Live, love, run

So January was all about cycling and leg strength. No running. I stuck to my guns and it has all worked out well so far.

I had my first run today for 5kms which went well. No achilles pain. Will take it easy with a mix of short runs, cycling and gym leg strength sessions. Maybe even a spin class.

I had my first ride to work last week. 27kms each way which was good, but definitely need a new bike! The old Repco mountain bike is not a commuting vehicle! 

Work is going great. Loving the new surroundings, and really feeling confident I can make a difference. I am in week four next week and each wqeek that passes I feel better and better. I think its going to be fantastic all round.

Two weeks until next race, the John Forrest 6km trail race. Looking forward to it.

This is the view from my local lookout, and the highest point of any of my local runs. It’s where I go to check out the beach, surf and have a break during my run.

I am in week four of nine weeks off between MF and Meerkats. I have spent the time relaxing, working around the house, going to the gym, running and cycling. It’s been restful and allowed me to get my head ready for the great challenge ahead.

I have met all of the key MK staff, and had a session with Mike and Ronnie where they outlined the history of the business and their expectations of me in the Managing Director role. What they have achieved is amazing in such a short period. What they have built is something quite special.

Leading into Christmas I am doing less work and more running and relaxing.  I haven’t been too much of a pain for Lou I don’t think and have helped with school runs and lunches and things.

I’ve been riding to school with Tyler a couple of times a week which has been great fun. Amy finishes this week and Tyler the next so looking forward to spending some time with them both.

The City Beach 8km is on Sunday. Looking forward to the run but it is sandwiched between a 37c day and a 38c day!! Could be painful. Achilles is OK without being great but hasn’t slowed me down. I feel like the gym work has helped my strength and core. Roll on Christmas.

So before I went to Bali I got a job offer……a great one!

I took the time in Nusa Dua to think about what I wanted, and what the potential could be. The answer? To big to ignore.

So we got back, and I accepted. Meet the the new Managing Director of Meerkats (www.meerkats.com.au) - Perth’s most exciting new agency with a philosophy that I think will see it go from strength to strength.

Mike and Ronnie who are the two founding partners are smart, professional and have built what I think is something clients are going to love more and more. And they do it from a philisophical perspective that is grounded in wanting to make a real difference in the world. For an ad agency, that’s not just new, that’s exciting, untested and fertile ground.

So, the family is in, I’m in and our world is about to change. In preparation I am concentrating on my fitness, and on my mental preparation. I am running more often, shorter distances mainly, but keeping the long run on the weekend for endurance. Running is, and will continue to be an important part of how I maintain top form.

Stay tuned for the exciting developments. I’ll be mixing in more work amongst the running as my new life unfolds. Hold on for fun…

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No, sorry, not BI cycle… 

 So, a few weeks ago I lost four key people within a three week period. Ouch!

Fast forward to today and I have filled all of those positions and used the opportunity to re-structure for best effect. I have been able to reward some people with promotions, and introduce new people into the mix.

So what was the worry!? Well, it is significant that they left within a short period, and also significant that they were all connected. What I need to work out is the cultural components that led to the problem.

Agency life is all about relationships. Consistency and stability are key. When people leave, clients get nervous, and rightly so. I don’t have any problem attracting people to the agency, but keeping them there for the long haul is proving hard in a boom town like Perth.

Maybe it’s about playing favourites. Some clients are perceived to be more fun, or hard work, or just no good, so the efforts on the staff on those accounts can vary. I need to equalise the efforts and make sure everyone has a consistent working environment.

I am going to totally re-assess my training and development plans and look at workload by portfolio. There has to be a better way.

Oasis Ball week. As Chairman it was madness leading into the gig so running was non existent until today when I did 9.8kms with Dex. Nice long run and felt good.

The Ball went so well. Check out www.oasisproject.net.au. 850 people and a final donation to the Salvation Army of over $150,000 if I can contain costs. That will be a record for the event. It was incredibly stressful because of the unknowns - how many will come, additional costs on the night, running out of booze etc etc, but in the end it was amazing, and very satisfying.

We won Agency of the Year for the second year in a row which is great for a tough year, and my campaigns for Association for the Blind and Lotto won the major TV and Press creative categories. It’s a great result and hopefully will settle things at work a bit.

Our industry is SO much fun. My head can attest to that yesterday after a 4:15am finish. Pain central, but worth it.

This has been a tough week.

For posterity’s sake I am the Director, Client Services at an ad agency. I have had my biggest client sign the single biggest estimate in the history of the business this week, after 18 months of work. I am three Board papers behind for Monday, and I have only just got my head around my presentation for this Sunday’s Conference Presentation.

I am also Chairman for the Oasis Project which runs the Oasis Ball annually. Oasis assists troubled youth through the Salvation Army’s Crossroads West Programme. It’s in the Top 10 events in Perth and is the industry’s night of nights.

We use event coordinators for the ball, and as of today they are $30,000 over budget. Unfortunately for my body, I love the challenge. It will all work out. I’ve already sold a $10,000 sponsorship package and will find more no doubt.

My job is amazing, and the opportunities it gives me are great, but I am not sure that my body will hold up. I run, and work out, but mentally it is extremely hard. It is the kind of job that just sucks everything from you. It will just keep taking.

But now it’s Friday and I can re-charge. Bed awaits.

Hopefully tomorrow I can muster the energy to have some fun with my beautiful kids. Even if I can’t I suspect I will.

The machine always finds a way.

In a meeting of likeminded marketers the other day I heard something I hear too much. “I went with it, it was gut feel”!

How is it that as a profession, some marketers seem to believe that “gut feel” is good enough?

Do auditors check their numbers on gut? Do accountants just close there eyes and throw a dart at a board when completing complex tax issues? Would a legal team, given the absence of precedent or any substantiating facts careen off into the nothing for a client? Of course, the answer is no.

So why is it that marketers and agencies seem to be happy to run expensive campaigns in the absence of any data or consumer insight in order to drive sound strategic decisions founded in some semblance of fact!?

I believe there are two reasons:

1. Deadlines!

“It would be lovely to go to that extra effort, but we just don’t have time. My budgets are slipping and the Board want results”. Give me a dollar… Thinking and strategy take time and effort. Take the time to do the work that needs to be done in order to make reasoned decisions.

Choose partners that challenge and drive better insight, thinking and strategy. In my experience, the result is always better. Hard conversations held with the highest levels of an organisation is what it takes for breakthrough results. I have never heard a CEO talk about this month’s numbers when faced with a long term brand strategy debate.

2. Laziness

I believe that some of us have done ourselves a great disservice as marketing professionals. Where other professions have cemented their place at the top of the corporate ladder, marketing is too often relegated to lower level positions and hierarchy. Clearly there is a reason for this, and my view is that it is because we do not show proof of value.

This failure to show proof is grounded in lack of analytical skill, a resistance to using numbers effectively, and a belief that this marketing gig is about the creative process only. Too many marketers simply ”make stuff”, “print stuff” or live in the endless cycle of tactical fixes.

If your CEO’s most significant discussion with you is the design of your annual report cover, you’re who I am talking about.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I have worked in organisations where all of this is the case. I have been one of those marketing people. It’s a tough gig to be in an organisation that doesn’t believe in your profession. But we have to push through those barriers and use all the tools we have to get noticed and respected. Our profession grows business value - and that’s a valuable thing. 

I love it when I see strong, evidenced based communication linked with insightful, compelling creative and through-the-line media thinking, and trust me, so do consumers. We could see more of this kind of communication given a desire to push the boundaries at both client and agency level.

Do not accept mediocrity, information gaps, incomplete analysis, shortcuts. Fight for the time to discover, learn and debate.

Then when it’s time to launch (and yes, it will be past deadline!) you may have created something that is loved by your fellow executive - for the results, held in esteem by your peers - for the thinking and sought out by your audience - because you have built something that is relevant and connects.

My foundation client at the agency is, or was, a small Building Society that was a brand that was at best conservative, and at worst tired and irrelevant. My first major project as an Account Director at the time was to assess the brand and rejuvenate it if possible.

The result was a contemporary, iconic idea that is well regarded in the finance industry, and beyond and has resulted in terrific growth including a merger with another similar sized institution to become a pretty serious player in the market.

The latest is that a regional bank aiming for expansion has bought the business and is starting to extend its thinking into the local market. I awoke this morning to find a full page colour press ad where the new owners were pronouncing that the combined strength of the two entities would add “more grunt” to the company. An ad for my client, without my knowledge. Ouch!! 

So why is that a problem? Well, they forgot about the consumer….

The problem is that the brand promises for the two entities, whilst looking similar philisophically, couldn’t be further apart. One offers a member driven, friendly, nimble approach to banking and prides itself on its stance of “not a big bank!” The other IS a bank and makes no apologies for aggressively seeking growth through takeovers and inorganic growth.

So the ad, which blends the two brands together ends up shooting both brands in the foot. My client now looks to have broken their brand promise of friendly and helpful, and worse yet it is now what it stands against - a bank! And the new owner looks like the slick out of towner pushing the local brand down a new path.

My solution? Pretty easy. Consumers understand that businesses are bought and sold. They also understand that ownership sometimes changes things. But to be so in your face is unhelpful. The local brand owns the relationship. The conversation and experiences it has with its clients are the building blocks for the future. Use this relationship to slowly introduce the benefits that will impact them personally.

Be honest, be transparent, but in a tone that they are used to. That way there is less confusion and less negative reaction. What’s next? Who knows, but hopefully sanity  and a bit of strategy will prevail.