Mission Incredible

From my talk for The Sweathead Do-Together in October 2022:

Calling all Advertising Agents.

We have a huge operation on our hands, so we need everyone reporting for immediate duty.

This is the situation as it stands: Advertising has fallen into dangerous territories, so we’ve been conducting undercover surveillance, and identified four main enemy groups. They’re easy to target – they look tired and uninspired. They don’t want change. They want safe, boring, and mediocre. And they’re hiding in plain sight – often in meetings and creative reviews sabotaging big, bold and brilliant ideas.

I have in my possession, a damning intelligence report. It reveals in-depth analysis on each enemy group, including instructions for how to take action against them.

Group 1: The Bland Believers

They’re the ones who think there’s no value in valuing a brand. Everything they do is unremarkable – nothing they do is noticed. They like to fit in, rather than stand out.

But it’s a brand identity that lets people get to know a brand, and decide if it’s one they want to spend their time and money with.

We have to fight this enemy group.

We have to fight their use of bland language, fonts, colours and icons. We have to fight for the importance of brand consistency – consistency is key to effective brand communications.

Agents, when you confront a Bland Believer, make sure you’re armed with evidence of brands that haven’t forgotten their purpose, their principles or their personality. They’re the brands that are always recognised and remembered, because they know their brand assets, and they aren’t afraid to use them.

Group 2: The Competitor Copiers

It comes as no surprise that this enemy group often operates alongside The Bland Believers.

They have a strong business, and an effective brand identity, but they don’t know how to communicate and execute. So they look to others. But then they look like others, so they don’t stand apart from them – or stand out.

Usually, it’s the biggest brands that should be the bravest – that could lead their category, not follow the brands behind them.

We have to fight this enemy group.

We have to fight their urge to do what others do. We have to tell them they’ll drown in a sea of sameness.

Agents, when you confront a Competitor Copier, show them what they think they want. Then show them how they compare with others – or rather, how they don’t. Present matching messaging and imitating imagery so it’s crystal clear that they’re copying when they should be creating.

Group 3: The Jargon Generals

This group talks rubbish. They use words real people would never really say. They promote complexity, and risk clarity. Nothing makes sense.

We have to fight this enemy group.

We have to take them down. If we talk in ways our audience won’t understand, we’ll lose our audience. Technical terms, marketing speak and corporate jargon don’t make us look good or sound professional. They make us look like we don’t care about who we’re talking to.

Agents, when you confront a Jargon General, remind them, we must talk our audience’s language. It’s so easy to do – to match what they say in the way they say it so they feel comfortable with us, and relate to us.

Group 4: The Future Facers

This group needs to slow down, and calm down. They’re far too excited – they’re running before they can walk. Yes, there are big and exciting and shiny new things ahead of us, but we’ll get there – we just need to wait a goddamn minute. We need to nail what we do now.

We have to fight this enemy group.

We have to remind them that people’s wants and needs and hopes and dreams move with the times, not with technology.

Agents, when you confront a Future Facer, present them with a field report – show them what people on the ground are doing. Make sure we fully understand what they think and how they act, so we fully respect them.

Speaking of respect, let’s remember to respect the principles and processes that came before us – and were set for us. Future Facers don’t like to look back, but our industry’s legends live and breathe around us, and their lessons are everywhere. Books, blogs, podcasts, talks, interviews – there are so many important resources reinforcing the reasons for what we do and how we do it.

Look up Alexandra Taylor. Look up Carol H Williams. Look up Steve Harrison, Bob Hoffman, John Hegarty, MT Rainey, Rosie Arnold, Cindy Gallop, Dave Trott, Dave Dye, Luke Sullivan. Look. Them. Up.

Look up the legends who came before them too, and keep looking to keep learning – never stop learning. If we stop learning, we stop thinking, and we stop doing. And this is not the time to stop.

So, there we are. Our four enemy groups: The Bland Believers, The Competitor Copiers, The Jargon Generals and The Future Facers.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it – and please do accept it, because it’s very important – your mission is to fight those enemy groups.

Your mission is Mission Incredible.

Incredible ideas, incredible processes, incredible communications, and incredible results.

Yes, our enemies are strong,?but we can be stronger. We can fight with real rationales, clear case studies and examples of executions we believe in.

We can fight for incredible – together.

Remember, you became Advertising Agents because you’re brilliant. Smart and creative. Interested and interesting. Inspired and inspiring. Don’t lose what makes you, you. Don’t give in. Don’t fall in line.

Your loyalty will be tested. Don’t be scared. Let fear fuel you, because whoever you are, wherever you are, and however you take action – covertly or overtly, you can make a difference.

Agents, the future of the industry is in our hands.

Your mission – Mission Incredible – starts as soon as this message ends.

And this message ends now.