Archive for July 2009

Being alright at business and communication strategy paid off this week.

Ian and I have worked together for years, our relationship is based upon a love of business, strategy, people, solving problems and a really good wrangle. It’s this that got us to Hive – thank god for the wrangle and gardening leave! 

Every now and then one of us gets an invite to help a mate out with a business. It usually starts off with – ‘I am a bit stuck with growth/selling/marketing/what we do/core offers/branding etc’. What follows is often a moderately informed conversation taking what we have learnt from pharma strategy and transferring this knowledge to their industry. It’s good for them, and really helps us look at our core skills and apply them to different business – its business case studies in the flesh. The best type of learning.

This time around the company in case was a Helicopter management company. Ian and I invited to an afternoon session with the management team. We were tasked with helping them crystallise sources of growth, audience segmentation, prioritisation and marketing. This company manages a load of £6-11 million choppers owned by big billionaires who are flown all over Europe, or even flown into town to do some shopping.

It’s afternoons like this that I really enjoy and learn loads from. But also it leads to an appreciation of pharma. We often kid ourselves that our industry is very different to others that we forget that we are packed with transferable skills. Knowing how to market to patients and HCPs is pretty much exactly like any consumer or business to business world. What we know is useful to so many.

Anyway, the thoroughly interesting meeting finished, we with a new found understanding of the billionaire aircraft market, and the management team with load of decisions made/avenues to explore. I was getting slightly nervous about trains from Surrey as I needed to get to Camden for a birthday do.  Across the table came the best offer I have had for a while, ‘we are flying up to town to pick up X’s girlfriend, who is doing some shopping – we could drop you off on the way’. No sooner had it been said I was packed and stuffing diagram filled flipchart paper in my bag.

I left Ian driving back to Hampshire as I boarded the £6 millon Eurocopter,  sat reclined in grey leather, followed the river at 165mph and was dropped off just in time to make the first pint in Camden.

Got to love healthcare.

On Wednesday, Kieran and I went to see the BP ‘Classified’ exhibition at the Tate Britain. Two things stood out for me and really got me thinking. 

The first was an oil painting by Gillian Carnegie. Using only black paint she’s created an amazing picture of trees, which seems to have more texture and atmosphere than a coloured painting would have had.

But what made her decide to do it in just black?

The second was a collection of sculptures by Jake and Dinos Chapman. At first glance they look like traditional aborigine sculptures, but when you look closer there are numerous references to McDonalds. It’s a comment on our lack of understanding and appreciation of the culture that this type of art originates from, and also on our own culture, and the predominance of huge commercial organisations such as Maccy D’s.

Again, it’s such a clever idea, but what made them think of it?

At Hive, our business is built on doing things differently, thinking in a different way. But it’s all too easy to get stuck thinking ‘differently’ – and then different becomes the same. The challenge is to keep finding the inspiration to think outside an ever-changing box.

We just won a pitch. A product we have been chasing for months. Hive day one started with a call to this marketing manager then I made up 2 office chairs to sit on. Seriously, its been this long.

It’s a biggie, a parent proof product. “Oh I’ve heard of that” replacing “What’s Commerce Anxiety Disorder”. My mum even wanted to star in the behavioural change application mock-up.  She got her dream. She had to be 67 and meek and mild – which caused a few issues as she has been 47 for as long as I can remember.

Today we visited a big glass building with fountains and manicured gardens, went to discuss examples of our work that correlated to their problem. “Makes sense but where has it worked before” – A cry we can now answer with examples and metrics.  Team back at the office nervously waiting. Hoping we closed the deal. Jackets on and shoes all shiny. We got it. This afternoon I made up our 15^th and 16^th chair.

Our new clients mentioned the passion (probably more nerves and need than anything) and about how different our offer is. It got me thinking and wandering around the web on my return in post win daze and stumbled back across a blog I haven’t been to for ages http://headrush.typepad.com/. The blog champions passion in business. The blog that I crashed into covered the difference between what we now consider “old-school marketing” (otherwise known as The Four P’s — product, price, promotion, and placement — heavy on advertising and “branding”) and the “neo-marketing”  which we consider our end of town.

Here are a few ideas on some of the differences all a light read on a Monday am.

I have always loved the Communiqué Awards.

I attended as a young receptionist in 1997, when a last min cancellation led to a free place. Packed with PRs, booze and disco I was awed by the scale of such an event.

>>FastForward a considerably amount of time.

The evolution of our agency can be tracked by our approach to awards do’s. Year 1 saw us crash them all. The SAS of healthcare – business cards in hand, old contacts to be hunted out – driving business, mindful of our outgoings. I even remember being particularly proud of myself when I was thrown into an awards do in Chelsea by the security whilst pretending to be drunk and lost outside. As I brushed myself off and walked into the tent, I saw Jas coming out of the kitchens carrying a tray and Ian vaulting the outside wall, undergrowth-covered suit and all. Brilliant.

This year sees us attend the multitude of do’s a little more legitimately – We even paid for a table! I hope we never lose the ability to act like we did in the early days; efficient, streetwise and none too serious..

The Communiqués this year saw over 300 PR and Med Ed entries received and judged by a panel of communications professionals. One of those entries was for us.

The submission date for Best Small Consultancy landed during a day when it all was happening for us – two pitches, 1 review and a rather boozy board meeting. Staggeringly the resulting page saw us be shortlisted to a list of 4 agencies.

The subsequent interview, held with 15 big hitters, covered such delights as people, differentiation, margin and funding. We emerged eventually, confirmed as finalists. That surreal afternoon –Ian, Jas and I answering questions with seeming sense – was one we have recounted to each other many times. Thoroughly enjoyable – it all made so much sense.

Last night we attended the awards do to hear the announcement of winner. Our whole team was crammed on a table with more champagne than the table could bear. The tension built and the announcement was made and guess what?

WE DIDN’T WIN!

There is nothing worse than seeing a whole table disappointed at a result, gutted. Despite being totally over the moon to be a finalist, and to be highly commended,  it’s still a punch when you lose.

However, we did manage a clear victory in a dance-off with the award winners and will just have to make do with Highly Commended.

We hope being in the finals gives new clients the confidence to try our offer, to pick up the phone and let us share our approach. We really are a little different.

Damn. 

Every now and then we head out to see an individual talk about some mildly relevant subject. Last night – saw us be invited to Super Contemporary and a few hours with Wayne Hemingway – talking to 50 of us about design, inspiration, and life.

The Design Museum has joined forces with Beefeater 24, to bring a series of talks and gin to celebrate the fearlessly progressive spirit of London’s greatest creative minds, past and present. We were lucky enough to be invited along. Read more about Wayne here.  

Wayne was pretty insistent that us in the creative world;

1.  Stick to our guns and hold on to our principles despite the risk of missing out on short term cash. Do what you want to do, not what you need to do. 
2. Know our customer as well as we can. Research them, be with them, and understand them. For God’s sakes don’t hide in the office. See the white of their eyes. 
3. Understand that environments need to be built that fosters creativity. Gives space to make mistakes. Let the kids do it their way. Expect anyone to be able to do anything, give them the freedom to conclude themselves.
4. Champion the evolution. Humans instinctively want something better. They know when they are making do, OK is not a natural human state. But only very few ‘intolerants’ make a difference and change it. So be one.

At no time did regulatory, PI, sales aids or brand planning feature. But the 2 hours was so valuable and a real delight. How can this be beaten? Well – the next one sees us with Paul Smith. We have a couple of tickets spare – shout if you want to come along –  beapart@hivehealth.com.