Hive Health

Just spent a very interesting afternoon at an APG event entitled ‘What do you do to win, when you can’t afford to lose’. An excellent panel guided us through (to a greater or lesser degree) their thoughts on strategy and what it takes to devise a plan. Present were General Sir Mike Jackson GCB, CBE, DSO, DL, Dave Droga, from Droga 5, Alastair Campbell, who we all know, and Jeremy Gilley, the founder of Peace One Day.

What was apparent was that all of them had an inert fear of losing, so winning really was the only option available and although it wasn’t really a ‘winner take all’ extravaganza, I thought that on balance the General came out on top, if for no other reason that he taught all their present the excellent expression ‘rot you up’! (As in those dirty rotters trying to trip you up, or at least that was my outtake.)

Evident from all those on the panel was that there really isn’t any magic solution to devising strategy and in fact those long, sometimes lonely hours we spend churning stuff around is all par for the course. It requires passion, energy and the endless questions of why and what if, but there’s no escaping the fact that it can take time – as the General put it, it’s about ‘thinking long and thinking big’.

In my mind it was refreshing to have a few pre-conceived thoughts I had, smashed. Who would have thought that a soldier would have been talking about doing things differently (and embracing Russians!) and a creative director talking about everything we do having to have a purpose (as opposed to just looking good). But I guess this is what has separated them out and allowed them to get to the top of their respective trees – the fact that they don’t just follow the norm and try and find alternative ways to engage – whether that be physically or from an emotional connection point of view.

More from APF Worlds collide here and here.

There was quite an interesting article in Campaign last week on Tesco. As I’m sure you are all aware it’s a brand that only a couple of years ago was a powerhouse in a number of sectors – it’s now facing tough times.  This demise is made all the more surprising (in my mind) as about 8 years ago it was being lauded as being a brand that could do no wrong, a brand that was conquering sectors that no other retailers, let alone a supermarket could touch. This wasn’t luck – the Tesco management was razor sharp – as indeed were the agency – The Red Brick Road – set up by a bunch of chaps from Lowes including Sir Frank Lowe – who were probably some of the best in the business. Needless to say they are now having to re-pitch….

Below I’ve included a few lines from various people that contributed to the article, which may be of interest. I’ve also included a few thoughts of my own, which may be less interesting:

-          ‘Perhaps in chasing the best prices, the character of the brand became uninteresting and generic. Maybe the line in the brief that stated ‘brand personality’ was left blank because they weren’t sure what to write.’

You would have thought in today’s economically depressed climate that price would still have been a major motivator. Actually it seems from other stuff I have read that people are getting sick of always searching for bargains. Whatever – it’s well documented that you can’t build a brand on price alone – because people like Lidl will come along and very quickly take-over. Clearly price allows no emotional connection with a target audience – it’s purely a rational relationship – once that goes there’s little else to connect you to the brand. Also – it’s interesting that people are referring to price and not the close relation – value – just a subtle difference that would have made (perhaps) a massive difference.

-          ‘Tesco has not looked after its core UK proposition’.

Years of neglect have now caught up with it. I think I’ve discussed this with a few of you – but as soon as you start getting tactical with a brand it’s really easy to lose sight of the bigger picture – perfect example this – all about price, nothing on a deeper connection.

-          ‘The answer ‘ easy – keep it simple’.

Mmm – me thinks that if the Red Brick Road suggested that to Tesco they may be slung out on their arses – but I do like the sentiment behind this. It’s all gone Pete Tong and some bright spark suggests simplicity – but I do think it’s probably bang on. Don’t over complicate the problem – it’s more about re-establishing an emotional connection (in my mind) – but if I were the planning punter or creative jonnie I would love the comfort that these words would no doubt bring – after all it’s not rocket science….

The beerground.

A while back our account management were charged with working on a pitch – internal training with a difference. The brief was beer – something the majority of our lads and ladettes (at least after a few jars I’m told) have experience of, if not marketing it, then certainly on the consumption side. In a nutshell the brief was to develop a brand that would achieve differentiation in the crowded beer market. What would it be called, who would they target, where would it be sold and where would they pitch it as far as price? They were split into teams (‘master brewers’) of two and had 15 minutes to share their thinking with us.

The big day.

Pitch day was yesterday and I think I’m right in saying that everyone, not least the panel, had a really enjoyable day, with a few lessons learnt. Sure, there were a few late nights and it came ‘at just so the wrong time’, but as we all know this is part of real life pitching. And as with real life pitching there was an upbeat, post pitch mood and a few beers had.

The panel consisted of myself, my learned colleagues Tim Scorer and Emma Jarvis and two old battle hardened ad lag friends of mine and now friends of Hive, Matthew Howells and Dom Lyon. Now I’ve spent many an enjoyable afternoon in pubs with Matthew and Dom, but never have I judged anything with them, with maybe the exception of the local talent.

In fact it wasn’t overly different, just that the talent took on a different form (ideas, although it is true to say some had ‘legs’ and could probably go the distance), but didn’t cost an arm and a leg (what is it with bloody legs) in buying them drinks all night and didn’t leg it afterwards (struggling with my third leg analogy!).

Over legs and back on form.

So we had 5 teams presenting to us in the upstairs room of The Blue Post Pub. There were thrills, spills (literally – poor Helen managed to soak herself in beer that had been intended as a taste test) and some ideas with a difference.

We, the panel, scored them on presentation (i.e. delivery), product idea and strategic argument – to a set criteria including market context, defining the need state, critical discussion points, strategic recommendations and generally challenging conventional thinking and reaching breakthrough ideas.

Breakthrough ideas versus broken glasses.

Overall the quality was fantastic – a real pleasure to observe.

We had fantastic innovative ideas – such as self-chilling beer – which would no doubt bring yet more peace and utter harmony to our tree-hugging festival going friends.

We had fantastic names such as ‘Bucking Fear’ a real alternative for penniless students and ‘Cavalry – you know when it’s time’, a combination of beer and guarana – the healthy option tackling, drinkers dip and maybe even brewers droop.

Some very clear cut targeting with ‘ETE’ and a female target, in this traditionally male market. The female audience was also embraced with AIG – the Goddess of Health – a sophisticated and conscientious alternative to vino collapso.

Learning.

It’s fair to say that there was learning on both sides of the room.

From the judging point of view it was great to see how much effort had been put in. Pitch theatre, as long as it’s relevant, really does help in dramatising ideas and if there are a myriad of agencies pitching no doubt helps stand-out. Also, the fact that no presentations were delivered via powerpoint did mean there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide – ‘face to camera’ type scenario.

From the pitchers point of view I hope they walked away proud of their efforts and hopefully with a few leanings on how they may have done it differently – it’s only through trial and error than we can up our game.

Many thanks to Matthew and Dom for their excellent feedback to the teams. Well done to Clare and Matt for their winning pitch – ‘Cavalry – you know when it’s time’. They are now the official agency brewers and will be making their beer for real – soon to become our agency beer of choice.

Next time you’re passing feel free to drop in for a jar.

It would seem to me that in most other walks of life you know what you’re getting. I go to the supermarket and come out with £50 worth of food – job done. Go to the pub and get three pints for £10.40 (country prices, not London). Even pay the council tax and know that one day that hole the size of a Roman Emperors ego, outside my house, will be fixed. But why, oh why, when it comes to advertising are we so slow off the mark when it comes to testing whether what we’ve produced has worked? It’s not just down to ads but ideas. That beautiful, carefully crafted idea that we try hard to sell to clients, would surely be easier to sell if we knew that what we had previously developed had in fact worked. I find it a bizarre conflict that us, as pharma agencies, work with some of the best research specialists in the world (clients) – phase 1, 2, 3 and 4 clinical trials, the money that gets poured into it and yet there seems to be little demand to test the agency and their ‘mettle’. Come on – have a go if you think you’re hard enough.

So, my thought for the day, or should that be week, year, infinity is link communication (and ideas) to business performance. Communications are paid for out of profit (or if you get it wrong, loss), so demand to know what has worked and what hasn’t. If nothing else, in today’s lean times it may just be easier to hang onto your budget if you can prove that past activity has benefited the brand.