We had a "Come to Jesus" meeting yesterday. And as we licked our wounds afterwards, we collectively realized, it's way better to have a chance to make amends and corrections after a client, friend, advisor or boss calls you on the carpet than having your ass swept out the door.
Driving down the highway the other day, we came upon a car going much too slowly for the traffic. There were some gray-haired people in the back seat, but I couldn't tell if this was a whole car full of seniors or what. Upon passing I realized there were two much younger people in the front seat - the kids perhaps? They were driving the old folks like they were old folks. I think, when we treat people past a certain age like they're fragile, it just makes them more so. So don't do that.
I was driving west on 6th Avenue here in Denver this morning, on my way to do a little shopping at Last Call, the bargain version of Neiman Marcus, when I noticed a billboard for Chipotle. It appeared new - and old - at the same time. That's because, after months of a new look, it seems as though like the burrito people have gone back to the original - a burrito, wrapped in foil, on a plain white background with a short simple headline, in this case, "Fulfillment." I thought maybe they finally realized how good that campaign was and got over the need to unnecessarily reinvent. I told my wife, who doesn't buy into advertising at all (at least that's what she says) the story of how Chipotle had hired a new agency, the possible result of a new marketing director, and had ditched the look they'd had since the beginning. I theorized that maybe the new marketing guy had felt the need to put his own mark on the brand when it occurred to me, recognizing genius is every bit as impressive as creating it.
Okay, so I'm in a recording studio, with my phone, yet blogging to let you know almost nothing, yet amusing the hell out of myself.