It's Not Always Right to Be Right

Chapter 6Noticed, Remembered, Understood

When Venus Williams burst onto the world scene, Reebok was one of the very first to snap her up. A marketeer's dream, she was the epitome of modern youth: talented, driven, stylish and generationally relevant. An exceptional athlete and an exceptional signing.

I recall one of our research agencies developing a new tracking methodology. They labelled it ‘The Cool List’. It measured who was cool. How cool were they? How long had they been cool? What stage of cool were they? Who thought they were cool? What could keep them cool?

The cool list was endless.

Most organisations do the same. For their brands and for their corporate reputation, they spend a fortune on building and measuring brand equity. Yet ironically, for our number one asset — ourselves — we do stuff‐all.

Pretty uncool, I reckon.

THE MESSAGE

I have always marvelled at outstanding marketing. The ability of brands to consistently reinvent themselves and remain generationally relevant is an art form to behold. This chapter attempts to replicate that. Not in a traditional advertising sense, but applied to the most important asset we have in the world: ourselves. I appreciate this may sound a little selfish. Maybe it is, but is it necessarily a bad thing? When we are progressing, developing and advancing as an individual we are hard to beat. And when we are at our very best, the companies we are part of will always benefit.

Be aware that I'm not talking about standard self‐development. ...