I once had a punch up in a Manchester bar with an eminent publisher and businessman (you know who you are). Yes, I know it’s not big and it’s not clever. But, to be fair to us both, it was 20 plus years ago when our testosterone was raging and yes, of course, it did involve a young lady. I’ve bumped into him a fair bit recently (not aggressively) and we’ve had a nostalgic laugh about it. We were both involved, in different ways, in the creative and PR scene in Manchester in those days.
It’s got me to pondering the huge difference in attitudes of competing agencies to each other between then and now. The difference is even more marked in the digital and social media sectors.
In the Thatcher, ‘loadsamoney’ era, boy, were we all competitive. And part of that competitiveness was a lot of secrecy. God forbid if anyone knew which potential clients you were talking to, or pitching for. The most jealously guarded of all was ‘inside information’ – those snippets of knowledge that you and you alone had that just might give you the edge in the pitch or new business process.
Whilst we might share a drink and a laugh at an industry event, in public we were daggers drawn and, at best, condescending to our key competitors.
Now fast forward two decades and what a sea-change. Agencies are still very competitive of course but, mostly, apply that competitiveness in a much more mature and intelligent way. Collaboration is commonplace, cross-referrals routine and support from peers almost always there when needed.
But social media and digital agencies are the most striking examples. Knowledge is routinely shared with so-called competitors on networking sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. We share our experiences in blogs and commonly praise other agency work on bulletin boards. OK, a glance at some of the comments on industry news sites will show you there are still a few trolls around who delight in nasty comments, but the positive far outweigh the negative. And most negative comments are sincerely held, not just there for self-promotion.
So why the change? Are we not as competitive any more? Not a chance. The desire to succeed and be top dog is as great as ever. Perhaps we’re just nicer people in the caring, sharing post-Blair days? Not a bit of it – anyone watched any reality TV recently? In my opinion it’s because marketing in general has matured and grown up from its Madmen days. And social media marketing demands transparency and rewards sharing and collaboration by its very nature. Put simply you’ve got to be real to succeed.
Hopefully my sparring partner and I have similarly matured since our fighting days. I know I have – I won easily and she fancied me much more than him.
Steve Downes,
Juice Digital,
Social Media Agency, Manchester
One Comment
Steve, you are hilarious!