I was having dinner with my friend, Betty, and was chiding her for not contributing articles to a health blog where she is a writer.

“It’s not that I don’t want to write. The perfectionist in me wants to get everything nicely straightened out before I start writing”

This is “Ready, Aim, Fire.”

I handed her my laptop and got her writing on the spot.

In business, time is of the essence. Precisely because of this “Ready. Aim, Fire.” attitude, some of us miss the opportunities that come knocking at our doors. Not so much because we were too obtuse and didn’t quite realize that it is Midas that came calling. Neither was it because we were procrastinating. For most of us in the creative industry, our Achilles’ heel is our perfectionist mindset. Even I, as an account servicing person.

We must be fully prepared. We must be well rehearsed and only then will we present to our client - with a big bang.

Sometimes, I want to scream at our design head. The clock is ticking away but until each tiny crease has been smoothened and ironed out, he simply won’t let us have the creative draft to show the client. Even after he did give it up, he would lament that it could have looked better if only he were given just a little bit more time.

Our copy guy wasn’t any better, all the “i” and “t” must be nicely dotted and crossed and every bit of research must be checked and cross referenced before he feels he is covered. Until then, the copy sits on his desk and not ours, and definitely not the client’s.

On the one hand, I am deeply appreciative and take great pride that my team is so passionate about their work. On the other hand, they can be so fastidious that it is tough to refrain myself from wringing their necks.

Finally, we reach a consensus. Get the client to give a nod on the “big picture” concept first and thereafter, they can go tweak, fix and oil everything until perfection.

If the hunter waits until the ducks fly in a single file before he “ready, aim and fire”, he probably has to wait for a long spell. The point is birds don’t ever fly in a straight line! Never.

Being prepared is crucial. Calculating the risk involved is critical. Going through each stage to ensure nothing is amiss is admirable. However, a million multiple by zero is still zero.

I like to tell you a story that happened some 15 years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

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Budweiser has a slogan called “The King of Beers” but somehow beer lovers remember “When you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all” much better. Most probably because of the jingles.

The Budweiser jingle, “When You Say ‘Bud’”, was written by Steve Karmen and it made its debut in 1970.

Part of its lyric inspired “Here Comes the King” (as featured in the above YouTube video) in 1976. The song can be heard on the CD Tee Vee Toons: The Commercials. Its style resembles the famous Coca-Cola jingle “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” (also heard on that CD) in that it begins with a lone voice, joined by another singer, and eventually a choral group. The underlying instrumental is imitative of a stereotypical German band. Many of the lines are punctuated at the end by a double drumbeat. Sample:

When you say “Bud”
You’ve said a lot of things nobody else can say
…
There is no other one
There’s only something less
Because the King of Beers
Is leading all the rest
When you say “Budweiser”
You’ve said it all

Interestingly this commercial was featured in the 1977 Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, “Close Encounter of the Third Kind”, at the part where the sculptor was making a dirt mountain in his kitchen.

What does this slogan tells us?

Personally, I prefer “When you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all” to the other Budweiser slogans. Having that said, the “WASSSSSUP?!” slogan and campaign is wondrously successful too.

Check out more such slogans filed under “Famous Business Slogans” category. Learn from these world renowned establishments and see how you can create your own personal or corporate persona. Alternatively, I’m just an email away.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_the_King

Read Related Post

7 Famous Business Slogans of 20th century

Technorati Tags: slogan, business slogan, company slogan, corporate slogan, famous slogan, popular slogan, advertising slogan, brand value, branding, brand, eBay’s slogan, “Budweiser”

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This is the final part of the “Rush Fees” series … …

Part 1 highlighted that some agencies actually don’t charge rush fees as they believe that when they support a client in need, they will strengthen the relationship.

Part 2 suggested that agencies can offer creative payment terms if they do need to charge a rush fee.

Part 3 recommended that agencies can leverage on each other to meet a rush deadline.

In this final chapter, we are going to explore:

Part 4 should you walk away because you hate doing rush work?

Admittedly, I don’t like the stress of having to toil and sweat over a rush job. It’s absurd to want to lose my beauty sleep, add unwanted lines to my forehead and encourage white hair to grow prematurely. However, to reject the job simply because “I don’t like it” is not a good enough reason as far as I am concerned.

This is something that Versa Creations will simply not do. Just because I don’t like the stress of doing a rush job, it’s not a good enough reason to reject one.

In business, there will always be emergencies. Last minute projects that need to be done, important information that was missed. These need to be corrected. And who better than the agency that did most of the initial work, or is currently completing the project?

I would suggest that the decision to accept or reject a rush job from a client should rest on several objective criteria. Now, these are just my thoughts, so, you might have your own versions, and I hope you will share.

• Internal capacity - can we do the job?
• Internal capability - can we do the job?
• Internal priorities - can we do the job?
• Internal costs - can we afford to do the job?

If we can, we should. Whether or not we charge a hefty premium because our Creative Head had to be flown back from his vacation in the Bahamas, that is a separate discussion.

We follow this because we believe in these 2 ideas Read the rest of this entry »

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In part 1, supporting clients who have urgent jobs at the usual price - especially when there is no financial loss - is suggested.

In part 2, offering creative payment terms were recommended.

Here, in part 3, let’s talk about when and if an ad agency should seriously consider dropping a rush job if it jeopardizes existing jobs.

It may surprise you, if you are from the client’s side, that ad agencies would do just that when we have to. I cannot think of a better analogy than “A bird in hand is better than two in the bush.” An industry peer had such a sad encounter.

A while ago, a client notified this agency’s Head that there was an ad hoc project worth $200,000 coming up. As that was an unplanned, un-budgeted project, the incumbent agency was given the first rights to accept or reject. It will be opened to suitable candidates for pitching if the incumbent declined. To any small to medium agency, a $200,000 project is a sweet deal. The catch was the OOH (out-of-home) creative, media and production presentation must be made within 8 days. He had the weekend to consider, and he finally turned down the job on Monday morning.

I understood that he was busy preparing for several Christmas projects (last October) and all his manpower was tied. He didn’t have people to recce the various OOH sites, couldn’t get any independent designer at such short notice to render 3D designs and worse, production houses were simply too busy to discuss unconfirmed jobs. He wasn’t prepared to jeopardize his existing projects by swamping his own team with such a rush job.

“I could end up in a lose-lose situation. There was a penalty clause in one of my Christmas projects.”

I cannot say that it is not a wise decision. We do have a responsibility to deliver a decent job punctually, regardless of whether it is the peak or off-peak season. Still, I couldn’t help wondering if he had truly exhausted his options. Read the rest of this entry »

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A reader, Ed Klein, asked “How do you best go about copywriting a slogan?” in my earlier post, 7 Famous Slogans of 20th Century.

I offered the “standard” answers that we all look at
1. brand promise (what is my promise to you, the customer),
2. brand deliverable (what can my product do to solve your problem?) and
3. brand philosophy (what is the overall belief system of the company).

Actually, there’s more than that.

When I was asked by Laura Spencer to guest write on her excellent writing blog, Writing Thoughts, I decided to discuss a little more on slogan writing. There’s some misconception that writing a headline and writing a slogan is the same. Seeming so because both are supposed to be short copy, however, conceptualizing and writing the two will take 2 different routes.

Writing a slogan is not about creating a brand image or corporate identity. The company must BE it (what the slogan represents) before the slogan itself can be created. It’s a “Be. Do. Have”. The company must do what it takes to add value but while the “doing” part is critical, “being” comes first. If the company is not what it claims to be, whatever it does will not be congruent to the crafted slogan. If your client can call your bluff, the company can forget about having loyalty, sales and revenues. From the slogan, the client can tell a thing or two about the company’s personality, business, and even ethics; blueprint.

Please follow the link and read more about the differences between headlines and slogans at Laura Spencer’s WritingThoughts now. You may want to explore Laura’s blog a little further while you are there. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience on writing and her blog is a constant source of information and inspiration for me.

Technorati Tags: slogan writing, copywriting

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In part 1 of this 4-part series, I have suggested that agencies should consider accepting rush jobs and charge the usual price, especially under these circumstances:

• This is a long standing client who has been really nice and supportive all these years.
• This is an isolated incident.
• There is no financial loss.
• This is a good opportunity to practice CRM and PR

What if the agency cannot offer the usual price because the cost involved is way too high for it to absorb?

The answer is simple: Charge.

Part 2 will discuss how can you charge creatively.

Should you still charge usual price or impose a rush fee? The purpose of a business is to solve problems for people at a profit. First and foremost, you deserve to be paid. Secondly, if you intend to help a good client, you should do so in such a way that you do not bring his/her burden onto yourself. Anyway, it’s highly unlikely your client will believe you if you tell him/her, “I lost $12,000 for this job because I didn’t charge you for all the extra effort”.

“But they said they can’t pay”
“But they said they won’t pay a dime more”
“But I’m afraid of losing the client”

Trust me, I feel bad too. But I did not create the situation they are in now, however, I will do whatever it takes to make the rough ride smoother for them. However, I cannot do it at the expense of my teammates and my other clients. That will not be fair to them either.

Life is sometime tough. We will all experience set backs, disappointments and events for which there is no “reason”, and no one to blame (not that I recommend blaming people or circumstances). How would I deal with it? Read the rest of this entry »

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I believe that proper strategizing and planning will yield a better result compared to a hastily put together rush job. Racing against time, going without sleep, working non-stop under immense pressure, bashing with internal and external folks to get things done are stressful and nerve wrecking. I much prefer to plan ahead, get things organised and keep my sanity.However, every once a while, we’ll have a client pounding on our door, breathing down our necks to get a job done at lightning speed. It could be poor management, bad planning or just an unfortunate incident of emergency that could not be avoided. Whatever.

The questions boil down to does ad agency and design firm
- take the job at the usual price?
- add an additional mark-up for the extra efforts it has to put in? (a “rush fee”)
- reject the job because it will put other clients’ projects in jeopardy?
- reject the job because it doesn’t like to rush for urgent jobs?

I will talk about these over the next 2 weeks. Today, let’s start with taking the rush job without charging a rush fee.

Every company operates differently. Even if we are enlightened entrepreneurs with big hearts and are all prepared to pitch all that we have whenever the need arises, the fact is there are bills to pay every week, every month. Sure, the client understands but

“I have been supporting you for so long, surely you can make an exception.”

Now, that is a legitimate question and it needs a good reply. So how do ad agencies and design firm decide? Read the rest of this entry »

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