* In the social media space, we all should be careful when piling on. Remember, you never know who’s watching/listening out there. Clients, friends, colleagues, etc. Always represent yourself as you would in your day-to-day interactions with your colleagues and clients.

* If you do end up lending your opinion/thoughts to a case study in analytical fashion, keep in mind, the marketing/PR folks making the decisions may have been “influenced” into making decisions they would normally not make. Tell me that hasn’t happened to you. The CEO may want to go an entirely different direction than yous suggested. Legal may have issues with your recommended plan. All could drastically influence your plan–and your outcomes.

Good post, Dave.

But the thing the those people who are ridiculing the brands or ideas is that they don’t make the rules. Heck, there really aren’t that big a set of rules that we hold in this industry as it is. We’re evolving day by day and though, there are norms that we follow, we’ve yet to establish every rule as we’re trying new things everyday and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

Cut some slack and understand the grand scheme of things before jumping on these QB’s bandwagons.

J

http://twurl.nl/sx6ug7

@Colleen – You’re last two sentences sum it up for me. That’s the point I was trying to make. Agree wholeheartedly.

@Don – Nice catch! (pun intended) I updated the post. I knew I shouldn’t have written this so late last night. I even watched that game…

I have seen former agencies rip apart a new agencies work and I’ve seen clients of others lament that their new campaign/messaging/application/etc. isn’t as exciting/engaging/emotional/effective as the old ones.

That being said, the only way to grow is by taking a step back and trying to be as objective as possible and look at campaigns with as fresh eyes. Criticism never helps, but feedback does. Are we likely to get answers to the amount of market research and surveying done to gauge the initiatives effectiveness? No. Do we understand as outsiders the nuances and politics on the client side and internal at the agency. Probably not.

I think we grow in this industry by gauging the effectiveness and strategic implementation of what others are doing. Tearing each other down accomplishes and teaches nothing.

But what about turning the ‘Monday Morning QB’ analytical eye inwards more often? Too often I think PR/Comm agencies get so tied up in a) winning new biz and b) getting results that they stop looking at both what worked and what didn’t.

We recognize the ‘hits’, but don’t examine the details of the effort that went into getting them. That kind of information sharing – of what’s working and what isn’t – shouldn’t be saved for a ‘post-mortem’ analysis either. I recall one campaign several years back where despite having a great story we couldn’t get traction with the media. We found that we were spinning our wheels because we had to educate the media – and that lead to confusion as to how to make the story work for their audiences. So I suggested we asked the client’s sales team what was opening doors for them. We realized that they were leading with a different, more audience friendly, message. Sure it wasn’t about the thrust of what the client was selling but it framed the messaging in a perspective that the audience understood. We changed our approach with the media and suddenly people ‘got it’ and the coverage rolled in. Had we waited until the end our results would have been dismal and our client disappointed.

On another front, how often does someone ask the new client ‘So, why did you chose us instead of the competition?’ That question is at the basis of ‘The Buying Conversation’ and it more often than not contains information critical to repeating success (or repeating ‘the sale’ if you will).

I’d say that there’s something to be gained by paying attention to – and analyzing – the successes and failures of others. Openly criticizing them, however, isn’t likely to be beneficial.

But paying attention to – and analyzing – our own successes and failures simply demands criticism, which ultimately should lead to improvement and growth.