Recently, I had a conversation with an associate who asked me for career advice. It's a request I get often and one I take very seriously. Because it's also a question that places a tremendous obligation on me to help someone that is trusting me with their career. So I thought assembling my approach to career advice in a blog might be of interest to both seekers and givers of career advice.
I often discuss that while all brands do many things, they can only be one thing. The same is true when it comes to your human brand. You only get to be one thing. So when I mention the name Albert Einstein, I think most, if not all, agree the one word he gets to be is genius. He certainly earned it.
I’m hearing more and more people talk about how they don’t like the company they work for anymore or maybe never did at all. They seem disgruntled and really are just going through the motions to get their paychecks. Oh sure, there’s going to be the 2-3% of the population that excel and claw their way to a great life. But this blog is not about the overachievers. This blog is about the other 97% of your workforce that you rely on to keep your business going and hopefully growing.
If you were born prior to 1973 you probably remember Nancy Reagan's wildly popular anti-drug campaign "Just Say No". It was a great campaign on so many levels and was actually created by the First Lady after she asked a little girl in a classroom "What would you do if someone offered you drugs?" during one of her many anti-drug crusades. The little girl responded matter-of-factly, "Why, I would just say no".
I'm noticing a frightening trend that seems to be growing. A lot of people, especially young adults, no longer have a competitive spirit. A spirit which we all know is what made this country great at the height of its success. Competition is the foundation of our economic system. It creates more options, better prices and better products for consumers. It spurs new ideas and builds character. It creates a platform that rewards effort, ingenuity and talent with a tangible reward.
I always wonder about the brand attributes people choose for themselves and if they even realize they're doing it. At InnoVision we carefully choose brand descriptors for our company and our clients. Today's slang can be so confusing to the Baby Boomer generation. So many words are truly the opposite of what we think they mean, or what they used to mean. Like “sick”, “crazy” or “bad.” In today's conversations those are all positive adjectives, all great words.
Throughout the years, I've observed that there are many parallels to building a successful relationship, whether it be personal or professional, and they can both be approached with some of the same principles in mind. Relationships are based on consistency, trust and promise. So as a business stakeholder, your relationship with your consumer is very similar to your most important personal relationship. When I discuss media campaigns with clients I often draw upon the analogy of how a great relationship is formed.
When we came up with the term "The Anti-Agency®" I wasn't really sure how I felt about it. I didn't want it to sound like we were being derogatory towards other agencies. That was definitely not the intent. I also didn’t want anyone to think we're anti-advertising, because that is definitely not the case. Nor did I want it to sound negative in any way by using the prefix "anti" which is defined as "against" or "opposite of". But when I really thought about it "anti" can be used to make very positive statements too. Statements like, anti-poverty, anti-racism or anti-war.
For me it’s always been about being different. I think it’s easy to say you want to be different, or try to act different, or even look different. But really being different is one of the most challenging goals one can set. When it comes to a brand, or advertising, or generating sales, great results are measured in how well you are able to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Everyone knows that—but very few know how to do it right. And when I say right, I mean so that it produces the desired results. And no matter how you slice it or dice it, results are always measured in sales.
