Part two of my strategy presentation is coming soon. In the meantime, a few months ago I went down a rabbit hole of looking for the first mention of various marketing terms and ideas in the New York Times archives. I particularly liked this first mention of brand strategy from 1955:
To eliminate confusion, an agency should set up a four-point plan when handling a product … The Plan would be outlined in a document known as a “brand strategy” containing a concept of operation; an analysis of the opportunities for the product or service; agreement on an immediate plan of action, and agreement on a long-term strategy.
Here’s what it looked like in the newspaper:
Also amusing was that in 1967 we were having problems we’re still seeing today. From coverage of a symposium of agencies and clients:
A couple of the ideas that seemed to get repeated were that both sides should cut through the red tape of advertising approval and that there should be more involvement of creative people in agency-client relations.
December 19, 2014 // This post is about: agency, Brand Strategy, CLIENT, marketing, NYTimes
I really liked one of the comments in this NYTimes interview with Roman Stanek, the CEO of GoodData. In response to “Anything you have a particularly low tolerance for in your organization?” Stanek answered, “I have a really low tolerance for people making comments, especially managers, without actually positioning them.” When asked to explain he said:
Somebody might say, for example, that our competition has a new product. But is it good news or bad news? Should we do something about it? I always expect my managers to have an opinion and they should not be just messengers. A manager is not a messenger. I don’t like my managers essentially talking to their people without being able to express their opinion and position what they’re discussing.
This is perfectly articulated and drives me crazy as well. It’s so easy to send emails that people have a tendency to just shoot things off with comment or context. I don’t want to know the news, I want to know what you think about the news and why you decided to send it to me.
June 4, 2013 // This post is about: business, email, Interviews, NYTimes
