Paul Mellor’s Post

What can we learn from dancing to Frankie Knuckles? In the late 90's as a gangly spotty youth, I would get topless in the middle of night. Swapping shirts with some strapping hunk of a guy. All because I liked his shirt more than mine. And it was easier to just buy his, rather than searching for it in the shops the next day. I had to out-think the problem. I had to play by my own rules. And Glaswegian taps-aff... especially in the middle of winter. Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking. - - - #marketing #Underdogs

Ooze credibility. Fight your natural urge to show everyone how clever you are. Listen to the pipe-smoking and randy old-goat Bertrand Russell 'Man seeks certainty, not knowledge'. Not bad for a Nobel Prize winner. Underdogs are too quick to tell the public how clever they are, and instead should focus their attention on oozing some credibility. Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking. - - - #marketing #Underdogs

Your 4-sided-triangle™ It's not a magic bullet. Yep, really. 'All models are flawed, but some are useful'... it was the ace Blair Enns on the 2Bobs podcast who reminded me of the quote from the brill George Box. The best you can hope for with your trademarked framework? Is it will bring order to your chaotic process. (Side-note, why do people insist on trademarking them?!) But 'bringing order to chaos' doesn't exactly jump off the page and sell, does it? So they've become ubiquitous and totally part of how agencies / consultants try to show off their thinking. But as a rule of thumb: If Management Consultants sell it, then it's definitely BS. So don't buy their BS. Instead, put your old fashioned thinking cap on. And do some old fashioned critical thinking. Because the only way Underdogs can compete with the largest brand in their category is by out-thinking them. Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking. - - - #marketing #Underdogs

Clean your toilets. Good old fashioned customer service beats innovative frothy-ness. Every single time. When it comes to marketing. Rather than obsessing over the new, how about you obsess over the now. Because, shock horror, the public aren't nearly as excited about the future as you are. Underdogs can't outspend the largest brand in the category, so they have to do some good ol' fashioned thinking. Which is often as basic as cleaning your toilets, training your staff properly and not sending emails from 'donotreply' inboxes.   Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking. - - - #marketing #Underdogs cc: Mellor&Smith

'Who's your enemy' is the laziest question people ask a brand owner. Instead, the far smarter question is 'which bully can you beat?' Why? Because the best fighters... they only fight once, but they do it where everyone can see. This week's newsletter highlights the 3 types of scraps an Underdog can get into, and which one is best for them. But remember, you have to over-commit, otherwise it looks opportunistic and you'll fail. Ooops. Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking. - - - #marketing #Underdogs

Love corporate red tape? Enjoy being a small cog in a big machine? How about being micromanaged? Or not having the flexibility to slot work around family stuff? Nope, nope, nope. Didn’t think so. Due to recent client wins, we're hiring an Account/Project Manager. Eeeeesh. Your previous experience might make people think you're a bit of a Frankenstein, but the line between Account and Project Management has become blurred. And anyway, we like people with a varied history. And if you need flexibility, this could be full-time at 37.5 hrs per week, or flexi-part-time as little as 10 hrs per week. Job Title: Account/Project Manager Salary: £35-45k + new biz commission Location: UK. Hybrid (2 days a month in London) Type: Full or part-time The role will suit you if... - You’re from a large ad agency background. - You don’t want to travel into London every day. - You’re a parent coming back from a career-break. - You’re from a minority background and been thwarted by unconscious bias. How to move things along... Email mitch@mellorandsmith.com with your most recent CV (even if it’s not fully up to date). The process will look like this: - Mitch will follow up with a 10-20 min phone chat - A 60 min Zoom with me to talk through your experience - A 60 min face-to-face meeting with me and Jim our Creative Director Everyone will get a response. If you’re a recruiter and you’ve got this far down the page. We don’t deal with recruiters, so please don’t get in touch. Yes even you, the worlds best recruiter. #jobsearch #hiring #Underdogs cc: Mellor&Smith

Snooker is the king of sports. Fact. And what can Underdogs learn from The Rocket? If you want to be the best 'You've got to just smother yourself in the mustard and go deep within it, hurt and suffer... you have to choose how bad you want it'. Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan. What does that mean for Underdogs? The only way for Underdogs to beat the competition is to to out-think them. They must do the thing the biggest brands can't, won't or daren't. Underdogs have to smother themselves in the mustard, because the biggest brands sure as shizzer won't. And remember, French Dijon is always best. Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking. - - - #Marketing #Underdogs cc: Mellor&Smith

You won't give your Oscar speech until you're 50. 25% of Nobel Prize winning scientists sing or make music in their spare time. And the average age of a Nobel Prize winner is 59, the average age of a Pulitzer Prize winner is 49, the age you'll win your first Oscar is 50. So if you want to be at the absolute top of your game, then you need to sing, dance, draw, write or act in your spare time. And you need to old enough for your knees to ache in the winter.   Because it's Cannes this week, I've been thinking about it this. Why? Because, marketers and Ad agencies seem to fetish youth and efficiency-at-all-costs. And they definitely fetish the young swashbuckling 30 year olds, with an MBA and a fast mouth. Scientists are Mick Jagger, while growth-hackers are Elon Musk. So what does it mean for Underdogs? People with interests outside of work are more productive, better critical thinkers and less likely to be a know-it-all-nobber. You want your Underdog to grow? Stop hiring people who argue about corporate strategy on LinkedIn at weekends. Outside of work, Elon shouts on Twitter while sleeping under his desk. Sir Mick Jagger. Proper scientist. - - - #Marketing #Underdog cc: Mellor&Smith

Miss Marple would have made a brilliant marketer. So would Dick Tracy. And Columbo, he'd defo have been a CMO. Why? Because the best marketers 'Interrogate the product until it confesses'. That's a quote from the delicious David Ogilvy. In today’s world, brands don’t half bang on as though the public care about their product. But it’s lazy, it treats the public with contempt. A gazillion Underdogs think they can interrupt people’s lives and lazily tell them the top 3 things about their product. We do this, and this and THIIIIIIS. A laundry list of features, all because the brand owner couldn’t be bothered to interrogate and think, like proper think. The level of indifference from the public towards your brand is directly proportional to the amount thinking you’ve done. If you want to grow, you need to interrogate your product. It may take a couple of days of thinking, or it might take all year. Find something interesting, and then focus all your attention on that, don't deviate a millimetre. Yes it sounds boring, yes there's waaaay more sexy stuff you'd prefer to be doing. But it's one of your most effective ways to create growth. Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking - - - #marketing #Underdog