Comments on: the idea is king (if sometimes Charles I)

By: Tom Asacker

Tom Asacker — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:25:11 +0000

Indeed “the idea” is king. The issue at hand is that most big ideas require a slashing of the Gordain Knot of corporate systems and ideology. When execution equals untieing the knot, the end is near. It’s simply a matter of time.

By: Tom Guarriello

Tom Guarriello — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:11:45 +0000

I find the appetite to listen to small, micro-boutique firms like our own to be on the rise. Enlightened leaders (of course I’d think them so!) realize that the ideas that keep small firms afloat are critical to our survival…we don’t have lists of legacy (annuity) accounts on whom to depend…we’ve got to create (and, to Graham’s point, execute) early and often to stay in business. I think our hunger, and commitment to what we believe, is palpable. Some even find it refreshing. I’ve seen the large firms in our business (management consulting) chase the next big billing vein, and fret when the ore starts running lean. No thanks. Give me a few folks who want to play with the same kinds of ideas we do and we’ll do just fine, thank you.

By: On Message from Wagner Communications

On Message from Wagner Communications — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:22:28 +0000

More Examples Of How The World Is Changing For Marketers

The other day, I found myself in the middle of a fairly enthusiastic discussion about the future of communication.

I could sense that my conversation partners didn’t exactly agree with my take that the world is changing. Not that they disagreed … …

By: CarolGee

CarolGee — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 08:53:19 +0000

Organizational theory posits that a system will organize itself into more and more complexity until it reaches entropy. Therefore small is beautiful.
I remember also, from my working days, that all employees in the organization have to justify their jobs, whether the task advances the mission or not. HR people have to make more rules, managers have to manage even the best self-starters and comptrollers have to cut expenditures.
Green eyeshade people keep their eyes down; visionaries act starry-eyed. In a small organization there’s a chance for a balance of influence.

By: Graham Hill

Graham Hill — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 03:13:07 +0000

Grant

As a sort of neutral marketing consultant who often sits in rooms full of agency people and client marketing people, I find your notion that the “idea is king” is not enough. What is required in addition to a great idea is even better execution. And I mean execution throughout all parts of the client where the idea is impacted, particularly those parts where the idea touches customers.

Research suggests that as much as 80% of the public do not believe that the advertising messages they receive will be what they actually experience when consuming the product. And 80% will still be disapointed as a result. In other words, the vast majority of ideas are not being executed properly.

One of the things I try to do is to establish collaborative groups that represent the ad agencies, other consultants and all parts of the client, so that the client gets ideas that can really be made to work. And more importantly still, that really deliver measurable business results. And you can only measure these results if all parts of the client are involved.

I have noticed a similar move away from the major ad agencies towards more innovative outfits. Outfits that are more client oriented, are more hungry to deliver and that are generallly more creative. But I also see more non-ad consultants involved to organise the different aspects of execution. And of course client functions other than marketing are increasingly involved too. This sometimes takes more coordination than dealing with a one-stop shop, but not always. And in my experience the results, whether measured in a winning idea, client engagement or business results are significantly better.

Great ideas are important, but they just lead to disapointment if even better execution is missing.

Graham Hill
Independent Marketing Consultant

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 02:31:42 +0000

“Why should this illumination, that the idea is king, be so hard for the corporate world to fix upon? There can’t be any question. We’ve all sat in those committee meetings that take forever, turn the problem into mush, the problem solvers into morons, and, finally, give advantage to the time servers and the knuckle heads.”

The corporate world is dominated by folks who exist in, of, and by the meeting culture. What the meeting culture produces is what the corporate world will naturally respect, whether it’s good or not.

QED.

By: Diablogue

Diablogue — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:54:11 +0000

Idea Size

Smart people in small shops believe the best ideas come from smart people in small shops. Today, evidence that this could be true.This Blog Sits at the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics interestingly discusses whether an agency’s biggness can be

By: aj

aj — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:04:08 +0000

Hmm. I recommend Randall Rothenburg’s book “Where The Suckers Moon” for a fascinating insight into a rare moment of failure at W+K, namely, coming up with an ad campaign for Subaru of America. I’d be interested to know what W+K learned from that failure, and how they apply those lessons to their current practice.

By: Does Size Matter

Does Size Matter — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 18:20:21 +0000

idea is king

Grant McCracken weighs in on size, specifically for ad agencies