Hive blog

Kieran wrote a post a couple of months ago called “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”. This phrase keeps coming back to me. I have just read another post by Bill Taylor at Harvard Business review which expresses very eloquently the thing that was hounding me.

Bill refers to the concept of “Vuja De”. Credited by Bill to George Carlin, it seeks to explain the need for a different approach. Déjà vu is something we all encounter and are fascinated by; even in film The Matrix attempted to explain it. But in a business context, déjà vu is the dragging sense that we’ve been here before. How often do briefs ask the same thing over and over again? How often do we look to point out small differences that for prescribers, or more importantly patients, make little or no difference.

The art of competing in this increasingly complex, increasingly pressured healthcare environment requires us to be braver about how and what we are asking. More importantly, we need to refresh the ways in which we answer key questions. To stand apart we must be brave enough to be apart. We must approach the same problems with completely different ideas, taking inspiration not from what has gone before, but from what has not. As Proust says “the real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes”. Looking at the same thing from a completely different point of view - hence “vuja de”.

We need to look outside our restrictions and ask what we should do, rather than what we can do. To our minds this means it’s about “who should we talk to?” rather than “who are we allowed to talk to?” As Kieran says, this sort of thing brings risk, but aren’t the risks higher if you keep running with the pack?

From the excellent holiday read Wikinomics comes a great case study for field personnel living the brand. Geek Squad is the answer to the layperson’s techno-phobic prayers, devoted to keeping technology running smoothly in the home and office. It is also among the best branded services out there.

What I read, gave rise to many questions about our as role as marketeers in enabling our most important resource to thrive.

Geek Squad is a rich source of learning for those of us who consider the healthcare field force an underused tool. The geeks on patrol are not only unified by the company’s branding theme - they are the brand. Each is dubbed with a title like “Special Agent”/”Covert Operator” (depending on duties) and is dressed to fit the part. Q: How successful are we in healthcare at engendering unity amongst our field-based colleagues?

Geek Squad’s mission is to “alleviate the world’s computer problems, educate people to fearlessly embrace technology and practice the art of human interaction.” And although their core business is PC troubleshooting, a little over 10% of their calls involve helping those who are having problems with other technicalities - such as setting up an iPod or putting the clock on your DVD recorder right. Q: What additional services could our reps perform that would contribute directly or indirectly to our bottom line?

Team members are encouraged to share their day’s tribulations with anyone, air issues and ask for help from peers, quickly and efficiently. Have a problem with a reboot or difficult customer? Up to 10,000 other agents are available to review your issue, comment and offer support, advice and fixes. Q: What do we have in place to facilitate best practice - or even best communication - between team members? How successfully do we facilitate dialogue across all corporate levels?

Answers on an e-postcard to the usual address…

It had been a few months since we worked with a client running a competitor Wargaming session. Finishing one this week reminded us of a great way to get a team of multidisciplined experts aligned and agreed for a common purpose.

Wargaming can achieve a number of different outcomes. There is a conversion of data and information (e.g. on market or competitors) into actionable intelligence that adds real quality to the strategic planning process. It also delivers a result that could not be arrived at by any individual present alone. It demands collaboration and a fresh perspective. Role playing brings colleagues closer together, juggling insights and skills. It’s a productive day’s work for the whole team.

You can achieve a lot in a planned and well-paced day. Spending the morning getting under the skin of your foe, planning their launch, and agreeing the likely story to the market can not only be fun, but really sharpens the mind in preparation for the afternoon. That’s when you plan your defence and the activities you can do to protect your equity.

And another thing: wargaming provides your agency with an opportunity to show you creativity that’s not restricted to an A4 page.

Something seems to come over us when we write an ad brief, my planner friend reminded me this morning. It’s the way we do our best to cram everything about the product/condition/patient into one ad. We forget completely how we as consumers interact with ads; forget that below-the-line materials are on this earth only to communicate the underlying support for the product story.

I had a quick browse of OK! yesterday afternoon (dermatology research). The ads in there are graphic and simple. Their feel and message happened to me automatically, without conscious decision. Clarins just stepped right on in there. Bang, I was Gucci’d. But that’s a good thing. I didn’t have to waste time and delve into reams of body copy to know what it is these brands were trying to say to me. The same thing they were saying in their first, second, 500^th print ad. One-dimensional, loud and clear. Intent - a quick reminder of high-end status. (Plus a little eye candy for the logo lover.)

We’d hardly dream of addressing healthcare professionals this way, because we seem to feel we need a myriad of reasons to excuse ourselves. The disease area needs innovating, here’s why, here’s how we help, here’s the whole deal in microscopic detail. Certainly, HCPs need this information - but a brand ad just can’t and shouldn’t carry all of it. Instead, we must communicate quickly the offer/ position in the one elegant wrapper of a creative idea or perhaps like Gucci, a proud identity. To keep our messages simple we can use a separate, successive approach - that’s why we often roll things out in campaigns.

However, healthcare is a major area of research and advancement and that’s why drugs and services are constantly turning over. Research shows that a small amount of inner detail is appreciated by HCPs, so we have room for a couple of clear sentences in our work. OK, our clients are not Gucci, but we can still learn from such brands. Manufacturing processes kept to the label, leather ageing techniques communicated in store, deals kept to a business-to-business environment, and endorsement happens via PR. The ad is left to communicate the feel of the brand as simply and elegantly as possible. Isn’t what really sticks in our heads the stuff we don’t have to think about too much?

To build upon this and make it relevant to our proposition here at Hive. Using the ad to communicate an element of the story, and the whole mix to contribute to a bigger idea which exists outside and above that of the ad concept seems to us to be a better way, and should provide not just a brand feel but a story and richness that contributes to a truer more in depth relationship.

I was once told across a crowded meeting room that maintaining the divide between business and personal life is important. “It’s business, not personal” still rings in my ears today.

Now I am part of our own agency, I feel I can stand back with a little more authority and give thought to this mantra.

The idea that what I do during the ‘day job’ is very different to who I am on the weekend, is one I have at times aspired to but never really succeeded at. I find it impossible not to be worried at home by worrying office stuff, or for a successful workday not to give me the foundation for a great evening out with my mates. Thus far the flick of the switch on the No. 38 to Angel has eluded me.

The strongest and best relationships we have are ones where we allow ourselves to be human, working alongside other humans, who worry, laugh, err and create… whether that’s at home discussing broad beans or striving for patient-integrated Rx strategy.

Being ourselves and keeping it personal was built into the agency culture from our earliest plans. The business side made Barclays happy and ensured we had rigour and efficiency. But by valuing personality we don’t break people down and rebuild them the ‘hive’ way, or force a process on a relationship. All actors are free to contribute ‘their’ way adding to what we are as an organisation.

What we want most is for people to say that we understand them at a personal level: what they want, where they plan to be, what they love, what they don’t - not just the business of the brand, political situation and process.

Because of this our business could never be anything other than personal.

It was invented by the Egyptians as flat, round, sweetened bread. Its name in Britain derives charmingly from the Norse “kaka”. Today, it’s the soft, melting centre of a swaggering power struggle on Regent Street.

We’re having a cake-off at Hive to celebrate six months since our inception; our demi-birthday if you like. This competition was conceived in an entirely non-calculating move by Timothy D Scorer. We hope you all agree that Tim’s cake (looks like a snowman) isn’t all that much to write home about, seeing as he has actually earned money as a professional chef.

Please vote for the cake you most admire in terms of concept and appearance. The rules are simple: cakes have to have something to do with us - our humble beginnings like the proto-cake of the pharaohs’ intrepid bakers…. our steady and determined rising from 3 to 8 staff despite working in essentially a moderate oven (we have a bit of an air conditioning problem some days)….our proud selection of clients as diverse as a handful of hundreds and thousands.

We have a panel of tasters judging taste, etc, but every rising talent knows it’s the public vote that counts, so click for your fave between now and Monday evening, when we’ll announce the winner. Who doesn’t actually win anything but gets to batter the rest of us with eternal smugness. Thanks!!

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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.