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You probably know about Bono editing the Independent last week. I just can’t help but feel that it’s a bit of a missed opportunity.
He didn’t pull any punches in his choice of articles but since he was editing a middle class, liberal newspaper, wasn’t he preaching to the converted? Wouldn’t it have been better to challenge readers of the Telegraph, the Mail or the Sun?
On the other hand the BBC’s Radio 4 invited in people as diverse as David Blunkett and Steve Savale (from Asian Dub Foundation) to edit the Today programme. This gave you quite a challenging listen as it took you outside our your usual comfort zone.
So to summarise – challenge people with new stuff and they’ll take notice. Spoon-feed them and they’ll switch off.
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We spent our Bank Holiday camping in Ripon. 
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Finally, my top ten tips for working with account handlers. I used to be one, so I have a fair idea what goes on in their heads.
1) Never forget that they do all the things you hate. They organise meetings, do the contact report, take countless phone calls at the worst possible time and generally do a thousand things at once.Show you appreciate this, and do what you can to simplify their lives.
2) Creatives hate it when suits tell them, "We can’t present that, the client will never go for it." Since it’s their job to bring the client perspective into the agency they take constant abuse from creative teams. You can help mediate between them, and take some of the pressure off. How can you help save the creative idea, but make it client friendly? Sometimes it’s research evidence, sometimes it’s knowing that the client likes pictures of dogs.
3) They don’t need you. Creatives and suits can do the job relatively well. You need to be the person they want in the room – both client meetings and creative reviews. Account people don’t like losing control, so don’t threaten this. Do make them feel that you can tell them something they don’t know, or look at something in a different, or help them in a tricky conversation.
4) The above means that you’ve got to be interesting. Read a lot, keep scrapbook,collect stuff. You want them coming to you for things.
5) Suggest as often as possible, as opposed to tell. Be subtle, go in the back door. Let them make the decisions, just make your suggestions so useful they become difficult to ignore.
6) Creatives see one of your roles as getting their work through research. So do the suits. The work bombing in groups means more work for them (and grief from the client). Make sure any testing makes the work better opposed to a re-write.
7) Be quick. The client always wants things yesterday, which means they’re always under pressure. Deliver things when you say you will.
8) Let them have input. A fresh pair of eyes always helps. Talk a lot, they spend more time with the client than you do, they may have picked up something you’ve missed. If they feel they’ve had a role in the strategy, they’ll take a more active role in getting it through intact.
9) Unless you’ve done something really dumb (or someone’s clicked reply instead of forward) clients usually fire agencies because they are bored, or they think you’ve gone a bit stale. Be constantly looking for new stuff they can give the client to challenge them and make them think. They’ll know the best time to pass it on.
10) Make friends with junior account people. They have less baggage than older people and will surprise you with new stuff. They’ll also be an account director before you know it. If you build a relationship before they’re important, it will pay off when they are.
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We’re all moving around this week.My new home is a nice quiet corner with a window. I’m hoping they’ve put me there because they want me to do some thinking in relative peace. Of course, they may just want me out of the way.
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Since t
his is a blog about being a planner in the North of England, I’d thought I’d better do something about what it’s like here. Leeds to be precise.I spent two years in London and I loved it, but I ended coming back. It’s not for everyone; personally I could never get used to the tube and the impersonal nature of the city. It may seem an odd thing to you, but I’m used to chatting to strangers and driving into the city centre when I please.
Leeds is wonderful city with plenty to do and see. It’s got all the places to eat and drink you’ll ever need, along with great theaters and art. It’s teaming with activity, there’s a thriving business community, along with shops like Harvey Nics and Space NK – yet there’s no congestion charge and you can be in the countryside in ten minutes, which is precisely where I live.
Yorkshire has a rich personality all of it’s own. The stereotype of straight talking Yorkshire people is not altogether wrong; we tend to be honest and forthright, but we’re also warm and friendly. This is still the essence of Leeds people, but it’s been enriched by more people coming here to work from other places. There is a rare mix of raw honesty and open mindedness that I haven’t found anywhere else. Leeds has a unqiue blend of warmth with a searching energetic spirit and that’s what I like about living here.
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At Personal DNA you can create your own profile. Apparently I’m a benevolent inventor. Thanks to Planning from the Outside for the reference.
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If you’ve got a lot of experience, perhaps you think you’ve got a lot to teach young people joining your industry. Be prepared for the fact that they may have things to teach you. That’s the good thing about youth, it has such an unblinkered, fresh approach to stuff, without the baggage the rest of us have picked up.Beccy joined us full time last year after an internship. She was precocious then, now she’s scary. I was happy with a public sector strategy today, until she gave me a totally different point of view.
It’s always worth talking through your thinking with someone else, just be gracious when you show you how wrong you’ve been (and think fast about how you can take the credit).
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This idea seemed quite nice at first. In Australia, you can put your logo on nightclub pass out stamps. On reflection I thought it was more Urban Spam, but since there’s a public smoking ban coming to the UK, maybe it could be useful way for cigarette brands to connect with young smokers. Anyway, what do I know? I’m 32 and I live in a village. The only club I’ve been to recently is a tennis one (and my hip went) perhaps I should stick to what I know…….
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