demand, it is easy to very quickly go astray and simply start “following” and just start ‘doing what we have been told to do’ – and that is how relationships get poisoned. Clients rarely leave agencies where their account management team is respected as leaders.
Proactive versus reactive.
The corollary to lead versus follow. Being proactive.
The moment you start to react to a client’s suggestion or a situation you know you are behind. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen. You should ALWAYS listen. In fact, listening can help you become more proactive. By building on what you heard (and learned) from your client you would continuously share forward thinking, new ideas and stay ahead of the game.
Half the battle in account management is figuring out how to keep moving forward. By reacting you are defending and not moving at all (in fact you often find yourself moving backwards!).
At any level in account management you should be thinking proactively. You are not an order taker. The minute you do become one .. find another job.
Outcome versus output.
As account managers we are all about ‘doing things’ — creating advertising, generating ideas, solving businesses problems — that generate outcome for our clients. Outcome. Real business results. Yes. Business results. An agency is measurable by results. Even if we do not control all aspects of the plan. Trust me. If business results are down, a client doesn’t want to hear why an agency is not responsible for those results … they want an agency that is also losing sleep and coming up with solutions.
To be sure we do that (generate successful results) we need to insure quality output. Don’t settle for “c” product or “ok ideas.” They’ll come back to haunt you with “ok outcome.” And ok outcome doesn’t make clients happy.
The reality is .. as you start your career in account management .. your role and responsibilities are focused on generating the output. Project management and just getting all those projects done. Efficiently generating the work and making sure it is as effective as possible.
But as your responsibilities grow you will become increasingly focused on outcome. Short term and long term. Sometimes in the beginning stages of your account management career it is difficult to see what the ultimate long-term outcome strategy is. That’s ok. It will become clearer as you grow and take more of the long-term leader role on the accounts you work on.
But always remember. All agency output should be judged on outcome. Even in your self-assessment. If you are not generating good outcome, then start judging your output. Maybe it needs to be improved. And, ultimately, that is what great account mangers do. Constantly assess, evaluate and improve.
Advertising Words of Wisdom
Jan 14th
I have been fortunate throughout my career in advertising agencies to not only have worked with many really smart people but also to have heard some really smart things. What I love about advertising people is that they typically find simple ways to say some complex thoughts (except people in account service, who typically use bucket loads of nonsensical words to say very little. Hey. I started as an account person). Here is a sampling of thoughts shared with me over the years (and check out one of my earlier posts on Sam Meeks who was a masterful wordsmith and leader).
“If you are willing to work insane hours, have fun and drink lots of Coors this may be the place for you.“
Roy won’t remember me but I interviewed for a supervisor spot at his agency when they won the Coors account in the mid 80’s. I have always remembered what he said. This was his way of saying don’t expect a 40 hour week but can you still have fun and, oh by the way, I only want people who can be passionate about the business they are working on. That agency, GSD&M, was a zoo at the time. I was pretty sure they had no clue what they were doing (in my infinite late 20’s wisdom). I wasn’t ready for them at the time. I probably wasn’t good enough for them at the time (or maybe I just didn’t have the capacity for their company gestalt). But they have gone on to kick some ass. I will also say that I stored away this little learning moment and have reapplied it time and time again (not just the beer drinking part).
“So what you are saying to me is go ahead and do this if we want to be the tallest midget.”
Steve Danuser
The first time I heard this I was floored (said by one of my clients). It was awesome. I must have said something incredibly dicklike to my client to solicit this response. But he got the point of whatever I said and he had the grace to respond with some humor. I have heard nothing better to say “big fish in little pond” with more pizzazz than this. Settling sucks. And this statement captures the essence of settling.
“We don’t want to be known for creating brilliantly crafted failures.”
Don Perkins
Advertising agencies are always being pointed at and slammed for just being creative and not caring about the business, i.e., “all you want to do is wacky advertising.” And every time I hear someone say this I think it is the silliest thing I have ever heard. My first instinct is a sarcastic sharp retort. I want to say how dumb that comment is. My friend and great creative director took the high road. In this concise statement he says we will always be creative but with no intent to not drive results. Let me be clear. There is no credible marketing or advertising agency in the world that doesn’t understand they are in the business of creatively generating business. Period. No debate.
“Don’t suck.”
I could probably do an entire page of Luke quotes but this is a standout and remains in my everyday toolbox of things to say. I get so tired of people saying ‘good luck’ in a business environment – for meetings, presentations, whatever. At that point it isn’t about luck. You have probably put hours of hard work and tons of worry into being prepared and putting yourself and the team into the right frame of mind. It really all comes down to performance. You are in the time and the place and it is just time to “do it”. So. The quote. Luke just gave me a post it note before a meeting that said “don’t suck.” I wish I had kept it. He understood the value of humorously understanding in the end it comes down to how you perform in the moment. And you know something? None of want to suck when given the chance. Sure we want to shine. Sure we want to be great. But most of all we don’t want to suck. That quote was one of Luke’s greatest quote/lesson moments. I use it all the time.
“Sliding down the slippery slope of mediocrity.”
He actually said “the slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance.” I believe but I thought somewhere he said what I wrote above. Regardless. Another great quote from a great writer. This isn’t just a business lesson but also a life lesson. It is absolutely so easy to compromise – in business and in life. “Just this once” you say when you are tired. Whatever the decision or action it may be to you in the moment it is mentally “an exception”. And before you know it you are on that slippery slope.
Life is funny that way. That incomparable movie The Replacements has a scene where Keanu Reeves talks about it as “quicksand”. It’s the same thing. You get in it. And you fight hard but you just can’t stop sliding down. And it is a truly helpless feeling. The worst thing about the slippery slope is that most people don’t realize they have started sliding until it is too late. It is one of my quests in life to find good people who have mistakenly started the slide and lend a hand to pull them back up. Does that mean I am better than mediocrity? Shit no. I just recognize that sense of helplessness and I like people to have hope – for something better. Anyway. This quote reminds me of two things.
1. Pay attention to everything. It’s the only way to insure mediocrity can’t gain momentum (because we all have to compromise on occasion)
2. Help those who have that look of “how the hell did I get so far down this slope” by grabbing their hand and pulling them back up whenever you have a chance. There are some incredible people and some incredible talent out there that just got caught on life’s slippery slope. It doesn’t mean they are mediocre by any stretch of the imagination. Simply that they got caught on the slippery slope and didn’t know how to get off.
“All you can really ask is for someone to do the best they possibly can.”
Anonymous (and me)
I have said this a zillion times. And I have no clue who I stole it from. But if I could beat this into the head of every leader in the world I would be willing to staple the piece of paper with the quote on it to my forehead. Sometimes we ask so much of our people it is amazing. And, yes, many people do not know what they are truly capable of until they are pushed to aim for something seemingly impossible. I am a pretty demanding leader. I set an incredibly high bar for my team. But in the end all I ask is that they do their best. And if it isn’t enough they we can say we didn’t succeed for lack of trying. And sometimes that’s as good as it gets. And sometimes that is when I have been proudest of people I have led. Ask the best of people and I believe most people will surprise you by doing a little better.
an example of great company vision and leadership
Dec 14th
“When I talk of this company, I am not thinking just of a legal or business entity. I am using the word in the older sense, as in a company of scholars, as a company of adventurers, or a company of voyagers. I think our companionship partakes of all these things.”
“We are a permanently dissatisfied company and so far as I can see, we shall not run out of things to be dissatisfied about. I think our work, in most instances, is the best of its kind in the world – and yet not good enough. Not as good as it is going to be. There has not been and there should never be a year when it is not better than the year before.”
“We must be dynamic for purposes bigger than ourselves.“
Sam Meek (1895-1981)
Author: Sam Meek, ex – CEO of J. Walter Thompson. Delivered in 1965 speech.
