Well, I wouldn’t use it.

When I joined my first advertising agency at the tender at of 18 I was given some great advice that has guided me through many situations in my career. It came from a seasoned copywriter named Carl. He said the definition of a professional in the advertising business is someone who can reach beyond the kinds of people they are familiar with and create ads that appeal to people that they would never normally come into contact with in their daily lives.

Carl said that when he first started out he wrote great ads for young men and lousy ads aimed at anyone else. The day he realized he’d become a good copywriter was the day he wrote a great ad aimed at teenage girls in the morning and a great one for dentures in the afternoon.

I think this is a fundamental insight into business. Just like creating ads, you become good at creating products when you can create something compelling for people who aren’t like you. I spent 4 years working as an Account Planner in London and this was something I needed to remind myself of every day. I had to stretch myself to get inside the heads of different types of people and understand how they see the world and why they make certain decisions. It’s a great exercise.

The other implication applies to when you are assessing the merits of something.

When I explain our business, GigPark, to people the first reaction I usually get is either:

1. Cool, I’d use that. I think you’ve got a great business there. Or sometimes…
2. Hmmm, I’m not sure I’d use that. I don’t think you have a business.

This is a completely natural reaction for most people. What surprises me though is how many people who’s job it is to asses the merits of a business react this way. Surely, these people would be better served by assessing which groups a product might be targeted at, understanding what motivates them and deducing how they might react. Will a person planning their wedding use the product, or a couple who have recently moved into a new neighborhood?

Having said that it is always the job of the person presenting an idea to make the audience do as little work as possible. If I’m explaining a concept and someone can’t easily understand who the product would appeal to and why, then that is my fault, not theirs. I’ll keep practicing!

3 Comments

• 
  growmylist April 4, 2007 at 6:39 am

  If you’ve done your homework it really doesn’t matter what people say.

  As you come from a marketing background you’d know that opinion is only that. Testing shows what is true and what isn’t.

  Sounds like a good opportunity in my book, but that’s just my opinion…

  Damian.
• 
  Pema April 4, 2007 at 9:17 am

  Thanks Damian :)

  Sometimes testing doesn’t even give you a true read on a products’ potential. Sticking with the Sony Walkman example (if you were reading this in an RSS reader you might have missed the photograph), early customer research was incredibly negative, if I remember the case study correctly. Why would I possibly want to take my music with me? Wearing headphones is antisocial?
  It wasn’t until they put the product in stores and surrounded it with a marketing campaign that they could see the true reaction.

  This doesn’t mean I’m not a big believer in research – it has been one of our major expenses so far at GigPark – just that I think it has its limitations and measuring customer reaction to something truly new is one of them.
• 
  Ian April 5, 2007 at 5:18 pm

  It’s also about getting them to try it and fall in love with it. That’s when they’ll start recommending it and giving you the true feedback about what they like and dislike and comments like “you know what’d be really cool?”.

  There have been many ideas that I’ve known would work for clients and have had them say “I’m not so sure” or “I don’t get it” because they were unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the space I was asking them to jump into.

  When you’re strong in your convications and know something is a fantastic idea and will work, every now and then you’ll get an opporunity to prove you were right …just because your passion convinced them to take the risk.

  The reward will pay off in that individual’s trust and recommendations to peers. Keep at it Pema..other doors open when you least expect it.