It’s been five days since our return from the Global Marketing Summit and, as expected, a new perspective is starting to settle in. The trap, of course, is to let complacency take over and to allow “the real world” to consume us. Now is the time to strike at the follow up contacts, and to continue building on the relationships that began this past week.
What lessons were to be learned at the event? The obvious answer would be to list the “who’s who” lineup of speakers including; Shawn Gold of Myspace, Pat Lafferty with Discovery (formerly with Leo Burnett), Todd Cunningham with MTV, Maureen Schumacher with Google, IAB’s Greg Stuart, and many more. The insight and information these speakers provided was inspirational and valuable. They did, however, provide a predictable experience. I expected to be blown away … I expected to learn a lot … I expected to be impressed.
What I didn’t expect was the cab ride from the airport to the hotel. I’m seen here with Mr. Saul White and Lani Voivod of Epiphanies, Inc. In my experience with retaining cabbies, Saul did some things extraordinarily well;
* He engaged us in conversation. OK, that, in and of itself, isn’t extraordinary. The fact he turned a 25 minute car ride into a memorable event was.
* He taught us about the history of the area
* He gave us the lowdown about the hotel we were staying at
* He shared personal stories and anecdotes
* He boldly asked, without being too forward, if we would call him for the return trip (we did)
* He sincerely told us that he looks forward to our next trip and to keep his card
What Saul did was to begin a real relationship … in less than an hour. I can’t picture Saul ever being referenced in the same breath with the phrase “like two ships that pass in the night.” Nope. Like Caribbean pirates, he and his crew would crash their ship into yours, jump the rails to get over to your side and would fire up the party! Thanks for the lesson Saul.
Is your business more like Sauls … or like every other business in your space?
I was discussing a legal issue with my attorney a few days ago and made the comment that “I just want to ‘do the right thing’” and “would like it if other people had the same standard.” His reply was a real wake up call … he asked, with extreme sarcasm, “would you like a merit badge?” At first I was offended but then it dawned on me that all he meant was the real world is FULL of people who don’t “do the right thing” and to expect otherwise is somewhat naive (sadly).
This, of course, holds true until they’re forced to stop ALL advertising. In this case, Altria (the parent company of Philip Morris and Marlboro) would need to effectively swap out Marlboro with one of their other brands. Maybe have the Kool-Aid pitcher guy prancing around the pit stop giving the drivers high fives as they screach to a halt. OOHHH YEAAAHHHH!
It’s like a pack of wild dogs pulling a sled. If they’re all going in different directions, you’ll get nowhere fast … and adding another dog (with a strong spin) won’t change things. If you get all the dogs pointing in the wrong direction, again, adding another dog won’t likely change the situation. The only way to steer brand is to put in the time, energy and PLANNING to get the dogs to run in the direction you want. The problem with both brands and dogs is they’re both kinda fickle and unpredictable.
