Monday, July 02, 2007
Greatness
I have to make a short client presentation on Greatness. An open brief. Someone is going to talk about how greatness coems from mistakes, and someone is going to talk about Picasso. So I have to find an angle and I thought fearlessness would be nice. There does seem to be a general lack of bravery in marketing - perhaps brand managers don't care enough, are just lazy, or maybe terrified of unmoderated public opinion on social networks? I don't know but that should get a reaction, at least. But look at people who achieve greatness. They don't care about public opinion - they pursue an idea (or dream or goal), and behave fearlessly in their pursuit of it. I could talk about Alexander the Great (note, not Alexander the Sure, or Alexander the Well-Researched), Michaelangelo, or even Steve Jobs (which is cliched, but an accessible analogy to marketing).
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5 comments:
Fitting the topic, how about the (fearless) approach to mix in some negative examples into your positive ones - people who were brilliant and fearless at pursuing a vision - though it may have been the wrong one? Take potitical leaders... Just a random thought
Two examples of daring brands that I have discovered when landing on the British soil:
- Marmite: they dare to say that some of the consumers hate their product
- Orange and their film sponsoring (don't let a mobile ruin your film) where the brand marketing team is presented as castrators.
Both adopt a common strategy of acknowledging their weaknesses to trigger sympathy/empathy and ultimately turn a negative attribute into positive response.
Another thought, could greatness be the result of little things. Mother Theresa would probably back me up on that. After all, this is the Butterfly effect, a little something can do great things on the oher side of the planet! A great brand coule be one that does a little bit more than others to place the customer in the limelight. Orange, originaly, was great at that. Too bad that the French start spoiling it:)
you can talk about José Mourinho...
karim
radioclashblog.blogspot.com
cedric - trevor beattie made a nice speech at Big Thinking last year - that there are no big (aka great) ideas, just little ones that take hold. I agree with that. It's a lot less intimidating as a planner or creative, to think let's make a nice little idea that a few people will like, than think ok now we have to write the next cannes gold spot or IPA grand prix. Here's to the little things that add up.
There is also something about fearlessness that is unswervingly optimistic. Great thinkers are sunny optimists. They reference opportunities over facts, the future over the past.
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