After India's victory in the second test match at Lord's, England was down and out. They had not only lost comprehensively but their established players, including the Captain had serious form issues and there were calls for his head and radical changes. But in a week's time, England had bounced back with a resounding victory, their Captain was amongst the runs as were the other established players. The team astounded critics and supporters alike. It is one of the best examples of "bouncing back" in cricket.
In communication business too this terms carries a lot of weight. The business is service intensive. It is result oriented and deadlines are sacrosanct. Technology today plays an important role but ultimately it's the business of ideas so human intervention and error is inescapable. Mistakes therefore are part and parcel of the business. But it's never the mistakes which define the men in the business it's the bouncing back which separates the men from the boys.
And it is critical that agencies have bouncing back in their DNA. For mistakes are inevitable. But if an agency can learn from these mistakes and then prove that they can yet make a difference, then their worth is in gold. And clients understand this. Or at least good clients do. They are tolerant enough to accept agency mistakes because they know that the agency will more than make up for it.
To encourage the culture of bouncing back agency must also show patience with its employees. In today's day and age of hire and fire there is a tendency for employees to indulge in blame game or deflect the blame. This was because they are keeping their jobs safe. But if the management can inculcate a culture of people owning up to mistakes and then suggesting how they will bounce back and overcompensate the client with their bounce back ideas, then the blame game will disappear. It will contribute to more transparency and team work. In fact I have always been a great proponent of bouncing back and whenever faced with a mistake my first thought has been to bounce back. And mostly it has paid off handsomely.
Let me give you an example. Almost two decades ago with the advent of satellite channels new types of programmes were coming on air. Zee was starting with a new programme showcasing Top 10 Bollywood songs of the week. The idea was to create a programme which had a theme with a compeer and songs interspersed throughout.
We at Contract were at that time handling the Philips audio business and were convinced that the programme suited the profile of the client. This was of course the pre separate media business days. Agency was handling the full business including media and money was made through agency commission and not a fixed fees.
The channel had proposed a naming right programme and we were excited to call it Philips Top 10. Fortunately our client concurred with our views. But the problem was that the audio business did not have enough budget for the programme and the other parts of Philips business, Colour TV and Lighting were handled by different agencies. And these agencies were not too happy with us getting a programme for their clients as it would eat up into their revenue. With a tight deadline and other big clients showing interest in the programme we managed to convince both Colour TV and Lighting to come on board. This would be India's first naming right programme and we went about trying to milk it to the maximum extent possible for our client.
We called a press conference to coincide with the launch of the first episode of the programme. The idea was to hold the conference live while the programme goes on air at 9 pm on a Friday evening. We hired a hall in Mumbai's only revolving hotel, installed latest Philips TVs, audio systems and lighting solutions all over the place. We also had a small contest for the press as to which would be the top 3 songs of the week. As the programme started the excitement mounted. And the commercial breaks carried the ads of the three product divisions. Or at least they were supposed to. For some logistics and scheduling reason the Lighting division ads never came on. And then all hell broke loose. The lighting division took us to task and accused us of negligence and not caring for them since we were not their agency. They even threatened to withdraw.
Thankfully the response to the programme was very good and the PR was excellent. We also negotiated with Zee and managed to get some extra free commercial time for a mistake which was evidently from their side.
But we at Contract weren't still happy. We wanted to bounce back. For some time we had been eyeing the business but could not as it was handled by our big boss HTA (JWT). So we decided to bounce back by impressing the client so much that we could get them to ask us to pitch for the business.
We over serviced them ( with no assured revenue except for the committed spend on Philips Top 10). We inundated them with ideas. We met up with their senior management whenever possible and within 6 months the client asked us to pitch. To cut a long story short we pitched and won the business under the noses of our big brother HTA, which they had been handling for about 35 years. All because we had been inadvertently involved in a major goof up but we decided to bounce back.
It was not as easy as it sounds. We had detailed internal meetings on who would be responsible for what. We briefed creative pro actively, we had meetings with Zee on how to highlight each division, we did our own market research, we met the lighting dealers. And it was all done on shoestring budget, strict timelines and as addition to our regular client responsibilities.
The best part was that our bond with the Audio team strengthened. They were more proud of us, would almost flaunt us within the company and allowed us to take creative risks. They also became our vocal spokesperson within Philips.
I firmly believe in the process of bouncing back. Of course it does not mean that we continue committing mistakes and then making up for the same. It means that as and when mistakes are committed learn from them, do not repeat them and try to convert the same into opportunities.
Sometimes, I wonder why all the brands today who have big customer service departments, who mouth impressive slogans and have serious mission statements cannot follow this simple philosophy? Why have I never got a feeling that after committing a mistake these guys still deserve me? Even after their CEOs intervening, why they have never felt the need to bounce back and reconvert me into their brand (http://vikasmehta64.blogspot.in)?Why have they never let me feel that the mistake was only an aberration and not a habit?
Maybe it's time that "bouncing back" philosophy is taught in business schools and at corporate campuses?
In communication business too this terms carries a lot of weight. The business is service intensive. It is result oriented and deadlines are sacrosanct. Technology today plays an important role but ultimately it's the business of ideas so human intervention and error is inescapable. Mistakes therefore are part and parcel of the business. But it's never the mistakes which define the men in the business it's the bouncing back which separates the men from the boys.
And it is critical that agencies have bouncing back in their DNA. For mistakes are inevitable. But if an agency can learn from these mistakes and then prove that they can yet make a difference, then their worth is in gold. And clients understand this. Or at least good clients do. They are tolerant enough to accept agency mistakes because they know that the agency will more than make up for it.
To encourage the culture of bouncing back agency must also show patience with its employees. In today's day and age of hire and fire there is a tendency for employees to indulge in blame game or deflect the blame. This was because they are keeping their jobs safe. But if the management can inculcate a culture of people owning up to mistakes and then suggesting how they will bounce back and overcompensate the client with their bounce back ideas, then the blame game will disappear. It will contribute to more transparency and team work. In fact I have always been a great proponent of bouncing back and whenever faced with a mistake my first thought has been to bounce back. And mostly it has paid off handsomely.
Let me give you an example. Almost two decades ago with the advent of satellite channels new types of programmes were coming on air. Zee was starting with a new programme showcasing Top 10 Bollywood songs of the week. The idea was to create a programme which had a theme with a compeer and songs interspersed throughout.
We at Contract were at that time handling the Philips audio business and were convinced that the programme suited the profile of the client. This was of course the pre separate media business days. Agency was handling the full business including media and money was made through agency commission and not a fixed fees.
The channel had proposed a naming right programme and we were excited to call it Philips Top 10. Fortunately our client concurred with our views. But the problem was that the audio business did not have enough budget for the programme and the other parts of Philips business, Colour TV and Lighting were handled by different agencies. And these agencies were not too happy with us getting a programme for their clients as it would eat up into their revenue. With a tight deadline and other big clients showing interest in the programme we managed to convince both Colour TV and Lighting to come on board. This would be India's first naming right programme and we went about trying to milk it to the maximum extent possible for our client.
We called a press conference to coincide with the launch of the first episode of the programme. The idea was to hold the conference live while the programme goes on air at 9 pm on a Friday evening. We hired a hall in Mumbai's only revolving hotel, installed latest Philips TVs, audio systems and lighting solutions all over the place. We also had a small contest for the press as to which would be the top 3 songs of the week. As the programme started the excitement mounted. And the commercial breaks carried the ads of the three product divisions. Or at least they were supposed to. For some logistics and scheduling reason the Lighting division ads never came on. And then all hell broke loose. The lighting division took us to task and accused us of negligence and not caring for them since we were not their agency. They even threatened to withdraw.
Thankfully the response to the programme was very good and the PR was excellent. We also negotiated with Zee and managed to get some extra free commercial time for a mistake which was evidently from their side.
But we at Contract weren't still happy. We wanted to bounce back. For some time we had been eyeing the business but could not as it was handled by our big boss HTA (JWT). So we decided to bounce back by impressing the client so much that we could get them to ask us to pitch for the business.
We over serviced them ( with no assured revenue except for the committed spend on Philips Top 10). We inundated them with ideas. We met up with their senior management whenever possible and within 6 months the client asked us to pitch. To cut a long story short we pitched and won the business under the noses of our big brother HTA, which they had been handling for about 35 years. All because we had been inadvertently involved in a major goof up but we decided to bounce back.
It was not as easy as it sounds. We had detailed internal meetings on who would be responsible for what. We briefed creative pro actively, we had meetings with Zee on how to highlight each division, we did our own market research, we met the lighting dealers. And it was all done on shoestring budget, strict timelines and as addition to our regular client responsibilities.
The best part was that our bond with the Audio team strengthened. They were more proud of us, would almost flaunt us within the company and allowed us to take creative risks. They also became our vocal spokesperson within Philips.
I firmly believe in the process of bouncing back. Of course it does not mean that we continue committing mistakes and then making up for the same. It means that as and when mistakes are committed learn from them, do not repeat them and try to convert the same into opportunities.
Sometimes, I wonder why all the brands today who have big customer service departments, who mouth impressive slogans and have serious mission statements cannot follow this simple philosophy? Why have I never got a feeling that after committing a mistake these guys still deserve me? Even after their CEOs intervening, why they have never felt the need to bounce back and reconvert me into their brand (http://vikasmehta64.blogspot.in)?Why have they never let me feel that the mistake was only an aberration and not a habit?
Maybe it's time that "bouncing back" philosophy is taught in business schools and at corporate campuses?
They had voices that sang inside you and tunes that were inspiring. But this is not how I see modern artists and their efforts today. Learn More
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