Romancing the Idea
Peachy Pacquing, Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather was one of the speakers at the recent IMMAP Summit. What I like about her talk was she reminded us to step back and not forget what marketing efforts are all about.
- A brand must have one essence. Devote time on it and make it breathe.
- An idea must be powerful and very clear on what it intends to achieve. If not set to the right medium, it won't flourish. If idea is clear, each medium can tell the story by itself. If idea is strong, it will blend naturally. If idea is powerful, it allows re-expression in a variety of channels - across discipline or "interplay".
For me, this means more than just the business goal, an activity or campaign has to stick to its original idea and not dilute or mess it.
- Give people the tools, story, and material. Let them tell the story.
I think this is also the reason why we have to work harder in building up the case for whatever campaigns we plan to launch.
Looking at the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs Writing Project, the amount of effort exerted to promote is minimal. However, the idea pitch has to be very clear in order for people to evaluate whether it will be worthwhile to participate or not.
- Peachy shared their Ogilvy philosphy when making decisions: "What's best for the brand? What's best for the agency? What's best for yourself?"
This made me reflect and realize that although there are challenging (even controversial) requirements at times, a marketer or salesperson has to believe in its purpose before taking it on.
Peachy's talk resonated with a TED video I watched yesterday on what physics can teach us about marketing from Google's Dan Cobley.
Dan's premise is that the bigger a brand, the harder it will be to re-position it. Therefore rather than trying to dilute the brand essence or idea, it will be best to create new ones where you can have flexibility or agility rather force the brand to adopt the idea.
