| >> And here’s what to do about it. If you start with the wrong perspective you get the wrong results. And an amazing number – maybe most businesses – start by looking in instead of looking out. One symptom is silly slogans. One bank I deal with – one of the most incompetent I’ve come across has a terrible slogan. “Tomorrow Begins Today” WTF does that mean? Why on earth would it make you choose that bank? Bitter experience has taught me you will surely regret it if you do. My colleagues, I and the distraught recipient wasted many hours of our lives simply getting that bank to send money to an account in another bank. That’s because they suspected fraud – for no sane reason I can imagine, Nobody had the basic common sense to contact me and ask. The transfer of a measly £4,000 took several days. The bank, as a warning, is NatWest. The employees we dealt with were all helpful. They are just working for wankers. How do you get things the right way round? By looking at what you do, how you do it, then doing it better. Take the NatWest. It usually takes over 40 minutes, to get them to answer the phone. Another bank, Halifax, takes about the same. The only bank I don’t mind dealing with, First Direct, is far quicker. If you have even half a brain managing something as simple as answering the phone is more important than silly slogans. Why isn’t that clear to overpaid banking buffoons? My colleagues and I spend a lot of time thinking about these things. They’re all important. No matter what aspect of your business concerns you we can usually help. That’s because we have all worked in real businesses, not just ones that advise. Even my manager, Kelly, has run a hotel. So we don’t just give you better words and pictures – we give you something more important. A focus on what matters, what doesn’t – and why. You know what that leads to? Profits. Drop me a line. Best, Drayton |
How corporate masturbation kills your business
About the Author
In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.
He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.
Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.
He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.