A colleague sent an interesting article around recently about ‘Funny and Frustrating client types’, it’s quite an interesting read (it’s here if you want to look at the full article).
It got me thinking about some of the clients I’ve worked with over the years and in every meeting it’s true, there’s always one. So I thought it only fair that I flick back through my notes and publish my own top ten ‘questions or comments’ that I’ve noted over the last few months… well, it would be rude not to:
1. So if digital radio catches on will the meaning of clockwise disappear? (this one actually got me thinking but I still think it’s a corker)
2. Google’s changed recently, it’s stopped giving me UK options as a separate! (turned out on looking at the results page he was in .co.uk)
3. We have a lot of USP’s that I think set us apart.
4. I love the idea of going online but it’s too expensive so we’re just going to do TV again.
5. The brief: I want to advertise like Apple. The budget: £8k. The response to the proposal: It’s too creative, can we tone it down please. aaaaargh! (thus proving the argument in the article above that this is a common aspiration for clients)
6. Our target market is everybody, obviously, everybody uses hairspray.
7. Don’t you guys just have a ‘create website’ button or something?
8. What’s that thing you do with Google, the secret word things? (That would be Pay Per Click Mr Client)
9. Anyone that surfs on the internet is just looking at porn so everyone that flicks to our website isn’t going to be concentrating.
10. I want to raise our brand profile but I don’t want to be on the internet because people will find out about us.
aah bless…
A geeky blog about digital thinking, digital doing and technology 
Content meets Commerce
I was presenting to the CEO of a leading global brand a couple of weeks ago, and was once again starkly reminded of just how divided so many businesses are from the advances in today’s (and tomorrow’s) technology.
One moment we were talking about the fact they still don’t have a cross platform infrastructure allowing them to take content to wherever their consumers are, and the next we were talking about closing the gap and speeding ahead with a technology solution based around Artificial Intelligence. A conversation which leaped around the room; rest assured the irony was not lost on me.
Sat at the table were two generations in ages, yet about six in technological terms.
The fact still remains though, that beyond theory and strategy, businesses across the world are still divided by their operational set up; one half mainly serving commerce and the other, marketing to consumers, and it is in this divide that nearly every client I speak to, struggles to truly step ahead. With one team tracking sales and demand, the other tracking website visits and consumer comments, it’s not surprising really.
To succeed as a brand and truly deliver a holistic experience touching every point of the digital journey a consumer goes on, can no longer be about great content on one side, and a commerce platform on the other… brands must provide the glue in the middle.
I believe this ‘glue’ lies within three key initiatives:
I also believe the biggest failure of brands being able to do this, stems from a lack of collaborative belief and belief in collaboration.
In other news, these guys produce super cool content… and this is a cool picture.