Archive for June 2008

When trading becomes challenging, businesses of all sizes generally have two choices. First, cut cost in line with reduced revenue and wait for better times to come (and hope they do before the money runs out). Second, invest to become more competitive and attractive under the new market conditions. Design provides limited advantage in the first scenario, but is essential to the second, as are foresight and bravery.

Change is a good thing! I can’t deny that I enjoy a certain comfort zone within my professional and non-professional lives. Doing something I know and the sense of familiarity I get from that gives me a security which I find both appealing and comforting. However the problem is that security and comfort generally become boring with a significant lack of enthusiasm.

I guess this is the reason that I chose to live and study out of London for 3 years and thereafter set off travelling for 15 months. Exciting these adventures certainly were but they brought challenges too. I learnt that being able to adapt and adjust to new environments/situations (broadening one’s horizons, etc) is one of the most important skills a person can posses. Big rewards often carry an element of risk - and let’s face it, risk is never boring!

Design can be risky when there is time and money at stake. But in today’s world, it is only through creativity and exploration that people can better themselves and their work. So don’t be afraid to bring brand new ideas to the table -if you want to get better than you’ve already got.

‘What we say matters little compared to how we say it, no matter what medium we use to convey the words. To communicate with influence it is important that we are able to use language that engages the hearts and minds of our listeners.’

Sue Knight (NLP at work, 2^nd Edition) here explains the importance of influence in any kind of communication. When it comes to advertising, I’d have to disagree that the subject matter is of little consequence - after all, the message is why we open our mouths in the first place, and deserves to be carefully strategised and crafted. It’s obvious though that talking in a truly engaging way is an art form. In everyday life, charisma comes more naturally to some than others; in business we strive for it.

How do we get people to listen? The simple answer is to use the right language - not just clear and concise language, but the same language as our audience. I don’t mean English, Spanish or Italian, but fact that we need to aim for immediate understanding.

We all know what it’s like to venture into the doctor’s, smell that overpowering medicinal aroma and sit in a sticky leather seat - and then divulge all your ‘private information’ to help the Doctor to find out what on earth is wrong. He or she listens; the medical mind takes over and envisages the physiological processes, what reactions are taking place and what pharmacotherapy could be used. He or she needs to translate this into a way that I, the patient, can understand, relating to my personal knowledge of the body.

Having a Pharmacology degree, it’s not too challenging to express myself in medical language, so that doctors can usually tell me quite quickly what is wrong and what could be done. But if I keep very silent - perhaps like many other patients - I see a difference in how I am spoken to and what is said.

My point is that communication is a tricky thing and that’s why we invest heavily in order to get it right. We need skills and experience to explain both technically and promotionally how things work and who could benefit. That is the only way the consumer- doctor, patient etc. - can retrieve enough information to drive their decision on whether to buy or not to buy, to use or not to use, the product.

The art director fairy breezed into Hive last week and deposited Kieran. He’s a tall, laid back bloke who is fond of cashew nuts and Corona and whose desk at this very minute is peppered with ideas and design of a vibrant calibre.

Kieran, where have you been all my life? Actually, it’s just a few months since we began feeling the need for another full-time workhorse. Since then, we’ve gathered even more exciting brands and are gearing up for some roaring creative.

Kieran and I are not a traditional creative partnership. Forgive me for finding the concept rather insular, somehow greedy - definitely 1980s-like. Maybe I’m just sulking because no-one has never wanted to be my creative partner.

There’s something special about two people on the same mission, hence marriage and comedy partnerships. This helps you raise children and write entertaining stuff, which must both be really hard. Also, we like to see people playing together. But when you’re at work surrounded by loads of different brains, why milk just the one?

Working with others helps people thrive intellectually and creatively, and for me, the more other people, the better. Everyone’s creative. The message is true to Hive’s goals - we all get stuck in. It’s nice.

It’s the way forward. The days of saying “creatives” and “suits” are surely slipping into extinction. It’s my prediction for the decade. (Note: only 2 years left, people!)

Anyway, I’ve completely drifted from the key message of this article which was to say….

Welcome to the buzz shop, Kieran.

The 6 months since we all we moved in have flown like mad. I look back at the days when we were not quite an office - days which we filled with countless calls ordering phones, desks, sofas, IT equipment and data cabling. They seem so far away. With this in mind, it’s time to take stock, pull up a few chairs and review how it’s all been.

We have grown at a massive rate, faster than we expected. Within 6 months we have delivered to a broad base of client companies and across a really diverse and exciting number of brands. Reviewing the business plan, written way back in Festival Hall (our surrogate early day offices) shows how we have exceeded all our expectations.

The biggest and best surprise is the approach of many of our clients. We are used to reading about the currently slower-than-expected adoption of innovation, so it was always a source of big discussion when we were forecasting. Will we have something that is wanted? Why change a method that is deeply established (even if it’s a little broken)? In hindsight our doubts were futile - an experience that has made us all exhilarated and proud as punch.

When we sat down and decided that a change was a good thing, that our brand of “different” could be better, I couldn’t help but feel deep down, late at night, whilst lying there in my heavily mortgaged flat, kicking our strategy around in my head, a fear that “different” might not be desired. Thankfully my pessimism has not been substantiated. We have an idea and approach that is really hitting home, really making sense, and moreover is really delivering results to our clients, in the here and now.

Time to put the chairs away and go do some more, I think.