Work Smarter, Not Harder
I’ve always believed in learning by immersion. Classroom settings are fine for the basics, for the theoretical processes, but you can’t really understand how to do something until you’ve done it. Media by fire, I sometimes call it. So for my first few days here, I asked to be added to everything: every regroup, every huddle, every check in, every run through, essentially any euphemism we’ve come up with to describe a meeting, I was there. The goal, of course, being that if I throw myself into the thick of it headfirst, something is bound to stick. And I would say that on average, I’m probably understanding between 75%-80% of the things people say. Not great considering we’re speaking the same language, but not that bad either. Even in Boston, that number never gets much higher than 95%.
One of the first things I noticed here in the London office is the sheer size of the different departments. I’m sure I’ve been in a Boston Bubble for the past 6 years and many of our specialty groups are led in NY, but Affiperf here takes up a whole wing. So does Socialyze. There are more strategists on this floor than in the Boston office and half the people I meet seem to work for Ecselis. I’m asked to help construct a Media 101 for the planning team to present to Cake (they would then do the same for the planning team) to help drive collaboration between the two groups. So I left my perch on the fourth floor to seek out slides from the various teams and got more than a little lost on the journey. Side note: one of the people I spoke to had just finished a Media Planning 101 so the work was entirely done before I really even started. Work Smarter, not harder. I’m pretty sure that presentation will become my bible for the rest of my trip here.
In reviewing those slides, I learn quickly that many of the tools and processes are the same here across the pond as they are back in the states*, but maybe with different names. For example, TGI, I gather is the European equivalent to MRI, one of the tools we use to research consumer insights. Other terms are a little trickier at first but eventually I get it. TVRs (Television Ratings) are what we call GRPs (Gross Rating Points). VOD (literally pronounced exactly as it sounds) stands for Video On Demand, but actually encompasses both what we traditionally think of as On Demand along with all digital video. That one actually took me a little while. CPT simply means “cost per thousand” (what we call a CPM); frankly theirs makes more sense.
In working closely with the Strategists here, I also hear many familiar Havas-isms (words known only to the villagers): Meaningful Brands, Meaningful Connections, OSEP, etc. These tools, models and processes — that we use in Boston — play a major role in the storytelling for clients and pitches in this office. My first real assignment here, which came a few days in, was to rework a pitch presentation to tell a more cohesive story, and even though the market, consumer, and landscape were all clearly different from what I’m used to, the overall story is still the same: the ask, the audience, the insight, the strategy, etc, all infused with elements from the various Havas-isms above. I probably understood about 90% of that deck. Maybe a new UK record for me.
*My attempt to fit in by adopting British expressions first included the ones “across the pond” and “the states,” although I may have taken it a bit too far.
