It's Christmas and I wouldn't have it any other way

If you want to create an ad as wonderfully sentimental and magical as this Morrison's tv spot you need to do three things: 

1. Embrace your emotions

Reject functional and rational messaging, and embrace the right brained world of emotion. Force yourself to see the world from the viewers perspective; their humanity, aspirations, frailties, and joyful moments.  Resist the urge to make it mainstream or superficial (and write that in your brief).

2. Remember it's not about you, its about me!

Make the viewer (customer/audience) your only priority. That's right, tell a story only they will care about. Realise that capturing their mind and their heart is all you need to do. This is not the time for selling, for price promotions, for store front shots or gratuitous branding. 

3. Believe, be fearless and stay the course

For a story this magical, you have to trust your agency, the creatives  and the director.  When they talk about making it feel authentic and spontaneous...just let them do their thing.  When they ask for the 'slow mo' camera for the flour scene just say yes. When you ask to make the logo bigger in the end frame, listen and agree when they say no and push back. 

One last thing

Whatever you do, don't give in to internal pressure to make changes (stay strong in that tough meeting when the ad is being torn to pieces).  Don't cave to demands to make it more like competitor 'X', or add in more facts like competitor 'Y'. Only marketers and agencies with true belief in their art will take calculated risks like this, and customers will reward them with their minds, hearts and money. 

Quitting Facebook

Will there be a mass revolt to leave Facebook - or will Facebook prove savvy enough to fix the privacy issues and still remain 'sticky' ? This post is my response to a great question raised by Bob Knorpp at the Beancast - you can find his full question here.

Quitting Facebook

This issue is so emotive, hence upfront I must say that I empathize with people's frustrations, however I feel a lot of the sentiment is a function of a lack of understanding of the new digital age that we are in....Here's why.

On a personal level I am shocked at the lack of inhibition and naivety people have when they use a medium such as Facebook. Having seen the expression "get off my Facebook" a few times - it is clear that some people have become desensitized to any implication of 'Liking/following/friending' a person, product, brand, company, or cause, (or poking them for that matter !). Doing this on a platform such as Facebook is intrinsically a public and not a private event.

Change your mindset

You can guess where I am going .......We are proceeding through a digital revolution. With this change (eg akin to the industrial revolution) the old mindset of how things "ought" to be, how people "should" behave, how relationships "should" work no longer hold true. 

Nobody told you the rules have changed !

It is up to the individual to adapt.  Facebook is ultimately a powerful and open communication tool with the world, and if you want to keep things private - you must now resort to meeting face to face, sending a letter or even making a phone call ! Under the digital rules it is fine to change your mind - but up to (you) the individual to know how to undo or unlike or unfriend (and don't be surprised if it is not as easy as you would like it to be !!). Remember the rules changed when 'free' services such as Facebook and Myspace and Twitter installed themselves as indispensable platforms - that have greater reach and influence than tv.

I have amazingly popular and friends who were wise before their time and understood that to retain their privacy and avoid any risk of compromising they simply chose not to: blog, tweet, buzz, digg, or use facebook etc !

Staying Close

On a professional level Facebook (as per blog's, podcasts etc) have been transformative, and are an invaluable listening, learning and connecting tool. Ironically, in some companies these types of website could be on a 'blocked' list - yet are a way to build absolute closeness with consumers.

In conclusion.... I am not quitting Facebook, but I empathize with those that want to.

Disrupting Relationships

Disrupting Relationships
I'm an ardent Man Utd Fan and was content to scour 3 channels via my provider Comcast(ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel and formerly Setanta USA) to catch their games (of football ...soccer). I have been forced out of my comfort zone this month with the demise of Setanta USA, leading to the creation of Fox Soccer Channel Plus. The downside has been that Comcast have not signed up the channel.

Building Relationships
The good news is that Foxsoccer.tv has an online service that is showing games and at $4.95 for 24 hours access is reasonably priced, and I was able to tolerate (just !) a few of the glitches during transmission of today's Man Utd vs Liverpool game.

The Dilemma
Today was the first time that I contributed to the decline of 'tv' as a broadcast medium. Comcast now have a dilemma, as a disruption to the status quo has led their consumer (me !) elsewhere and I don't see a reason to return them. The savvy content providers will serve their audience, and build relationships with them directly........Now Comcast have to make an effort to win my custom back .. eg make it easy for me to have online access to my sports channels as part of my package and perhaps I will return...