May 12, 2005

Charlotte Wows Us

Advertising industry legend Charlotte Beers joined our staff meeting this morning and very generously shared great wisdom on branding, new business pitches, and the role of advertising agencies. She reminded us that agencies aren't like clients. Agencies are meant to ingest the knowledge that clients have and take it somewhere...somewhere that expresses the emotional essence of the client's product or service. That's how we add value.

She talked, too, about the power of storytelling. This came out of - yes - a story she told. In the middle of her agency's pitch to the Olympic Games, the fancy AV equipment broke down. Charlotte stood up and said [winging it], "This would be a good time to talk about three universal truths that are relevant to our presentation today. The first is the universal desire for peace and harmony. Everyone, no matter where they live, feels this need." She came up with a second universal truth and then couldn't think of a third. "I felt that I was breaking down, just like the projector," she told us. "And then, miraculously, one of the Olympic people said, 'I know what the third truth is. It's the universal need and affection for storytelling.'" Yes, indeed. And that insight led to the storytelling motif that we've seen in the Olympic Games presentations and coverage ever since.

Charlotte is writing a book, and we can't wait for it to come out.

The Brand Called You

That was a book, wasn't it? I'm not sure...I never read it. But listening to Charlotte talk about branding, I was thinking of ways in which we brand ourselves. Do we know ourselves well enough to be able to identify ourselves as brands?

How valuable and rare true self awareness really is!

A dear friend died suddenly and so very tragically in an automobile accident last month. There was a brief item in her journal that was found in her car. Here's what it said:

"What brings me joy...

Friendship
Family
Friends
Freda (her dog)
Working with children
Working with my hands
Building
Reading
Learning
French tapes
Eating great meals
Public radio
Astronomy
Feeling like I've touched another heart
Talking about ideas
Writing poetry
Righteous indignation
Stories that make me laugh"

Well, you've already got a pretty good picture of Rose now, don't you? Can we each paint as vivid a picture of ourselves? Can we each identify our own individual brand?