Five years ago this month, the Brand Experience Lab hung out it's shingle in shared space in Tribeca. We were excited about what BEL could do and looked out on the horizon to see nothing but opportunities and success.
We were talking a new language back then, using expressions like oneline, compelling, authentic and relevant experiences, customer relationship experiences (CRE) and showing some of the coolest technologies around, like Synthetic Interview, volumetric displays, gesture tracking, laser sound and virtual reality.
We talked about how advertising spent too much time using the langauge of a hunt and not nearly enough time truly speaking the language of engagement. We spoke about an audience in captivity and how that audience would eventually do whatever it good to free itself from the chains of advertising that we created. No matter how much we dressed it up with cool phrases like "branded content" or word of mouth marketing. Because behind all of the talk about consumer empowerment, we were developing behavior targeting and trying to track the consumer across every touch point. And all the talk of the consumer being in control now. Maybe the fact that we havem't treated them like they've always been in control is one of the reasons they fight us so much today!
We were saying as loudly as we could that it didn't matter how you delivered your message, as long as you were telling a great story. It was always about the value of the right strategy and not simply using cool tactics.
Because using cool tactics is easy. As I still say today when making presentations at conferences, If I took off all of my clothes, I could get you all to talk about me. But no one would sit with me at lunch! But truly engaging the audience, truly building a relationship with the consumer, well that is hard work. As hard as it is to build and maintain every important relationship in our lives. And making viral videos don't build relationships.
We moved to bigger offices in March of 2002 and met many new clients and friends there. When asked why people wanted to visit us, we frequently heard things like My friend came in last week and told me that you guys were doing the coolest shit at the Lab and I had to visit. That we were great thinkers who really challenged clients to look beyond the status quo. And, most importantly, that people had fun when they were with us. One of my greatest professional compliments was when the CEO of a large consumer healthcare company, at the end of a full day or challenging them, said to us that we had Opened his eyes to understand that it wasn't about features & benefits. It was about telling our stories.
As an outsider to the traditional agency world, I had both advantages & disadvantages. Sometimes I stepped on toes, sometimes I was able to help create some new thinking. Sometimes it didn't work, fortunately many times it did. But I challenged and pushed when & where I could. I asked interesting questions, at least I thought they were interesting. Like, if you're setting aside a specific budget for viral or WOM marketing programs, doesn't that have to imply that you think the rest of your budget is being spent on things that aren't good enough to get people to talk about them? I know, it's a confusing sentence, but read it again and it will make sense.
Over the years, we've done many cool things. I'm really excited about our work with AudienceGames and the future of that technology seems brite indeed. In fact, we're going to have some big announcements about AudienceGames sometime in February, so stay tuned. We took a concept, turned it into an idea that worked for a client and are now turning into a service. Pretty cool stuff if you ask me. And 2008 will see several other activities that will be equally as cool!
But I also enjoy our charrette and ideation days. I personally get a great deal of satisfaction and watching a client's eye's spark to a certain idea, even if they don't end up doing it. The BEL team is one of the smartest groups of people I know. In fact, I''d stack them up against any agency group I've seen. Another memorable compliment was given to us by the head ideator from an agency during another full day session with the client and agency. She came up to me during a break and said Boy, I thought we were good. The ideas yo're coming up with off the top of your head are amazing! OK, so not surprisingly, we haven't been invited back to do any brainstorming with that agency & client again!
And I've learned over the years that running your own business can be both the most rewarding thing you can do professionally (there's still nothing that beats being a daddy to Sydney!). And sometimes the most stressful. and, like all good marriages, being with the right team makes even the most rocky of roads a joy to be on. I've changed a few partners and lost a dear team member to love on the west coast. But today we have a great team at BEL. And, as a team, we work our asses off to creat compelling authentic & relevant experiences for our clients. And we're looking at new ideas, like the socialization of place and e-tailing your retail. We've been ahead of the curve since we started, so you can place your bets that these ideas will only increase in the future! Remember, many agencies only started talking about what brands could do in virtual worlds within the past three or so years. We were creating virtual worlds with brands in 1991!
During this five year period, I've also been through lots of personal challenges. My wife & I went through many miscarraiges on the way to having Sydney. But then we had Sydney and honestly, she's the best darn kid in the world. No really, she is. I also lost my Dad a few years ago. In fact, got the call from my Mom that my Dad had passed away just as we arrived onsite to do a client gig. Needless to say, it was a very bad day. And it's not always been easy for my wife either. Being the spouse of a business owner is never easy. In the good times, we work too much. In the bad times, we're way too stresed. But Kristen (& Sydney) have been there with me through it all, so a big thanks to them!
As I look back at these past five years, it's sometimes easy to just see the missed opportunities, the blown presentations, the gigs that got away. The times that we weren't at our best for whatever reason.
But, five years later, we're still here and we're still telling the same story. Not because it's a hip story today, but because we still passionately believe what we say. We still believe that the only way to truly connect with the audience is by creating compelling, authentic and relevant brand experiences. And we're still looking for the coolest ways to tell those stories. Sure, lots of agencies are jumping on the "experience" or new technologies bandwagons, but if you dig just a little below the surface, you'll see lots of talk, but no walk!
So, if you've never been to the Lab, why don't you schedule a time to visit. Brings us your greatest challenge and we'll maybe throw you an idea or two. Consider it an anniversary gift! What have you got to lose? Plus, we have a few of those Heineken kegs in the fridge -- a side benefit from a speaking gig in Amsterdam!
And to Barry, Clilly, Sarah & Rachel, here's to the next five! Let's meet the new challenges head on and keep on building great experiences for our clients. And most importantly, let's keep having fun doing it!
Happy Birthday to BEL!
Happy Birthday to BEL!
Happy Birthday dear BEEEELLLLL
Happy Birthday to BEL!
Hi David,
Congratulations both on the BEL birthday as well as the positive attitude you seem to keep when facing challenges. I don't get to NY that often any more, yet when I do I'll take you up on that beer (and - if customs let me - will bring some belgian brew along for contrast)
Keep it up !
Alain (speaking for the whole Futurelab team)
Posted by: alain thys | January 31, 2008 at 01:52 AM
David, and the rest of the BEL crew of course as well. Congratulations with the fifth year of BEL! Keep up the good work and entausiasm.
Alef
Posted by: Alef de Jong | January 31, 2008 at 09:03 AM