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Lessons learned Marketing leaders offer advice for handling various faux pas; say that professionals should be open with their peers so that everyone doesn’t have to learn the hard way. P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T
MAINTAIN CONTROL. Moorefield says that, as much as the marketing team proofreads outgoing materi- als, including proposal responses, there may be a few slip-ups, especially when relying on outside consultant teams to provide information. Always check for typos. “We can’t always rely on spell check; it will even ac- cept words in the wrong tense,” she says. “In one case, we had the reverse happen to us, in which our provided information for a joint pursuit was total- ly revised to put the entire team in the best light. We were so taken aback by the other team’s creative writing, we almost didn’t recognize our firm except for the logo! Losing creative control or ownership of outgoing materials can be challenging.” BE READY FOR RISK. HuntonBrady’s marketing group is a creative bunch, and they realize that often there are risks that accompany creative ideas, even with well-known clients. “For example, we customized T-shirts with our cli- ent’s logo, which happens to start with an S and re- sembles the Superman emblem,” Moorefield says. “Each presenter wore the shirt underneath their white dress shirts (even the women) and in clos- ing remarks the team stated, ‘this project will be close to our hearts,’ and proceeded to whip their shirts open. Fortunately, there were no wardrobe malfunctions. But, there was a very long, pregnant pause from the selection committee which was followed by roar of laughter. And we won the job. Whew!” KEEP TECH IN CHECK. Technology is everywhere, but Moorefield cautions that there is some technologi- cal etiquette to consider. For example, when using a laptop or iPad in front of a client, consider removing the family or See LESSONS, page 12 “Pass on the lessons learned to others in marketing and your firm staff as needed. Some more important advice: Have a sense of humor … we need it in this business.”
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
E veryone makes mistakes, even marketers. It’s important to learn from them and move on. Here, two firms share some of their marketing faux pas and explain how they managed to recover with aplomb. SILENCE PLEASE. Having been around for 68 years, HuntonBrady Architects (Orlando, FL), an 86-per- son design-oriented architecture firm, has the ben- efit of drawing from past experience to avoid mar- keting blunders. But, there is always room for some level of error. Karen Moorefield, an associate and director of cor- porate development, says that, though the firm has had its share of “how did that happen” or “I can’t believe they said that!” moments, one of her favor- ites is when a former president was in a presen- tation, and his wife called him on his cell phone, which was in his pocket. “Unfortunately, he didn’t turn it off – then he an- swered the call to tell her he was in a meeting and couldn’t talk! Fortunately, he turned it into a light- hearted moment that the client sympathized with him about,” she says. “Of course, we now have a si- lence your phone rule that is part of our presenta- tion checklist!” CAT-LIKE REFLEXES HELP. Interviews and presentations are often places for occurrences that make you wish you had a mulligan to use. Being quick on your feet and not losing your cool or concentration is critical. “I was present at a shortlisted interview, and one of the team members kept referring to the name of another organization that this client was not affili- ated with on this pursuit,” Moorefield says. “A se- lection committee member stopped the presenter to correct them rather sternly. The team member thanked them for the clarification and smooth- ly moved on with the presentation. Not every- one could’ve recovered that easy, especially with a timed presentation.” “I’ve witnessed some embarrassing moments by others. Don’t let it happen to you.”
TALK TO US Do you have an interesting story to tell? Is your company doing things differently and getting results? Let us know. We’d love to contact you and feature you in an upcoming case study. If interested, email landreassen@ zweiggroup.com.
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 14, 2015, ISSUE 1119
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