The Apprentice is just like a bad pitch

Has anyone noticed the similarity between ‘Srralan’ and a really awful client, with the hapless candidates behaving like clueless agencies?

The Apprentice is compelling television, and the new series promises well. Sugar is nastier and even more reminiscent of an African dictator (check out his arriving at the last minute in a helicopter, and the height of his chair against those of his two long term colleagues). And clearly most of the latest crop of tyro business people has been picked to repel. It wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t so like the way some companies choose their agencies. Really inadequate brief.  Last minute changes. Bullying and carping criticism. Useless feedback.

And the agencies (sorry - teams of would be Apprentices). Picking the wrong leaders. Talking and not listening. Either not doing the research or ignoring it. Lamentable relationships within the team. Blaming each other when it all ends in tears. And worst of all, hugging each other all the time.

Sometimes you can best see what best practice is by watching the absolutely worst case scenario (rather like those brilliant Video Arts films). Perhaps Srralan is doing us all a favour.

Campaign for Real Marketing

Remember you saw it first on The Wethey Forecast. It is time to put the magic back into marketing, before it is obliterated by mediocrity, short-termism, and too much pre-testing, regulation and procurement.

Had a drink last night with a client. He is a talented and seasoned marketer working at the European HQ of a global giant. He was looking chirpier than I’d seen him for a long time, and offered an unusual explanation. “It’s my new boss,” he said. “This guy is the real deal. He is clever. He is classy, and he is a pied piper too. He has only been here a few months and you can already see the effect on the brand and the whole team.”

When did you last hear anyone say that? It is rare enough to get the wow factor from a TV spot, a DM piece, a promotion, or anything on the web. Rarer still to meet a truly inspiring and charismatic marketer. Why is that?

• Because marketing directors come and go so quickly they don’t get the chance to make an impact?
• Because caution, often in the guise of pre-testing, kills some great ideas as surely as it eliminates obvious howlers?
• Because regulation blunts entrepreneurialism and flair?
• Because procurement can become too powerful?
• Because communications directors are making inroads into marketing budgets
• Or because the brightest people are attracted by other careers, whereas years ago marketing would have beckoned?

It is probably down to elements of all these factors – and more.

Does anyone else care? Do you feel, even out of curiosity, feel like joining my Campaign for Real Marketing? Do post me names of great marketers you work with, or have known in the past. We need to celebrate these stars and encourage more to follow in their footsteps. Names and ideas please. Or if I am wrong – and there’s a golden age of marketing out there right now – tell me.

Time To Get Out Your Old Business Books

AGENCIES ARE CRYING OUT TO BE RE-ENGINEERED

Remember Re-engineering The Corporation by Hammer & Champy? You may still have two or three of those Tom Peters books. Never mind that most of the hero companies have either been consigned to history or taken over by private equity. The big idea of rewiring companies around customer needs is as potent as ever. And the average ad agency is a perfect candidate. For many clients fragmentation in the marketing communications space has created a management nightmare. Just how are you supposed to fit in even one meeting a month with each of ten agencies – and still do the day job? Cumbersome to manage. Difficult to measure. Expensive to run.

More and more of what we used to call creative agencies are now adding digital capability. Some are revisiting the idea of offering media planning and buying as well. Why don’t they go the whole hog and reinvent a 2007 version of full service? If I was a progressive agency chief, I would be very tempted to call the whole thing ‘advertising’, because in the end that’s how the consumer sees it, whether it is delivered on TV, in an envelope, over the internet or into your mobile.

I was involved in the early 90’s with some re-engineering experts who saw the potential in agencies for making radical changes in process with clients. Most of the pioneer agencies who took the risk, made huge strides, got by with substantially fewer (and better) people, gave a brilliant service and made more money. And that was with the old media-centric agency model. How much more we could achieve today, with a whole suite of communications to play with.

Who’s game?

There are only five rules for decision making

From our experience at AAI I already knew that system, process and rigour work much better than inspiration and gut feel when teams have an agency to choose. It is a much more accountable way to work, as well as being more efficient and effective.

The additional research I have done for a book has given me more insights into what makes for good decision-making in general, and where the problems lie.

Decision-making is like any other aspect of managing in business or aspects of your own life:

 - Experience helps a lot…

 - Luck is a big factor…

 - But good technique and a systematic approach will pay hand over fist – and make a significant difference in terms of positive outcomes

 - Some decisions can be purely rational. Others will be emotional, but without technique and system, they are likely to fail

 - To make a success of apparently quick and instinctive decision making, training is indispensable (e.g. healthcare, the forces, emergency services etc). But training and a systematic approach work best for all decisions

 - Instinctive decisions are not at all the same as emotional decisions. Acting fast in an emergency because you have been well trained is a very different matter to letting the heart rule the head when a rational approach would probably have worked better

 - Don’t be too swayed by language: “decisive” is not always a good thing. “Sitting on the fence” may be a good short term option while you go through the process

There are only five rules

1. A DECISION IS A JOURNEY TO BE MANAGED, NOT A SINGLE STEP TO BE TAKEN

We all know what Lao-Tzu said: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Remember that the decision is the journey itself and not the single step. The critical skill is not taking one big decision and “seeing it through”, but taking the first decision, managing it and navigating throughout the journey. Decisions may be made on the best evidence, but events can change things, and the mark of a good decision maker is to be prepared to be flexible, to adapt a policy, and take a different route if necessary.

2. ANSWER THE RIGHT QUESTIONS – OR YOU RISK COMING UP WITH THE WRONG SOLUTION

Ensure before you start that you are asking – and answering - the right questions. What is the goal? What are the problems? The opportunities? What pressure are we under, and is that stopping us thinking straight? Most disastrous decisions are made under pressure, and based on incorrect assumptions about problems and opportunities.

3. YOU CANNOT COMPROMISE ON INTELLIGENCE – ONLY THE BEST WILL DO

Intelligence - in both senses - is a prerequisite of decision-making. We need the best possible “military” intelligence in terms of information, data and research. Don’t assume we know enough. Over-confidence about data is as dangerous as being knowingly under-prepared. If the information we need isn’t to hand, we must investigate further. Then we need to apply the other sort of intelligence: the brightest possible team. Good homework and analysis and having intelligent people on board are equally important.

4. SCENARIO PLANNING IS A CONTINUOUS RESPONSIBILITY, NOT A ONCE OFF EXERCISE BEFORE A DECISION IS TAKEN

Continuous scenario planning (the what ifs, upsides and downsides) is the key to a successful journey and a positive outcome. This is probably the most important rule of all. Looking ahead. Anticipating the consequences of the “big” decision and all the subsidiary decisions you make along the journey. Sun-Tzu states in his Art of War that “you must be able to act with blinding speed. But to move with speed does not mean that you do things hastily”. Speed requires preparation. Preparation involves calculating the what ifs. Scenario planning – continuous scenario planning – is the basis of managing the decision journey. Without a positive upside in view at every stage it is dangerous to move forward.

5. LEARN, MEASURE, WRITE IT DOWN - AND FEED BACK THE LEARNING

Learning and feeding back the learning is the only way to get better and better at making decisions. You can’t learn without absorbing the lessons of each journey – and you can’t absorb the lessons without measuring outcomes. To do that successfully you have to write it down as you go – even if the short term reportage doesn’t necessarily make good reading.

Why is it so hard choosing an ad agency?

What are my top ten tips for pitches? 1. First things first, let’s get this one out of the way. It’s often the first thing I am asked by new clients. Why is it so hard choosing an advertising agency and what are my Top Ten Tips for Pitching? Second point first:

don’t go to pitch unless you have to

2. take independent advice

3. lean over backwards to be fair to all the agencies involved – particularly the incumbent

4. spend as long as it takes to firm up on the criteria – don’t be diverted onto anyone else’s agenda

5. deliver a terrific brief. be very clear about what is wanted at every stage, and whether you are looking for a long-term marriage or short-term fix

6. define the process and ensure that it is tailored to your individual needs as off the shelf solutions tend not to work

7. work out a realistic timetable and stick to it (often harder for clients than the agency)

8. keep the judging team consistent

9. it is never too early to talk about money – leaving it until after the pitch can spell disaster

10. the pitch process won’t be a night at the opera, but aim to become your chosen agency’s favourite client and they won’t hesitate going that extra mile for you which is how you get brilliant campaigns that empty warehouses and kill competition

Let me give you what I see as the five main reasons why clients do find it tough to find the agency of their dreams.

The first, and probably most frustrating, reason is that even the best agencies are so inconsistent. Sadly there are no guarantees that the outfit who have recently produced three much admired campaigns can do it for you. Why? The creative sparks who make it all possible are a highly mobile breed. Then again agencies pitch so often – over and above their day job for clients – that their success rate is bound to be variable.

Secondly creative agencies only do part of the job these days. You are not hiring a full service ad factory. To function properly you and your agency are going to have to rely on a battalion of other experts (strategists, media agencies, TV production companies, photographers etc). The interaction between the agency and these other specialists can produce a model of synergy – or, ahem, not.

Thirdly, clients in my experience frequently ignore what went wrong with the last agency (which might have been 50% their fault) when they go hunting for the new one. They cheerfully make the same mistakes again. Not enough rigour in specifying the agency’s exact scope of work. Agreeing a brief that isn’t tight enough. Not being specific on selection criteria.

Fourthly, money is now a major factor in which agency wins the day – which was not the case in the past. With the old 15% commission system all agencies (good or bad) basically cost the same. Now with fees geared to people/hours, royalties, production costs and leveraged performance bonuses, there can be a big gap between the cost of the three or four agencies on your short list. If you don’t buy on price, there is every chance the procurement people will get you. And if you do, you may always wonder whether paying a bit more might have made all the difference.

The fifth reason is where we encounter the celebrated Abilene Paradox. My old friend Reg Starkey reminded me about this gem of a cautionary tale from American business folk lore. Four adults (a couple and her parents) are sitting on a porch in 104 degree heat in the small town of Coleman, Texas, some 53 miles from Abilene. They are doing as little as possible, trying to think themselves cool. At some point the wife’s father suggests they drive to Abilene to eat at a cafeteria there. His son-in-law thinks it is a crazy idea (as do the two women), but he goes along with it for a quiet life. They climb into their old Buick (no air conditioning!) and drive through a dust storm to Abilene. They eat a mediocre lunch and return to Coleman exhausted, hot, and generally unhappy with their experience. It was only then that it is revealed that none of them had really wanted to go to Abilene. They just agreed because they thought the others were eager to go. It’s the problem with being too democratic about decision-making. You can easily end up with everyone’s second preference.