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The Woodies have a blog. It’s a kind of collective. Not sure we’re about to start a revolution baby, but we might kindle a small debate or two and perhaps raise a smile. Anyway, rather than just blogging corporate Woodreed by fielding our top Woodie (as so many other companies seem to do in a thinly veiled attempt at impressing with their profundity), we wanted all our individual voices to be heard. An agency’s most valuable assets are its people after all. Everyone’s got something to say here and with us everyone’s ideas and opinions matter.

Each week someone different will be blogging. It's mostly about stuff that rocks our world as well as the flipside – the things that just don't cut it with us. We'll blog about inside and outside – inside this glorious industry where we work and outside in the real world.
It's a bit of an experiment, so go with us on this one.

Hope you enjoy.

Thursday 31 May 2012

They don't write songs about Volvos.

Just look at these marvellous bill boards recently posted up in Detroit, highlighting the lack of creativeness in the motor industry.

Some great images and some thought provoking lines.

It is true though isn't it, when you look at the cars on the roads today, they do tend to look very similar to each other.

But what interests me more is the fact these ads were posted up in Detroit, the homeland of the American motor industry. So it's actually highlighting it's problem in it's own backyard. Very brave media planning!

Being an avid pistonhead, looking at those beautiful images of those cars made me very sad. Whilst totally over the top, they still show they have been designed from the head, not from a machine.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Malmaison - who dares wins with employee engagement success


Malmaison/Hotel du Vin, the hotel group that dares to be different,  needed to drive down costs but maintain customer service levels so in 2010 they introduced an employee recognition scheme called 'Wow' and, wow, has it paid off in spades.  Since then:
  • Staff turnover - down by 17%
  • Customer loyalty - up
  • Repeat business - up by 51%
  • Proportion of complaints related to customer service - down from 69% to 17%
  • Employee pride in working for Malmaison - up from 87% to 98%
  • Employee surveys - 96% consider customers service training excellent
And considered against Woodreed's employee engagement best practice framework, STRIPES, it ticks even more boxes:
  • Senior level backing - the scheme was launched by Malmaison's CEO
  • Training - employees are trained on how to provide an extra level of customer service
  • Induction - WOW training included in new starter programmes
  • Performance - top performers rewarded with tangible awards and recognised personally by the CEO
  • Engagement - engagement levels soared as the Malmaison team were trusted and empowered to do what they felt was right to delight their customers
Another cracking demonstration to any sceptical FD out there that investing in a robust, well thought out and competently delivered employee engagement programme will positively impact the bottom line.  

I'm thinking about how many other businesses there are out there who are struggling in the current climate and who are missing the opportunity to turn things around by taking a few simple and positive steps towards improving their employee engagement. With the estimated cost of employee disengagement to the UK economy running between £59 and £64bn per year what an impact this could have on the wider UK economy too. What's holding UK plc back?

Monday 21 May 2012

Where's my bear gone?

I read a very interesting article at the weekend about Alun Cairns, the MP for the Vale of Glamorgan who believes that growing controls on the advertising industry are taking all the fun out of beer advertising.
"There is a huge concern about red tape and its impact on creativity and our advertising industry, which is world class".
Whilst I appreciate that alcohol advertising has to know its limits, I do remember affectionately those great ads like the Hofmeister "follow the bear" TV campaign, Heineken's great "refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach" campaign (in particular the one featuring Mr Spock), and not forgetting the glorious Guinness Toucan.
We surely have to strike a balance between what the right common sensical message is, and blend it with fantastic creative?
The government is publishing a strategy paper next March with plans to "minimise the harmful effects of alcohol advertising".
I really hope this is not another step closer to the Nanny State dumbing down our great British product - creativity.

Images courtesy of Google Images

Thursday 17 May 2012

Bye-Bye Blue Peter

For all of you Blue Peter fans out there don't worry, the BBC aren't axing the show completely, they're just going to move it from BBC1 to their digital channel CBBC. It's not just this iconic programme, which is the world's longest-running children's televison show having first aired in 1958, the BBC wants to move all childrens programmes from BBC1 and BBC2 to their dedicated children's digital channels CBBC and CBeebies. No date has been set yet but the final analogue transmitters will be switched off in October.
www.bbc.co.uk
When I first saw the headlines and trending I believed Blue Peter was on its way out. My first thoughts were "How could they?" and "How sad". Then I thought to myself when did I last watch an episode? My answer - not for years. My children are now at an age when they don't want to watch this type of programme and also I'm very rarely in when it is being aired.


Whilst I can understand their thinking in keeping all childrens programmes together, the same could be said for having just the news on one dedicated channel? Perhaps sport can also be given a special channel as well? I think there would be uproar if this was to happen and so perhaps the BBC should just keep things as they are? Blue Peter is, after all, only shown once a week on BBC1.


I remember when in 2010, BBC 6 Music faced closure as there were reports that people barely knew the station existed. What happened? The fans of the station set up groups to oppose the plans to end it and now two years on it has become the first ever digital radio station to win UK station of the year. Could the power of social network sites keep Blue Peter on BBC1........

Monday 14 May 2012

Ogilvy gets it right



On September 7th, 1982, Ogilvy sent the following internal memo to all agency employees, titled “How to Write”. I think there's some great advice in here, as relevant now as it was 30 years ago:


The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well.
Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.
Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:


1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize,demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.
6. Check your quotations.
7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.
8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.


David

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream

Don, whisky in hand, tries to float downstream. Image via AMC
A rare occurence on last night's TV. In fact not just rare but unique.  Reputedly a first.


Series 5, episode 8 (for those who care about such things) of Mad Men saw Don Draper sit back and listen to "Tomorrow never knows", the closing track of Revolver, the album that saw the mop tops begin to transform their output from 'boy band' crowd-pleasers to the more musically challenging stuff of legend.


Apart from the obvious pleasure to be had from such an event (calm down Jo!) this was special because the Beatles estate guards their brand and the rights to its usage ferociously.  We've only been able to buy the stuff on iTunes for two years after all. This was one of the only times, if not THE only time that a Beatles song has ever appeared in a TV show.


One of the many, many marvellous things about Mad Men is its authenticity and absolute attention to detail. Everything from the clothes to the sets, to the storylines and language screams '60s. But the music choices are never simply wallpaper - they always have a deeper rationale and meaning.  So given the Beatles were the soundtrack to the period they really have to be there - but it wasn't just any old track it had to be the right track, carefully chosen to support the storyline of Don's efforts to tune into the new youth culture.  At a reputed cost upwards of $250,000 I wonder how many more times Weiner and his team can afford to repeat such a treat even if Apple allow it.