"Mediocrity, status quo and 'vanilla' are my kryptonite."

I spoke at Social Media Manageren in Aarhus, Denmark in December 2022 and was interviewed by the amazing Emil N?rlund . Link to open In Chrome so it auto-translates from the Danish is at the bottom of this post.

My Early Career In Soccer Pre-Social Media

My first step into marketing?was working?for the American Football Association.?It was an exciting job, but at the same time I wasn't quite sure if it was the way I wanted to go.?

I realized early on that a lot of marketing work is very locally oriented.?But my ambition was to work on an international scale.?So I went to Amsterdam and knocked on the door of the Weiden & Kennedy agency and asked to speak to the guy who made my favorite ad: Nike's 'Good vs.?Evil' with Eric Cantona (French football star, ed.).?

One of the creatives Jelly Helm became my mentor for the following two years. In the early 2000's, I moved to London??and worked, among other things, as a digital copywriter.?It was a magical time and it was exciting to be involved in making big TV campaigns, but at the same time I also learned how challenging it can be to work in larger teams.?

My Early Obsession With Curiosity, Social Media And The Man On The Horse.

I call myself a?'curiosity addict'.?By that I mean I'm obsessed with the latest new thing and what's going to be the next new thing.?But it doesn't just have to be something 'shiny' useless new.?It has to be new, which I can somehow use to help people and brands to?connect? better.?

When the crisis hit in 2008, I sought shelter at the agency Iris.?At the job interview, I told the directors that I saw huge commercial potential in social media and that I wanted to invest in it in the company.?I was given the title of Head of Copywriting, and given free rein to do some of the earliest strategic real-time work at SoMe.

In my eyes, there is an incredible amount of energy in social media.??To me it's like oxygen or rocket fuel.?I see it as the fireworks that can light a fire under the backsides of lazy brands.

Most unexpectedly, it was the deodorant brand Old Spice?that opened my eyes to the potential of real-time marketing.?After launching their The Old Spice Man, with the catchphrase “I'm on a Horse”, their social media team made 180 films featuring the Old Spice Man in 24 hours – based on people's requests.?It was really refreshing – and fun.

My most important career decision was co-writing Newsjacking:??The Urgent Genius of Real-time Advertising' – with Grant Hunter .?It kick-started my career as a speaker, and helped me to discover that speaking to people on a stage is my overriding passion.?

We went on tour to 26 countries?with 'Newsjacking'.?Our overall mission was to open people's eyes to how important it is to have an overall content strategy.?But also that SoMe marketeers will have to deal with the prevailing??zeitgeist??and know exactly how and when to respond commercially to what is happening.?

The first time the world got to see the Newsjacking phenomenon clearly?was via the famous Oreo Tweet "You can still dunk in the dark" that was posted when there was a blackout at halftime of the Super Bowl in 2013. That was 10 years ago yesterday believe it or not.

Oreo company was a brand that over time had built up a kind of muscle memory in relation to how to do reactive marketing.?So when the Super Bowl came, they were ready because they had practiced.?It was planned spontaneity, as we call it in the book, that got a massive backlash from the Oreo stunt when it came out.

When I stand on stage?and speak, I always look for the whites in people's eyes.?If I don't make people open their eyes, I haven't piqued their curiosity - and then I turn up my output.

My Advice To Social Media Managers About Being More Constantly Curious

I don't believe you can improve your social media game?with a?quick fix?overnight.?But I would recommend that you always try to approach your work passionately, curiously, observantly and imaginatively.?These are some things I learned from Leonardo Da Vinci.?He's been dead for 500 years, but he had pretty good luck in creating new things.?So if you want to be better: be more like Da Vinci.?

In my eyes, it is important?that people who work with social media incorporate a more experimental mindset.?A culture must be created where you are not afraid to fail.?When I give keynotes, I ask people to raise their hand if they've made a giant mistake.?But rarely does anyone raise their hand.?Afterwards, people often come up to me and tell me that they have made lots of mistakes that they would like to share.?Just not in front of their boss.?

My best career advice is to follow your curiosity.?And then you must never forget that all people, after all, are motivated by what is in their best interest.?So you have to really, really think deeply about what it is that??makes people tick.?Because there are no people who wake up in the morning thinking about you — or your brand.?They wake up thinking about themselves and their needs.?So it's about being good at listening and talking less.?There is actually a reason why we have two ears and only one mouth.?

My Advice About Being A Keynote Speaker

It is not easy to give speeches as a career path.?It is much easier to just have a permanent full-time job for one company.?But I can't do that in the long run.?So I do not regret in any way that I wrote 'Newsjacking' and jumped into a completely new world as a speaker and independent marketing consultant - because it has given me so much new energy and fuel, to be able to live by inspiring others;?and bring out the white in people's eyes.

JON'S BIO

Originally a copywriter.?Today, he is an independent marketing consultant and keynote speaker with a focus on how brands stand out.

Helped to invent the term 'newsjacking', and is co-author of the book on the phenomenon, "Newsjacking: The Urgent Genius of Real-time Advertising", from 2014.

Has subsequently held keynotes in over 30 countries and held workshops for eBay, Microsoft, Salesforce, BMW and Santander, among others.

He is a big football fan and fan engagement expert and has worked for Bristol City, Bath Rugby and FC Barcelona to name a few "B" teams.?However, the favourite club is the English Wolverhampton Wanderers.

ORIGINAL LINK TO ARTICLE BY EMIL: https://markedsforing.dk/artikler/nyheder/middelmaadighed-status-quo-og-vanilla-er-mit-kryptonit/