Fermentation pitch

Every now and then, I write random stories based on the results of a random word generator. This is a product of that exercise. I have no idea what happens next. If you do, let me know.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That was their general philosophy, and it applied specifically to any pitch process. The task at hand: figure out how to innovate the fermentation process through connected devices at scale. This was no ordinary moment for the team, since you can’t get away with producing a film about how awesome it could be. The mandatory requirements of the brief required real change.

Change, it turns out, is hard. Especially when you leave the comfortable constraints of a signed off document and enter the uncomfortable constraints that the world offers. The world, and its father the Universe, is one indifferent bastard. It doesn’t care about your Cannes award for this piece of work, it doesn’t care about anything at all. And as ironic as it may sound, the only types of fermentation that came out of the initial strategy session were the boiling feelings of distrust amongst all involved.

The client didn’t make it easy either. Mother Nature is one tricky CEO who already knows what goes onto the fermentation process, an element of the presentation that somehow the agency thought was wise to spend 50 minutes on. When it came to the actual change in the process, the people and the technology, it was clear that MN (that’s how she signed her emails, anyway) was nothing short of disappointed. What gave it away was the ominous sigh at the end of the presentation, which turned out to influence a butterfly on the other end of the planet. She knew the Butterfly Effect dictated the exact opposite of this dynamic, but who cares — she was the one in charge so she could change the rules as she saw fit. Who wouldn’t?