Posts tagged agency
facts and creation
Jan 23rd
“Without the hard little bits of marble which are called ‘facts’ or ‘data’ one cannot compose a mosaic; what matters, however, are not so much the individual bits, but the successive patterns into which you arrange them, then break them up and rearrange them.” - The Act of Creation
I find it tragic to watch bright, energetic youth become lethargic and uninspired in the workplace.
Yes. Tragic. Because it is such a waste of not only mindpower but, well, will power. And it is also tragic to the work company because lethargy does not lead to ideas/ideation/creative thinking.
To me? The real problem lies with the older folk (in manager positions) who seem to lack a comprehensive relevant view of learning. Or maybe better said … they have an archaic way of viewing the way it should be done.
There are a lot of leaders (management whatever you want to call them) who appear to be guilty of classifying learning as being a difficult and frustrating experience.
This is in combination with the fact they also tend to have odd views on ‘how to make it fun.’ Oh. And to complete that thought … they have a belief that they have to ‘make it fun’ because learning is difficult/frustrating. Therefore it is a flawed belief system.
Look.
Creative thinking and innovation does not arise out of a vacuum but must be supported by a culture that encourages people to experiment. To experiment with facts, with ideas and products. With the hard little bits of marble as it were.
Original thinking and new ideas has to be nurtured and rearranged in successive patterns … not destroyed and scattered.
We can all encourage creativity by helping young people learn to assess the bits of marble and take intellectual risks in their work & ideation. Does this have to be “made” fun? Nope. And it is, frankly, silly to think it has to be.
Instead this is like providing a spark to combustible matter. I am not suggesting it should be painful but rather fun is slightly less relevant than providing the inspiration to learn and become engaged.
Ultimately I don’t believe management should teach people how to create ideas.
The goal should be to prepare young people to be competent and original in their thinking.
Do that and they will create mosaics like you have never seen before.
Oh.
And in successive patterns.
(by the way … that is a good thing)
2011 best tv ads
Jan 1st
So.
It is the end of the year … but .. at the end of November (I think) AdWeek magazine (the people magazine of the advertising industry) published their top 10 television ads of 2011.
As Adweek states … it doesn’t seem that long ago that we were watching the “super bowl ads” and assessing the good and the bad.
and, at the end of the year. we now we see that 2 of the ads, the Chrysler Eminem execution and the VW Darth Vader execution, made their top ten list (and, I guess, my top 10).
About their top 10. All of the spots in the top 10 are strategically sound, often insightful to the audience it was developed for and flawlessly executed. As usual the greatest of the great are defined by nuances (which I will attempt to identify) and interestingly some of the best advertising comes in commodity-like categories (milk, communication). Oh. And they are all very different – using different techniques (albeit ones we have seen before) but using them in ways that bring the story to life.
Their list celebrates work across a wide variety of products, themes, styles, and geographies. You’ve got candy bars and zombies, cats with thumbs, film-directing bears and proud fathers.
Here is the list (10 to 1) as decided on by AdWeek (and I agree with most).
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/10-best-commercials-2011-136663?page=1
SNICKERS • Focus Group – this was 10th on the list … it may have been in my top 5. Finding different ways to showcase candy innovations is tough. They did it. It would be disturbing if it wasn’t so funny … and incredibly well executed (poorly executed and this would have made the worst 5 list).
NISSAN LEAF • Gas Powered Everything – This is vivid demonstration at its best. And using a dental drill to ease into the closing thought? Brilliant.
CRAVENDALE • Cats With Thumbs – there are so many charming & relevant aspects to this execution you almost have to watch it a couple of times to get it all (and it is worth every viewing). I am not sure milk advertising could ever be as creative as this ever again. Damn those Brits can do some funny good smart stuff.
DEEP SILVER • Dead Island Trailer – I am not a gamer but boy I would be tempted to become one. I personally would have chosen Gears of War/Into Dust with Hope Sandoval/Mazzy Star soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5AVJXw–IQ) but this execution is an excellent use of reversing footage and music. Disturbing. But good.
CANAL+ • The Bear – The close with “why not me?” …. Brilliant. What an ending. French advertising at its best.
TALKTALK • Homes Within Homes – This probably wouldn’t have made my top 10 but it is beautifully done. And effectively communicates what it needs to communicate.
GOOGLE CHROME • Dear Sophie – Ok. This is proof that while you may use celebrities (Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber lent star power to the campaign in other executions) to build a business nothing works better than the simplest tugging of heart strings – a young father using Google tools to fill a digital scrapbook with notes, images, and videos of his young daughter … which he intends to share with her “someday.” For anyone who doesn’t think the web is personal you have no heart.
CHRYSLER • Born of Fire – It could have been called “Imported from Detroit” and that would have sealed the deal on this but they also took the in-your-face Eminem ‘lose yourself’ song and paraphrased the lyrics in a voice over and … well … this is car advertising at its best. I was not only proud to be an American but, dammit, I found something to like about Detroit.
CHIPOTLE • Back to the Start – Communicating a environmental philosophy in a meaningful way is … well .. tough. Here? It’s the music. Using Coldplay’s “The Scientist” but sung by Willie Nelson. The song is lyrically perfect. Yeah. I am probably biased because it is music-driven … but Adweek chose it not me.
Their number one?
VOLKSWAGEN • The Force – nothing more to say about this one. I have written about it before. It’s brilliant. It’s the kind of ad I wish I had done.
Just wanted to share because its fun.
global latin American
Dec 29th
Every once in awhile you come across some magazine advertising that makes you actually stop and look (rare … I know). It isn’t annoying, smelly (those damn cosmetic ads), condescending, impossible to figure out what they were trying to say (or why they did it) or have some random half naked model in it.
I saw one. In the Economist. This is about Itaú, a Brazilian global bank, and its advertising campaign.
I would imagine that most North Americans have no idea who Itau is. In 2010 it was listed as Latin America’s largest bank and was, for the second year in a row, ranked as one of the world’s 10 largest financial institutions. The bank operates 5,000 branches and nearly 30,000 ATMs, with 108,000 employees throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe.
It is one of the region’s most international banks, with Itaú-Unibanco branches in New York, Tokyo and Grand Cayman; Banco Itaú Europa branches in Lisbon, Madeira and London; and Itaú BBA offices in Shanghai and Nassau. It also offers retail banking in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.
But.
The advertising campaign.
It is a wonderful strategic decision to leverage its roots, its current customers, its growth focus and its global feel. All in one ad campaign.
“I am a Global Latin American” is a brilliant use of what Latin American professionals are doing outside the region.
And I love the tagline … “The Global Latin American Bank” (mostly because I sense the majority of people don’t necessarily think of Latin American as global … in any sense of a definition).
And it’s a pretty cool print campaign (well art directed and written).
The full-page ads feature some leading Latins declaring why they consider themselves a “Global Latin American”:
Argentine Polo star and Ralph Lauren model Nacho Figueras.
Brazilian actress Alice Braga (Alice is best known in US for her role in “I Am Legend”).
Brazilian Artist Vik Muniz (full name … Vicente José de Oliveira Muniz … makes me wish I had been born in Brazil or Spain ).
Argentine ballerina Paloma Herrera (one of the premier ballet dancers in the world – named as one of the 30 artists most likely to change the world of culture).
The copy is personal and, while humble, certainly ends with a sense of accomplishment. It is one of the best use of celebrities I have seen in awhile.
And the ads were created by one of the world’s hottest ad agencies – Africa (they do some nice stuff).
I also like the campaign because despite the fact Itaú has been listed as one of the 100 most valuable brands in the world (ranking first among Brazilian banks ) by Millward Brown BrandZ rankings, it is a nice natural evolution of a thoughtful multi-year brand management effort. This stage in the effort seems to focus on increasing the type of awareness they desire (strong local but strong global). It is nicer stuff than simply saying “I have a shitload of deposits and ATMs.”
I sometimes believe larger institutions waste advertising dollars talking about themselves and it all blends together.
This ad campaign certainly looks & feels different.
And it makes them look different.
Well done Itau (and africa).
VW
Nov 16th
Ok.
VW has always done some really nice advertising. They remain one of the few companies who really has understood that what differentiates them is their product’s brand character and not really their features (or the lack thereof).
What I mean by that is while they will talk about a sometimes quirky appearance or how much gas mileage a VW owner can get from their product (a feature) … a feature, by the way, that everyone is talking about so it is all kind of a blur to everyone watching … they decide to talk about their features within what seems to be a very well defined brand character.
In other words they highlight a feature but do it in such a charming brand personality driven way that it becomes distinct.
And entertaining.
And fun to watch.
And, frankly, just makes you feel darn good about a VW.
If you own a VW you end up saying “hey, did you see that VW tv commercial?” (and feel great that it is your ‘brand’).
And if you don’t own a VW you actually chuckle and get what they were really trying to say (and maybe the next time you are in the market for a car you may take a look at a VW for no other particular reason then you feel good when you think VW).
The most recent example of what I have seen that speaks to gas mileage but does it in a very VW way. In fact it was this tv commercial that made me decide to write this post. Very well done. Clever. And VW to its core.
Vamanos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTqGa2gd0E
And, of course, the VW Darth Vader tv commercial is spectacularly charming.
And it is the penultimate example of how do differentiate based on brand character.
I struggle to envision how some agencies would even present an idea so brand character driven … let alone the fact that most of car manufacturers wouldn’t even produce it.
The advertising, even more than selling a car, is a reflection of the company and brand itself. Envision the fact that almost 50 seconds of the entire 1 minute commercial has nothing to do with the car itself. And, yet, the advertising is unequivocally associated with VW.
Darth VW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0
And then a commercial that involves a slice of ordinary life which everyone can relate to.
Somehow in this commercial they covered pretty much any and every one who could possibly be considered in their potential demographic profile by finding something similar within everyone’s life … that moment when we sing to ourselves.
Rocket Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWy-LCGDsd8&NR=1
So.
Ever since Bill Bernbach infamously touted a VW Beetle in a print advertisement as a “Lemon” VW has maintained a sense of believability and charm and understanding that communicating product ‘truths’ within an honest brand character can create value in people’s minds.
Are VW’s REALLY better than other cars? Nope.
Is there another car brand that REALLY makes the same kind of self-image statement about its owner? Nope.
Others may make different statements (Jaguar, Porsche, Ford trucks, etc.) about their owners but not the same as a VW.
Good stuff.
Oh.
And you know how I know they understand their brand so well?
Doesn’t matter who their advertising agency is (DDB, Crispin, Deutsch) the advertising remains good.
That is a sign of a company that understands what is important.
Orange
Oct 21st
So.
Orange mobile is the biggest European cellular company (maybe largest globally but I am too lazy to research).
And they have inspired me to write about something I actually know something about (advertising in case you were guessing).
They have developed a brilliantly well written funny campaign to talk about themselves through borrowed interest (Darth Vader, Lord of the Rings, Snoop Dog, Wicked Witch).
Now.
I am not a big borrowed interest campaign fan but this is good stuff. It is actually category leader type stuff. Slight arrogance but tongue in cheek.
And what makes it really good stuff is the well known fact to us in the advertising industry – a company always wants to talk about itself in its advertising (and it is almost always boring & never the right thing to do).
Well.
Orange has figured out a way to talk about themselves and what is important to them.
And humorously all they want to do is say “it’s all about me.” But. If you are the category leader you want to show you are a leader (and not just through fancy innovations). You want to do it on occasion through attitude and brand character and tone.
And Orange does.
And it works.
Similar to the Dos Equis campaign the writing for these ads is brilliant. Any time you play back a commercial to hear one line you know it is well written.
- Darth Vader
The opening …
“darth, I thought you were dead.”
In the dialogue …
“the force is strong here … no .. the phone is strong here.”
Darth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbtlv2cImxM
- Snoop Dog
Any time you have white guy executives trying to be cool black rappers it is funny … especially if it is well done. The nuances in this television spot are frickin’ brilliant. It shows that attention to detail … the little things … make a good funny tv spot into a great interesting tv spot you want to see again.
Snoop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNUrkG-H6z0
- Lord of the Rings
C’mon.
First. Who thought of Lord of the Ringtones as the tie in? the creative person should get a raise.
Second. the dialogue in this one is frickin’ brilliant.
“how about we make the 4th in the trilogy? …
- it’s a trilogy, that’s 3 …
“free your mind .. get out of the shire …”
Lord of the Rings(tone): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYcXHp5MtpM&feature=related
- Wicked Witch of the West
It’s worth it just to hear the Wicked Witch laugh in a common every day setting with her best friend.
Wicked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU8D9QugbiM&NR=1
Its advertising like this that reminds us in the industry you can do good stuff (entertaining) that works (generates results).
212
Sep 13th
Every once in awhile you find that someone has articulated an idea in such a simple wonderful way you have to stand and applaud.
212 is an example.
While 212 is a marketing agency’s name it is the actual number and what it means that speaks volumes.
212 degrees is water’s boiling point.
The agency creative director (one of my best friends) of the agency I referenced earlier states it perfectly:
“we can be the difference between 211 degrees, when all you’ve got is water, and 212,or between something happening or not happening.”
That, my friends, says it all.
Not just for a business but pretty much frickin’ everything.
You can spend your time and life sitting around somewhere between 0 and 211 degrees. And it doesn’t really matter if you are freezing your ass off at 3 degrees or be hotter than shit at 198 degrees … nothing is happening (other than you are uncomfortable or maybe fooling yourself into believing something is happening).
Shit ain’t happening until you reach out and figure out a way of getting to 212.
Then something truly happens.
Life boils. Action happens.
Most importantly? A real change happens.
I guess the point I am trying to make is don’t fool yourself into believing that something is truly happening in your life simply because you feel something (cold or hot). Real change happens when it boils.
And I don’t mean heat as the indicator.
I mean action. Placid water to boiling water.
That is when you know something is truly happening in your life.
212.
Awesome.
hope, low prices & marketing (part 1)
Aug 22nd
ok.
Working in the marketing business I often find myself in some heated debates about whether advertising & marketing is “selling” (or it is often stated “oh, so you are in sales”).
Here is the answer.
It’s not sales. It may not even be selling (in the traditional sense).
Sure.
Ultimately marketing & advertising wants to “sell stuff” but the craft of communications itself is not about selling.
Or convincing.
Or persuading (in some weird and creepy way) someone to do something they don’t want to really do.
Is it about “persuading” in the sense I want someone to “choose me!” to be on their wallet team? Sure.
Is it about persuading someone through some trickery to buy or do something that is bad for them? Nope.
Because in the end It is really about attitudes (creating or aligning to a ‘truth’ – a real truth not a made up one) and behavior (understanding why someone does something they do and inserting a choice into their existing behavior … and sometimes modifying that behavior if you can truly offer something better for them as an alternative).
So marketing & advertising is really about informing so someone can make a choice – whatever is the best choice for them.
Therefore. Marketing & advertising is not in the selling business.
It is in the choice business.
And while choices have dollars & cents attached to them and features & benefits and all that truly functional crap … a person’s final choice preference is never any of those things.
A choice may be made based on them (that truly functional crap) but typically it is only made that way for lack of an alternative.
And that is why communicating “choice” is an art. Because communicating choice is about education and emotion and, well, hope.
Because the bottom line is that people want to make the choice that gives them the most hope.
Now.
That may sound hopelessly lofty but its not. In fact it is what marketing & advertsing & frankly just about any consumer business is all about.
We are in the hope business.
Hope of something (it doesn’t have to be some big audacious hope … sometimes it can just simply be some small glimmer of hope in an otherwise hopeless day).
Yes.
This is truth (and some businesses may cry & weep & gnash their teeth … I just wanted to type gnash).
People don’t really want cheaper prices.
People don’t really want better technology.
People don’t really want faster answers.
People don’t really want more time.
People don’t cooler features or more flashing widgets.
People even don’t really want more money at the end of the month.
None of that really matters to customers.
They want hope.
They want to know that they are going to be ok.
And they want to know that it can get better for themselves.
In a world where natural disasters wipe away lives in a second and leaders make decisions that take billions of dollars from hard working saving & investing people the only thing people can truly hold onto is a belief of something better.
Yet.
In our ROI-driven marketing world we not only seem content to pretend that a “faster, cheaper, better” is what people want but we also relentlessly pursue ineffective marketing communicatiosn initiatives expounding upon a litany of usefless features and functional doo-dads.
And we are wrong. Dead wrong.
People want hope.
In a lot of ways ‘the people’ are no different than you & I (because oddly enough we are people also).
They want to be listened to.
They don’t want to be lied to.
They don’t want you to talk over them.
They want you to validate their concerns.
They want their questions answered.
They don’t want you to ignore them.
They want you to inspire them.
They don’t want a sales pitch.
They don’t want you to be annoying.
They don’t want to hear about you.
They do want a distraction from real life.
They don’t want to be pressured.
They want to know that you have problems too.
They want a consistent partner.
They don’t want you to fake it.
They want truth in answers (the first time & every time).
They don’t want you to tell them what they want to hear.
They want to feel like you care.
They want you to hear what they aren’t saying.
And most importantly …
They want more than what they have (not materialistically but “happinesswise”)
They want more than what they expect (not just functionally but in life)
They want something better (not just functionally but in life)
They want optimism (based on truth not blarney).
So.
Enough of that.
People want hope.
(that is the common denominator in all the things I just typed)
And if you aren’t providing that in your marketing you … will …. not … be … successful.
Sure.
You can buy some sales and a “consumer relationship” with lowest prices & coupons and cool features and some functional widgetry but those people aren’t buying “you” they are buying the ‘feature of the day.”
In my words? You have bought a date not a relationship.
And you have missed an opportunity to be a hero. Instead you are a salesman.
You have missed an opportunity to have offered,and given, hope.
C’mon. be honest with yourself as you read this.
Think of all the times that were hoping that someone really cared about how bad you hurt inside. Or recognized the pain.
So ii guess if you really feel like you have to ‘sell’ … then sell hope.
Because as Hugh Macleod drew in his cartoon at the beginning of this post … if you can sell hope you can get someone to buy anything.
hope & marketing (part 2)
Aug 22nd
Ok. I had so much to write about in “hope, low process and selling” that I took this part and thinking and put it in its own lil post.
Here we go.
Fact.
Communicating choices with the intent to persuade someone to “choose me” is an inexact science.
In fact.
It is not a science at all (despite what ROI driven purchasing people suggest and desire).
Yes.
There is a discipline to crafting communications (c’mon … given the amount of time people have done things there is certainly a list of ‘trial & error’ learnings to use as benchmarks).
But.
Advertising iconic hero Bill Bernbach said: “I warn you against believing that advertising is a science. Artistry is what counts. The business is filled with great technicians, and unfortunately they talk the best game … but there’s one little problem. Advertising happens to be an art, not a science.”
And this dude, and his agency DDB, created some good shit (and still does).
So.
So, because being in the choice communication business (and selling hope) isn’t a science, the truth is (another fact) the more research conducted to “strengthen” choice communications (i.e., marketing & advertising) the more functional the communication has to be judged on … because that is the only thing research can quantitatively measure.
Emotion, or something you just feel in your gut, cannot be measured.
(note: there are some wacky research tools out there that attempt to do so but regardless of their best efforts no one I know can use ‘brain wave’ or ‘twitch muscle’ research to truly tell you what your gut tells you)
And (as noted in the previous ‘hope’ post) functional doesn’t win in the long run. Emotion or some higher order value wins.
Bottom line?
Two things lead to mediocrity and conformity in communications: research and rational benefits.
Interestingly this thought goes way beyond communications and advertising. It runs true in just about any transaction-based relationship (i.e., shopping).
Another fact.
Shopping isn’t simply a transaction. Shopping is an experience.
And I don’t necessarily mean experience in the “walking around and looking and touching” perspective. One expert said it best:
“We dream of shopping for beauty, truth and perfection, and if we do not shop for a perfect society, at least we shop for a perfect self.”
Yes. Correct. And, yes, again.
We shop and we make choices as an extension of ourselves – of who we are and what we want to be. That, at its most psychological Maslow-like level, is the pursuit for a perfect self.
Sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo? Maybe sounds like it but it ain’t.
We talk transactions but we behave emotionally.
(how often has your head say “he is all wrong for me” and then you go ahead and let your heart tell you what to do?)
Anyway.
The same expert also suggested that she believes “the noblest aspect of shopping is finding a community, a discovery that usually happens at a place like a farmer’s market or a neighborhood store, where interaction among customers is fostered. Rallying for these public spaces rather than buying things, she argues, should be what we use shopping to achieve.”
Poetic words.
Maybe even sounds a little too lofty.
But its not. Because if you ignore the thought behind the words you simply fall back into the functional/rational zone of sameness (and then, I guess, it does become a science).
If it helps … simplistically she is suggesting creating spaces so that “birds of a feather can flock together” and be happy amongst others.
So why is all this important?
Well. If I want someone to ‘choose me’ I have to understand the challenges.
Understanding motivation for behavior is one thing (and a very very important thing).
Understanding HOW to communicate is another.
Bill Bernbach again: “Eighty-five percent of all ads don’t even get looked at. Think of it! You and I are the most extravagant people in the world. Who else is spending billions of dollars and getting absolutely nothing in return? We were worried about whether or not the American public loves us. They don’t even hate us. They just ignore us.”
So even if I am in the ‘selling hope’ business I have to deliver the message in a memorable, interesting and artful way if I want whatever I am marketing to be chosen.
Notice I used art in there.
Because, once again, it is not a science.
I cannot simply say “hey, look over here, I am selling some hope-on-a-rope.”
I gotta be creative and offer up some communication that stirs someone emotionally and lets them arrive at the benefit all by themselves. That is a powerful communications when that happens.
And there absolutely can be some discipline in the approach but the ultimate output is art.
A maddening art. I often call it the “glorious mistakes when we blunder into an incredible way to say what we want to say.”
Why a ‘glorious mistake’?
Well.
Often the most insightful communication is partly flawed. Likeable. Believable.
And I ended on believable because while communications is art … truth is just that – truth. No grey. Just truth. And that is ultimately what makes things believable.
Bob Levenson (hired by Bill Bernbach) may have said it best when he responded to a Time magazine contest in the 1960′s. Ad agencies were invited to create an advertisement in the public interest. He wrote a manifesto for the ad industry (see below). It conveys the honesty that the advertising/marketing profession is founded upon. And still should uphold as the beacon for everything every marketer (at any level) should do in the communications business.
Bottom line?
Share truth.
Sell hope.
And enjoy, share, and DO THIS OR DIE.
The Hurricane Checklist
Aug 10th
This is the Hurricane checklist (and Hurricane is a London brand content & social marketing agency)
Ok.
I was digging around for something (I cannot remember what) and I came across a marketing agency in London that has an awesome website with a bunch of well articulated thoughts. I really liked their website because they permitted their people to just write and share their own point of view in their own voice. Not many companies are confident enough to let that happen (they fear someone is going to say something crazy and some really important person is going to randomly come across it online and never ever ever want to speak with the company ever again … ever.)
So it is companies like this Hurricane group that give me hope companies can let an individual voice, of an employee, shout something from a hilltop without looking over their shoulder (and editing).
All that said.
These guys came up with an awesome 6 point checklist for developing campaign strategies that straddle traditional and “social” (see web based) marketing plans of action.
Kudos to these guys. Smart. Well articulated. Understandable. Believable.
I would hire these guys.
Oh.
I work for an agency. Oops. Guess I can’t.
Here you go:
Trying to juggle the demands of integrating traditional media with digital/social media can be a nightmare. With the rules changing on a daily basis, what can you do to try and make sense of it all and still create great campaigns that deliver even greater returns?
Here at Hurricane we’ve been talking about our 6C’s checklist for several months now and the more we use it ourselves the more we swear by it. No seriously, hyperbola aside it’s effing awesome.
When looking at developing a campaign strategy for brand or lead generation activity, this checklist should form part of your campaign plan.
Here’s the low down.
1: Credibility – your primary motivation in the new world has to be customer NOT shareholder driven. You need to have a clear and authentic story as to why your product or service “will make a difference” and not just line the pockets of investors and shareholders. What’s your story? Why is it authentic? Why should this matter to your audience?
2: Consent – just because you have a database of 10,000+ customers does not give you the right to spam them with emails and direct mail. You have to earn the right. This means focusing on understanding the needs of your customers first and taking a thought leadership stance to be able to engage rather than sell. What is your view of the market or category you play in? Can you create a thought leadership stance that goes against the accepted view of the market? Can you genuinely deliver against this position? Can you make it exciting and relevant?
3: Content – what can you create that will be of value to the unique buying tribe you are trying to engage with; whether its IT decision makers of Financial directors. Make sure you nail your value proposition so that your content strategy has real focus. Then you need to think how you can inform, educate and entertain them. Aside from great data capture, great content moves people through the sales cycle quicker. I know you all know how important the right type of content is, but creating it in new and engaging ways (Audio, video…) and syndicating that content across paid for and social networks can really amplify your message and create positive interaction with your customers and prospects.
4: Communities – It’s more important than ever before to understand the unique buying tribes and communities where your brand or product has the strongest rational and emotional fit. These self gathering online communities wield huge influence and their networks and peers can help amplify any brand or marketing message. They are an active resource for all types of market insight and when motivated can be an excellent co-creation and crowdsourcing partner. You need to know where they are, what makes them tick, create content that creates a buzz and encourage them to participate and share in all aspects of your sales and marketing. Devoting yourself to these core communities is a sure fire way to create success.
5: Conversation – in the old world you would send out a rock solid piece of DM, follow it up with an email and back that up with a white paper. It was robust, logical and ticked all the boxes. However, in the new world you also have to be able to kick start the conversation. This means ultimately that you need to be interesting first and right and relevant second. Tapping into the socially connected world means giving people the ammunition to be part of the conversation. Nobody ever emailed their work colleagues a dull email about total cost of ownership. Always think about the BUZZ factor. How will this campaign get people talking about my product or service? What can you do to throw a curve ball into your market place that will get people talking? When you get this right, it’s what we call a Contagious Customer Experience!
6: Creativity – There is more clutter in our lives today than at any other point. To get through you have to make sure you have a stand out brand identity, a meaningful set of beliefs and brilliant communications to bring it all to life. Social and alternative media have not replaced the big idea. The big idea is your highway straight into the mind of your customer. How does this creative idea make my brand stand out? How does this creative idea get people buzzed? How does this creative idea compel people to share it?
So there you have it, a checklist that quite simply could make you famous (honestly). Oops.
That last sentence (and the italics) are their words.
Interestingly they are words I have also used.
I cannot figure out of it is plagiarism if you think the same thought and use the same words and type them surrounding their thought (which you agree with).
Regardless. I hope they don’t mind.
And remember … while this thinking may not make you famous (as they suggest) it will certainly insure you are smart.
zone of mediocrity
Jul 21st
“Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some people have mediocrity thrust upon them.”
Joseph Heller
“We must overcome the notion that we must be regular…it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.”
Uta Hagen
Ok. One of the things that consistently amazes me in the business world is mediocrity.
Or maybe better said …“comfort in mediocrity.”
And I am exponentially amazed because if you were to interview 100 different business leaders about their organization and company vision nowhere within that entire interview would you hear “we seek mediocrity.” In fact I can almost guarantee there will be words like extraordinary, innovative, new and bla … bla … bla.
Mediocrity is a stellar example that you cannot believe what people say. That what people say and what they do are often two completely different things.
It makes you wonder a little that if everyone’s attitude is so expansive why is their actual behavior so minimal/restrictive?
One writer suggested the reason is ‘vainglory.’
“Vainglory,” an anachronistic term meaning an unjustified and excessive pride in one’s own achievements or abilities is one of the primary forces animating and shaping contemporary culture.
Yeah. I buy that theory. Probably because I have seen it run rampant among successful entrepreneurs who now run their own companies. Well. Let me qualify that by saying they may represent the biggest ‘vainglory’ offenders (because large companies get mired in mediocrity too).
Ok.
To be fair (to those mired in mediocrity) it is possible the true effect of the recession in the business world is the creation of being safe versus smart risk taking.
But I am not sure it’s the recession’s fault.
Regardless. Companies beware.
The truth is that death resides in the zone of mediocrity (in a recession or not in a recession).
Interestingly I think companies do beware. It’s the leaders who are failing the companies.
So. Leaders beware.
Be fearful of mediocrity. And be fearful of playing it safe.
At the root of mediocrity?
Try this on for size. Criticism seems to have replaced oppositional debate as a form of business acumen.
Inherent in criticism is diminishing without enhancement. Oppositional debate is contrarianism with the intent to enhance.
And, frankly, I don’t have too much to offer here on why that is happening. If it were a generation thing I may have an idea but the people criticizing (leaders) typically grew up in an oppositional debate business world. So I am not sure what is breeding this.
But. Regardless. It’s happening.
And leaders are consistently permitting their organizations to get sucked into the world of mediocrity regardless of the criticism/debate thing I brought up.
To me the worst is when a company with all the potential to succeed gets sucked into the zone mediocrity. It is frustrating to see. And painful to watch as they continue in a doom loop of mediocrity. Or maybe call it unfulfilled potential.
I can even identify some key characteristics of a company mired in mediocrity.
1. High churn of leader low-senior people (the ones who ache to not be mediocre and seek to take the calculated risks to break out).
They get frustrated. And they leave for greener grass when frustrated.
2. Low churn of low-senior people with middle age kids.
Oh. They will bitch. Make some noises. But they know if they feed the mediocre machine (and get a small win here or there) they will never get fired. So they don’t take the day to day risks it often takes to rise above the zone of mediocrity. They learn to live within it.
3. High churn of young people. Especially the good ones.
The ones who have some ambition or maybe not a lot of ambition but want to learn stuff. They max out fast in the zone and hit a level of dissatisfaction quickly. These really hurt because this group dials up the company culture of miserableness in a sneaky way. They aren’t really grumbling. It’s worse than grumbling. They simply ask questions among themselves. The “why” question. Why are we this way? Why aren’t we growing? Why wasn’t that idea discussed instead of the one that was. Why, why, why and why again. They sense that something is off kilter but they don’t know the answer. They just keep asking the question.
And when all of that has swirled around long enough. When the repitition of mediocrity is solidly in place. After some time all groups and all employees and all people will get lulled into a sense of helplessness.
They start believing they cannot fight ‘the man’ (it can be identified specifically as the leader or simply the organization as a whole) and so they lose sight, or the desire to actually sight, for a something better than mediocrity because of complacency.
In the end.
Being in the zone of mediocrity in the workplace is odd. A little strange. Something feels off, some in-office rhythm is missing, something is off kilter, off balance, out of place.
Its something you cannot really quite put a finger on.
And with all that it becomes … it becomes easy to get sucked into the zone of mediocrity.
So what can you do? (other than bitch & moan & be mediocre).
If you are a leader? Lead. (but most people aren’t in leader positions).
If you are the rest of the world?
Well. I cannot guarantee this will get you out of the zone all the time but you will feel better about yourself and more fulfilled as a person (and possibly be better armed to battle mediocrity).
Never stop learning.
The corollary to this is ‘never stop challenging the norm.’
And at this idea’s foundation is something called commitment. Never stop learning takes commitment. Because in the zone of mediocrity life is much much easier if you go with the flow and accept ‘that is the way it is done.’ Be committed to never stop learning. From anyone. From any place. At any time.
Next.
Develop a passion for something.
There is nothing like passion to create day-to-day energy. This is much much bigger than ‘overcoming fear of failure’ or learning from mistakes or any kind of crap like that. This is about positively moving toward some unseen objective – fueled by an internal passion. The best example I found was about Thomas Edison.
It stated: Passion inspired Thomas Edison to develop the lightbulb. He failed more than 10,000 times. When he was asked what kept him going after so many failures, he said that he had not failed at all. What he had done was to find 10,000 ways that did not work.
Now. I will talk about resiliency next … but for now? That is passion. Find something to rally around. It’s easier to fight the good fight if you care.
Next.
No quit.
This is possibly better defined as “character resiliency.” This has nothing to do with trying and doing and day in and day out grinding it out. This is bigger picture stuff. This is about not giving up on what you dream or imagine. Mediocrity of almost all things in life takes a boatload of resiliency to face and defeat. I threw in character but at its core this is resiliency. Mediocrity is relentless and patient and sneaky. You cannot quit, ever, in your battle against mediocrity.
Ok.
So. What happens if you don’t attempt the three things I suggest (or anything to get out of the mediocrity zone)?
Well. If you don’t do this (and reside in the hellish zone of mediocrity) I have one word for you.
Regret.
Regrets are almost always about missed opportunities – failing to take the risks that could have led to a more fulfilling outcome.
Mediocrity is numbingly subtle.
Company leaders have to believe they are called to something bold and amazing. Even if it is simply engineering the best toilet. I read somewhere three keys to fighting your way out of this mediocrity malaise:
- 1. I believe we each hold within us a vast reservoir of courage.
- 2. I believe in doing something every day that scares the shit out of me.
- 3. I believe in burning my ships and declaring myself all in.
Love it.
Leaders should have it up on their wall.
Breaking out of mediocrity means being courageous, scared shitless sometimes and being “all in” when making a decision.
Ok.
But before anyone thinks this is some wacky uncomfortable hi-risk leadership point of view. Let me say it takes all those things as well as some blending. Yeah. A blend.
Blending risk and safety is the key to success. Too much of either is just not good stewardship. Foolish risk taking is as bad as mediocrity. Somewhere in the middle is the zone of success.
Ok.
I am coming to the close on this topic.
Mediocrity is a simple thing to identify (if you are honest with yourself).
Mediocrity is driven by inertia.
So, saying that, mediocrity ends up actually being a choice (it doesn’t come naturally).
I will try and end this by explaining the zone of mediocrity and that choice I just mentioned by using Yeats:
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre/ The falcon cannot hear the falconer.” 
(note: gyre – a vortex, a circular or spiral motion, especially in ocean currents)
Yeats suggests that at any moment forces are raveling and unraveling, forming and disintegrating in polarity (or, as one writer explained, “gyres” superimposed on each other with the apex or narrowest point of one at the center of the other’s base).
Therefore moments of opportunity occur when time shifts from the outer to the inner gyre – somewhere within the constantly raveling & unraveling.
Leaders are always a focal point for a company’s constantly spinning gyre of ambition and desires. So that leader has to recognize the possibilities inherent in change and the accompanying risks. No change, or progress, occurs in the face of all this raveling & unraveling only through the choice to be mediocre – and not make change (or worse … not take advantage of the forming opportunities).
Their excuse for mediocrity? (if there is an excuse at all).
Mediocrity occurs because the problem is that unraveling/raveling is rarely neat and the leader risks losing what is most important – the center. Or as Yeats suggests:
“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”
And there in lies the true foundation of the zone of mediocrity.
Those in leadership positions of power and authority who foresee the possibility of ‘things falling part’ remain frozen in models that no longer function, or adapt, in a new environment. They fear losing what is at the center (which is certainly the closest to their soul & well being).
So they refuse to embrace change and instead embrace mediocrity.
And in that, my friends, we end up in the infamous zone of mediocrity.
Do what you can to avoid it.
Do what you can to break out of it.
Do what you can to find leaders who seek to stay out of it.
