At my place of work, which I very rarely blog about here – I don’t know why not, I know a lot of bloggers who do talk directly about their work but for me it feels wrong some how. I know if it were an actual company blog then that would be different, but this is my own professional opinion blog and I like to keep it seperate from my work as much as I can – except this time. Anyway, we’re rebuilding our agency website.
Anyone who has ever been involved in rebuilding their own company website will, I should think, immediately empathise with me and the whole team involved. They’re often interesting projects, to say the least. But fun, of course. Honest guys.
We’ve been asked to answer three simple questions to show us what we’re like as real people. These aren’t new questions – you’ll have seen them or very similar ones to them, before. But we’re not reinventing the wheel here.
So, here’s my answers:
Q1
“The reason I come to work every morning is…”
I come to work because I love digital. OK, that’s a cop out? Maybe, but I know one thing. I am a geek marketer. And I’m proud of it. I realise I have been ever since I got over my fear of building stupidly complex JavaScript websites to sell people trainers that cost them two weeks wages (I still blame you Raj Chavda for that lost weekend with the All Blacks!) . I don’t know how many times a day you hear something along the lines of “the future of marketing is digital” but it’s something I truly believe, and I spend as much time as I can getting away with telling anyone and everyone. So, I guess I come to work so I can tell some more people; co-workers, clients or consumers – I’m not fussy. I’ll tell you all.
Q2
“The best idea I’ve seen recently is…”
The Age of Conversation – a single book on a single topic, conversation, written by over 100 different people. In this age of blogging, many established (and some not so) authors are placing extacts of their upcoming or new books online, increasingly to tap into the collective review process of a thousand devoted digitally enabled fans. This book, edited by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan, moves the wiki style working process into a new gear by creating a single work that’s made up of 100+ different pieces. All proceeds go to charity, and edition two (topic: Why don’t people get it?) is just kicking off.
Q3
“If I were a client tomorrow I’d…”
Stop buying newspapers, turn off the TV and walk to work blindfolded so I don’t see any billboards (although that could prove to be a bit of a challenge). That way, I’d get a deeper understanding into the way consumers are starting to treat so called traditional ad formats – i.e. they’re ignoring them – so that I have to look at new ways to reach my target audience. I’d also stop speaking on my mobile (& snd txt msgz insted), stop sending emails (and switch to IM) and only read facebook on my iPhone (63% of mobile web traffic goes to social networks). Not only is the traditional marketing world changing, the new one is changing with it. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.
So, that’s me. What I want to know is, what are your answers?
Q1 – the reason I come to work every morning is…
Q2 – the best idea i’ve seen recently is…
Q3 – if i were a client tomorrow I’d…
Comments, or emails to howard DOT scott AT gmail DOT com, really appreciated. And, if you could pass it on to two of your bestest mates that’d be swell – just tag anything you post with “3simplequestions”.
Thanks
