In the past few weeks I have experienced tons of frustration coming from two different sources: estate agents and advertising recruiters. I found that the two categories share the same arrogance and lack of professionalism, fuelled by an excess of demand and lack of supply*.
Whilst the property side of things remains a source of frustration, I seem to finally be making some kind of progress with recruiters, having finally met two who seem to be taking some time to work with me in a productive way.
Re-ignited with optimism after one such meeting I decided to buy a copy of Campaign on my way back home. In it I found a great little booklet called “what is a Brand”, by Stephen King, the father of account planning. It’s an essay on the importance of branding and the role of advertising.
I normally enjoy reading about advertising, but I have to say most advertising arguments tend to be fluffy, qualitative, vague in their language. King instead uses terms like ‘retailers’, ‘manufacturers’, ‘profit margin’, ‘discount’ … in short he uses MBA language and he really really cracks it!.
I have always believed in the value of a formal approach to advertising issues, and I guess this essay is one rare and brilliant example of it. It was written in 1971, and the outcome is clear, straightforward, limpid, 35 years sooner than anybody else. I find it reassuring.
The only version I found online is here (2Meg PDF, courtesy of The Straufenberg Repository), so I really recommend buying a copy of Campaing this week. There is also a book by King, A master class in brand planning, coming out soon.
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(* I am debating whether to write a post specifically on estate agents in London)
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