Here’s to what we know, even if we know it only fleetingly – reviewing 2021

It’s a strange thing to look back at a whole year and try to tease out ‘takeaways’. There’s something very human about the need to be so definitive – it’s never enough just to span time, we have to imbue it with meaning. In my case, 2021 made me profoundly aware of what I don’t know. Not only that, much of what we think we know, we know only fleetingly. Consensus shifts, new evidence emerges. We should hold our convictions lightly. So perhaps it’s better to talk about my impressions of the year – the things that shaped me and my business, positively and negatively. So here they are, in no particular order. Thoughts and reflections – I'll let others judge if they’re learnings.

1. Three-and-a-half years into running a tiny consultancy and it’s safe to say it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done professionally. That time has encompassed a pandemic, a joust with cancer, and an exhausting house restoration project – all while trying to raise kids. But working with founders on the most fundamental aspects of their brand and product will always be a privilege. Each project reaffirms my belief in the critical importance of clarity in the essence of your brand. Besides, a real job would never afford me the time to watch Wheeler Dealers in the middle of the day.
2. At the risk of getting a bit Donald Rumsfeldy, the more you do any kind of consulting, the more you know how little you’ll truly know. But to quote Professor Richard Feynman: “I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.”?
3. Related –? what happens when the knowledge we apply for our clients starts to break down as trends and times change? Today, most brands I work with follow broadly the same digital marketing playbook – a mix of content and targeted digital ads designed to fill the funnel. But now, as doubts emerge about the effectiveness – and ethics – of targeting, and the mountain of evidence about ad fraud continues to grow, the edifice of certainty is starting to crumble. That puts a lot of marketers – desperate for predictable returns on their budgets – in an uncomfortable place. But it’s also an opportunity to zag when everyone else is zigging (h/t John Hegarty).
4. 2021 was the best year yet in the short history of Bateman’s, both in terms of revenue and in the number of the kind of foundational brand projects I set out to do. First up, I helped Veo craft their Level Up brand platform. It was a proud moment when their head of brand described it as the foundation for all the work that starts in the marketing department. Next I helped Keepit articulate the core brand and product messaging that now forms the basis of all their comms as they expand globally. And, together with my former colleague Sofie Svarre, I’m currently doing the same for TwentyThree as they continue to pioneer the video marketing and digital events space.
5. I positioned Bateman’s with a view to doing projects precisely like those. Projects that focus on providing foundations, and on creating a sense of stability – even permanence. Somebody once helped me see how that mirrored my own personal preoccupations and it was a revelation. We all try to shape the world our own way. In my case, I felt the sands shifting beneath my feet too often when I was younger, hence the obsession with helping brands find a firmer footing. Ultimately, my ambition is to only do brand projects but I’m not there yet.
6. To supplement those big brand projects, I did a whole bunch of copy, comms and strategy work with clients across a range of industries, including some of my most interesting projects yet. I developed a new club motto for Belgium’s biggest football club. I helped Sweden’s leading investment app launch in Denmark. I helped an ultra high-end jewellery start-up position around the idea of ‘traced’ diamonds, differentiating it from the generic ‘traceable’. I helped B?rsen communicate its five-year strategy more effectively in English. I helped Autoproff reposition to SaaS with full site copy and UX consultancy. And I did a mix of brand strategy and value proposition development for several highly promising start-ups including Another Mother, Sonohaler, and Jamii.?
7. I also did some brilliant freelance projects at agencies I can’t speak highly enough of, including &Robin, Manyone, Spring/Summer, and Mano. The agency world is tough. As an independent, you quickly get attuned to places where the culture is supportive, genuine and dedicated... places you hope call you back.
8. A short moan... don’t ghost freelancers, don’t keep them waiting for a yes or a no, and acknowledge that you received the work. As my grandmother taught me, good manners cost nothing.
9. I’ve gotten good at knowing what I’m not good at, and appreciating crafts and skills I previously had little understanding of. I project manage myself and, in the spirit of brutal honesty, I’m awful. I’ve seen good project managers in action and I still pine for them. In case you’re a potential client and I’m scaring you off, here’s how I compensate: I make sure we’ve defined objectives, clarified budgets, and booked pitstops before getting started. And I sit in your office as and when required to make sure I’m visible and accessible to your team. I might be bad at project management but I’m good at Slack – please turn on Gif privileges though – and I’m a stickler for responding to emails promptly.
10. I spent a lot of time in 2021 discussing the nature of ‘brand’ with clients (has there ever been a more slippery concept?!) and realised I needed a more concrete framework to explain my approach. My contention is that brand is first and foremost a business advantage. No matter whether you’re a distinctiveness or differentiation disciple, a growth hacker, a traditionalist, an inbound believer, or whether you’re selling B2B or B2C – your company has a brand. How that brand is perceived depends on how you define it. This is the framework I’ve started using:?

• Establish an Idea by defining – at the very least – your belief, your mission, and what you challenge.?
• Build towards an Ideal by articulating a vision (a purpose if you prefer).?
• And forge an Identity by defining what you stand for (values), how you look (visual identity and distinctive assets including logo), and how you sound (tone of voice principles help but they need to be backed up by examples).?

This is obviously not exhaustive but, left undefined, your brand will remain in a vacuum. It will never be top of mind in a buying situation. But if defined precisely, you’ll have a foundation with elements that will compound to shape your culture, and how you are perceived. Think of the Idea, Ideal, Identity framework as a kind of minimum viable brand – it’s a starting point, but a powerful one.???

11. In my agency days, defining values was an exercise in window dressing mostly left to the agency and the head of brand to noodle on. If the values ever saw the light of day, it was as generic posters on walls or in little-read brand books given to design and PR agencies. But I’ve taken part in more values projects in the past year than the previous three years combined. Whether it’s wokeism or a real generational shift, it feels like values are emerging as a suddenly critical brand foundation that transcends the traditional understanding of 'employer branding'.

What seems to have changed is the extent to which the definition of *values* has now bled into PR, more specifically the grey area of a company's stance on political, cultural and societal issues. Failure to take a stand can be as reputationally damaging as taking the wrong stand (depending on the majority view). This makes me uncomfortable. The pressure for companies to be on the right side of history is incessant, and increasingly distracting. A company's values exist to encourage the behaviours that will shape internal culture. But increasingly they are defined with a view to driving actions that will shape external perception. I'm not convinced this is wholly wise - even though it might lead to short-term PR wins and the affection of certain segments of the population.

12. Perhaps the theme of this piece can be reduced to one word: entropy. As humans, as companies and as brands we seek to hold back the inevitable decline into disorder. We'll only ever succeed for a time. And I think I'm OK with that.