Financial Fractals.

Now, I don’t know much about fractals. I remember they are like an ever repeating pattern – no matter what size, always the same. Like a fern frond. Which I remember vividly from my wonderful childhood and liberty allowing Mom (by that I mean, I could do whatever I wanted as a child – as long as no one got hurt. I’ll be ever thankful for that).

It just struck me last week that one of the crazy things about employment, the search for, the intent for promotion and most importantly the responses, requirements and questions from recruiters (with whom I’ve been dealing with for a project right now) is the questions they ask – one one in particular…

And that is, the question they all seem to ask of people who’ve run agencies, which is ‘what’s the revenue, how big was the business you managed’. Now, if you’re going for an account handling role – and you want to demonstrate the scale of work you can undertake, or the amount of clients you can ‘liaise’ with on a daily basis (although in most of my experiences running an agency the world liaise normally means ‘I left a message on his/her voicemail’) then maybe it is relevant, although I don’t really believe it.

Was Obama discriminated against because he’d never held a nation’s budget before? Did Tony Blair get asked ‘well do you have experience of a multi-billion pound defence budget’. The answer is no. It’s about fractals – scale, if you can manage 100 dollars effectively then maybe you could manage 100′000 as well? The fundamentals, the rules of economics (and I’m learning more about THOSE every day) stay the same. The numbers change, but not the formulas.

Good leadership isn’t the volume or value of your business, it’s the quality, wisdom, decisiveness and passion of your leadership. The former is only a by-product of the latter.

It’s time to steal back our tricks from politics.

Politics, PR and Marketing are inextricably linked. The race to the Whitehouse is without doubt the finest example on the planet that a 360 degree approach to communications is both what works and what is needed. It’s funny and tragic then that our industry is still struggling and in fighting to mimic this collaboration. Whilst we watch the most impressive viral campaign in history from Barack Obama bring in millions in donations, we are still holding inter-agency meetings and arguing over who’ll write the contact report.

Why is it that whilst the political engine, with little historic experience of brands, marketing and technology do our work so well whilst we still can’t stitch together PR and Advertising,  media and digital or even planning and creative? To say the political world is eating our dog-food is a gross understatement, what’s happening so successfully in politics today is humiliating our industry and we have to shape up pretty quick and take back what’s ours.

My first point and probably the simple answer to this is to go out there and start hiring the people behind the campaigns (I don’t mean Mark Penn – he’s doing fine). What I do mean is the new young bright political evangelists that have given up their time, freely to find ways to market their candidate to the press and people so effectively. Instead of worrying about the next op-ed opportunity or panel to put the ECD on, I’d be briefing recruitment companies to start tracking and attracting the power behind these political campaigns and creatives.  You never know,  we might just succeed there, we have a lot to offer – higher salaries (probably) a vast array of different and exciting work and career longevity.

However, what we lack is passion. My next observation is that we need to harness the passion and loyalty that the political parties bring to their people every day. There was a time in this world – which we’ve all been recently reminded of thanks to Mad Men when our industry was exalted, we were the dream job – it was the place to work. Less so now. Why is that and how did we lost our pride?

Much of it might be down to the homogenization of marketing businesses and not the disciplines which is necessary. By that I mean the buy, sell, acquire, trading, merging of ad agencies and other marketing companies which slowly chips away at what makes them special and gives them their ‘edge’.  Hung governments are never captivating, they are compromised and leadership invariable fails. Maybe we’ve fallen foul to this. it’s a truth that the new agencies, the super cool agencies seem to attract the bright people – is that because the are ‘small and boutiquey and push the envelope’ or is it actually because they are independent that they fundamentally stand for something like the parties do right now?

Isn’t it telling that you can follow a CMO of an advertising agency from one group company to another – probably using the same rolodex, the same approach and no doubt the same jokes from corridor to corridor. What does that say to us about the power of our brands? Doesn’t it, in some way, make a mockery of all we tell our clients about standing for something. What do today’s large agencies actually stand for?

Leadership is my next point. I have no doubt that we’re not going to see a Obama & Co agency starting any time soon but how do we instill the real power of leadership into today’s agency leaders. What is the succession management plan for advertising. Looking back at recent history, Bullmore, Ogilvy, Chiat & co helped define what their firms stood for – and lead from the front creating insanely loyal and driven people completely committed to their job. Today who do we really have? 

Richard Edelman has done a phenomenal job of continuing to lead his business forward with the drive and dedication that’s so evidently missing from his other marketing leaders. Now some of this, again,  might come down to the holding company squeeze on independence and drive. However, are today’s marketing CEO’s too addicted to quarterly results and margin and not enough the the product they actually make and the people that make it. 

I walked into an agency once in Chicago (who shall remain nameless) to find on every one of their dozen plasma screens in reception work playing from other agencies. When I asked why I was told that the CEO wanted to show that they were passionate about the work for all agencies in their holding company. This struck me as entirely insane and without direction or passion. 

Bob Jeffrey at JWT made it rule number one that he had to see work regularly – every day and he does. He understands that to lose touch with your product (like a politician losing touch with the people) is brand suicide.  

So we need to prepare now for the leaders of tomorrow – identify the talent that can not just manage a p&l but bring together a philosophy and I think we’d be helped by looking a bit further a field than just our somewhat incestuous industry where recruitment is akin to the same old people throwing their keys in the bucket. 

But back to my opening point, the 360 approach. This, I think is the single biggest issue for agencies today and one that’s been talked about ad infinitum. I don’t want to harp on about it like every one in agency world does (saying but not doing) but I do want to make one point. 

How can you expect agencies to work well to together when they don’t know what they stand for apart?

Barry Diller talks of Creative Conflict, the need to push your ideas, positioning, beliefs and self even to find out what makes you tick. It’s time this industry created some conflict to blow away the past, unblock the pores of progress and take some pride in itself.  

Marketing has become so risk averse, so ‘safe’ and therefore dull. We seem to be scared to stand up for ourselves in case its not what our clients’ believe in – but we forget that our clients hired us for who we are – not what we want them to be. 

So let’s forget about 360 for now, about trying to date and smooch other companies, I believe we all individually as agencies need a makeover first; just like Tony Blair and his team gave Britain New Labour, we desperately need New Marketing. 

That’s change we can believe it.

Innovation Innovation Innovation

I’m so SICK of that word. Why can’t people just say ‘let’s have some new ideas’ or ‘let’s do something different’. I’ve spent 2 days with people who use it so incessently it makes me want to innovate their heads off. I know the intent is good but it’s the hallmark of our industry to continually find new phrases for old processes.

Look at James Webb Young, and his ‘Technique for Producing Ideas’ – a technique first described to students in 1939 and then published in 1965, but a technique so right, so timeless that it’s been constantly rebranded and renamed. Fundamentally he says, immerse yourself in the product/brand, look at the new, look at the old, take a break, ideas will come. Nurture them.

Could there be anything more right for ‘innovation’ than this process that’s some 70 years old? Do we have to keep topping our marketing salads with balsamic and techno wank dressing?

Here in Saudi Arabia innovation is happening for the first time, it’s incredibly exciting – and because the marketing community here is still developing, learning and growing it’s brilliantly empty of self-serving phrases, rhetoric and pompous techniques. They just want some new stuff that’s great. Works for me.

What’s a little more difficult is the dinner time here. 10.30pm. Let me share something with you, I’ve been secretly taking salad in my room – that’s not a euphemism – more an act of selfless indulgence whilst my new colleagues from this remarkable land pray and break fast.

As many of my friends (and family) knows, I’m prone to return from anywhere the first time and demand that I move there immediately. Not so with Saudi Arabia, I’m more excited about coming back, time and time again, and helping in some way to grow their expertise without the colonial implanting of talent which has no local knowledge or respect.

What these people lack in brilliance in advertising (and the fetid language that involves) they make up for by being remarkable business men and quite inspiring leaders.

Now, off for 21 pounds of prime steak. Zantac at the ready.

Is full time a waste of time?

 

I’ve been thinking recently if business needs full time Chief Communications Officers. I understand the concept of this is biting the hand that has fed me for some time. But I’ve always thought looking a gift horse in the mouth was worth two in the bush.

When I’ve been at marketing cos in the past I’ve come to the conclusion that I wasted an awful lot of time and consequently I think my employer probably wasn’t getting best value. Also, if you’re going to be a true communications professional you need to be totally immersed in ALL types of communication whilst being able to give independent counsel when required.

I think you can have heads of comms. who may just drink a bit too much of the Kool-Aid; people who get so submerged with loyalty, conviction and passion that they lose focus on the fundamentals:

1. What is news?

2. What is a reputation issue?

3. What is true?

Look at it this way, if Communications Consultants were provided by Bain they probably wouldn’t be 5 days a week in the office. They would probably work in a number of different categories, with the same discipline and cross-pollinate ideas, thoughts and outputs.

That’s fresh thinking, and it’s the sort of thinking that’s worth paying for. This might all look like a vain attempt to promote what I do, but it’s been more of an enlightenment for me.

I was speaking with a prominent journalist at an extremely highly regarded business national here this morning; she vehemently agreed that this philosophy was the right way,. She told me that it happens this way it gives her far more information from a more credible party who can see both sides of the PR fence.

Which global ad network CEO is this?

Which global ad network CEO is this?, originally uploaded by English Man in New York City.

From my iPhone

With this Credit Crunch – will we lose all the brilliant ideas?

It’s an issue which I think is going to really change the landscape for the incubation of brilliant ideas. Will VC’s and funds still want to take risks on new bright ideas?

According to Reuters, investors are now switching out of the US not just into BRIC – especially Asia in particular – but into ‘investments of passion’ – namely wine and art.But what about the art of the new big idea? It’s pretty much agreed that big companies rarely have big ideas these days, even though they are still essential and have their place in the fertilisation food chain for entrepreneurs and bright young things.

Will investors now turn off from content, technology, mobile and other new media concepts? If so how soon until we feel the effect of this on our new industries?Perhaps the answer is for business to restart investing in innovation – it’s not just packaged goods companies that should own the new product arena; and a lot of big business seems to exist on ‘if it’s a good idea let’s buy it’ as opposed to creating good ideas inside.

I know we’ve heard it all before, but marketing companies are brilliantly placed to play a part in this. I don’t mean all that nonsense of Crispin taking a steak in a clothing company (that was tiny and largely irrelevant) but actually creating new ideas, new creative business ideas that improve their business whilst innovating and bringing new talent into the business that fundamentally grows clients’ business, not just brand awareness.

I’m bored of hearing about how advertising agencies are changing their relationship with clients to share equity – I think that’s all posturing. It would be good to see agencies work with start-ups, new businesses and entrepreneurs to create new ideas that connect in new ways.

I recall working with a global ad agency on a pitch recently. I told them explicitly that their potential client wanted ’skin in the game’ — I was told ‘oh yes, we’ll absolutely bet a bit of the farm on our work’, only to hear that they considered a fee penalty of 1 or 2 per cent as being ’skin in the game’.

Entrepreneurs and start-ups bet 100% of their livelihood and their passion on trying to advance business, technology and ideas; it’s time the marketing industry played their part. It’s not entirely altruistic; it’s actually quite old-fashioned.

The agency world is changing blah blah blah – but with only about 6 per cent of total ad revenue coming from online, it’s clear there’s a lot of space to change and evolve. Never mind online – look at how hard it is for Facebook to monetize; and I watched Mark Z present Beacon and Social Ads — never before was a group of media and stakeholders so neutral about a great concept with lousy execution.

But what about mobile? the iPhone is changing our relationship with those noisy interruptive handsets into a device that adds new value (and eyeballs and time) to business and brands that crave attention. And in this economic climate pushing a channel that consumers are addicted to, is in their pocket all day and is still relatively inexpensive and yet highly responsive could be the way to grow new ideas in a ’safe growth’ environment.

If you want to see successful User Generated Content from a subscriber base – well, what the hell is a mobile phone?Mobile has so far to grow in the US; I know this as I watched in grow first hand in Europe when I was running an agency there. I think the new colonisation for content ideas could be real and credible investment and ownership in this technology area. I’m reminded of when I was in London and FCB had loaned their basement to start-ups and smart ideas, I don’t think it came to much.

That was a concept whose time has come; now that’s worth a glass of wine.