Actually Doing Something
- BY Gary Buck
- March 18th, 2010
One of my favorite TV spots is an old UPS commercial in which two “big firm” consultants are presenting their project findings to a “big client” CEO. It goes something like this:
Consultants: We think you need to integrate your global supply chain, move assembly overseas, and accelerate inventory velocity.
CEO: Great! Do it!
Consultants: [Confused looks on faces, then smirks and laughing]. Sir, we don’t actually do what we propose… we just propose it.
Perhaps I find this so amusing because of my experience working with “big firm” consultants and others who charge astronomical fees to deliver thick reports full of vague ideas, trite platitudes and hundreds of meaningless buzzwords that sum up to say practically nothing. At least in this TV spot, the consultants mention tactics, but in all likelihood these are broad, undefined concepts that come from their standard playbook of “strategic solutions.” (I worked with one “big firm” consultant who described a multinational, e-commerce platform for one of the largest retailers in the world as “a turkey sandwich.” I’m still not sure what that means.)
This old commercial came to mind recently after a conversation with a colleague who was finding that clients were having difficulty understanding exactly how his firm was different from other “interactive design agencies” who pitched themselves merely on the merits of their tactical execution. The problem sounded very familiar, and I realized that I had also been spending too much time and energy marketing myself as a “strategist” and “problem-solver” without clearly explaining what I actually “do” for my clients in the long run. As I often tell clients, we must be very careful what we assume our customers know and don’t know, and telling them too much is far better than telling them too little.
As a point of differentiation from UPS’s fictional consultants, I actually do things. Just like any other brand consultancy, interactive design firm, advertising agency or similar company – though likely far more effectively and far less expensively – I create actual, tangible websites, email & e-newsletters, advertising, printed collateral (brochures, etc.), social/viral/guerilla campaigns & events, logos & brandmarks, taglines & product names, real-time/mobile apps, physical store designs, employee guidelines & training, and a wide variety of other types of tactical marketing executions that make a significant impact on your actual bottom line.
Obviously, I work with some very smart partner-colleagues who help with the creation and production of all these deliverables, and each of them is an expert in their field with significant experience in executing brilliant ideas on paper, screen and airwaves. But most importantly – and the true differentiation between me/us and those other firms – is how I develop the sound strategy to determine what direction all of these deliverables should take a client’s brand and customers, then direct the execution experts to create outstanding deliverables. To read more about the process by which we can work together to develop a visionary, innovative brand experience strategy for your business, please see The Secret Formula.
We can actually do great things together, as opposed to merely delivering a list of vague proposals that you have to execute yourself. And you can be confident that our “doing” will result in tangible results that make your business far more successful in the right direction, for the right reasons, and with the right customers. Give me a call and let’s get started.
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