Comments on: Unsung Heroes

By: purple motes » COB-27: respecting job assignments

purple motes » COB-27: respecting job assignments — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:37:16 +0000

[...] Owyang at his Web Strategy blog celebrates unsung heroes. He mentions “technology vendors, PR firms, agencies, and even VCs.” His failing to mention [...]

By: Dee Anna McPherson

Dee Anna McPherson — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:45:22 +0000

Jeremiah,

Very true. So there we have it, it comes down to a choice between glory or cash.

By: jeremiah_owyang

jeremiah_owyang — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:05:32 +0000

Dee Anna

Yes, good work begets more work. That’s why the super talented workers in corporate are always underpaid.

By: Dee Anna McPherson

Dee Anna McPherson — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:52:03 +0000

Someone once told me that the best reward for work well done was the opportunity to do more work. I think that reflects the attitude of most agency people. Clients pay for ideas, and while its nice if they give us credit, they pay for the work, so they own it. It’s work for hire. If we do good work, they will keep asking us to do more work for them.

However, this dynamic has resulted in mis-perceptions among some of the role and value agencies play.

Part of the answer to the problem is that agencies and clients need to approach and structure their engagements as true partnerships where both care about the success of the other. It’s not about claiming credit, it’s about collaborating for mutual benefit.

By: Perry Hewitt

Perry Hewitt — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:32:57 +0000

I really meant “time wounds all heels” — in the short term, you can overlook (or even lift) the work of an unsung hero. But over a long period of time, apart from being unethical, that behavior tends to catch up with one.

Conversely, celebrating an unsung hero — for example putting the other guy’s name on the client deliverable/award application/spot bonus list, can sure go a long way.

By: jeremiah_owyang

jeremiah_owyang — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:01:41 +0000

Perry

Do you mean Time heals all wounds? Or you really meant “time wounds all heels”

By: Perry Hewitt

Perry Hewitt — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:00:19 +0000

Having been both client and agency side for a long while, I *do* find that time wounds all heels, or most.

The gender and credit taking discussion I will leave for another time and venue. ; )

By: John (JD) Valerio

John (JD) Valerio — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:48:15 +0000

Good post. Unsung heros often get sung about in the long run. So for those “men and women in black” working back stage. . . hang in there. Life has a fun way of working out.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:18:05 +0000

Having worked on both the interactive agency and corporate site, I agree with this. BUT, I’ve also seen several instances of agencies completely exaggerating the extent of their role in a project in order to win awards. When a project is a success, everyone wants to be the clever person who drove it. When a project bombs, it was always the other guy’s idea.

By: jeremiah_owyang

jeremiah_owyang — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:06:28 +0000

Aaron

Sausage and laws eh? I take it there’s not much difference in production of these.

By: Aaron Stannard

Aaron Stannard — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:20:39 +0000

I don’t think EVERYTHING should be transparent – how’s the saying go? “There are two things that no one should ever see made: sausage and laws.”

By: jeremiah_owyang

jeremiah_owyang — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:37:08 +0000

CSalomonlee

Always great to hear from you! It’s interesting, I see the larger ecosystem now. It’s actually fascinating watching from a perch as everything swirls around.

I think they will want to let some ideas out –but some will need to be ‘monetized’ for other clients.

By: Csalomonlee

Csalomonlee — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:23:03 +0000

Jeremiah, Again, I love your posts and your ability to acknowledge how everything plays into success – individual, company, etc.

With regard to Pete’s idea, we’ve been touting openess as a way to demonstrate your strategy and ideas which can create new business. Why wouldn’t this apply to PR – or at least some ideas that you don’t mind letting out. I can think of Todd Defren as a good example of this.

By: jeremiah_owyang

jeremiah_owyang — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:12:43 +0000

Pete

A good idea, but many PR folks aren’t going to want to let the cat out of the bag to competitors. Another example of why they are the cobbler’s children.

By: Eamon

Eamon — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:04:16 +0000

Hi. Just to let you know that added 13 of your blog posts to spotlightideas.co.uk Top 250 blog posts in advertising, marketing, media & PR.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:47:44 +0000

In the case of agencies, it’s often smaller digital production shops that roll up their sleeves and do the dirty work, while the lead creative gets the credit.

I have a solution for those PR people who want credit for their dormant ideas. If you have a flash of brilliance and your prospect/client rejects it, open-source it. Create a PR exchange where your great idea can be injected into the public domain and inspire others. You’re not getting paid for it anyway and you will get the credit you seek.

What do you think?

By: Jon Clements

Jon Clements — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:45:17 +0000

Hi Jeremiah
Thanks for the salute but, to be fair, it’s very much a part of the slings and arrows of being in a consultancy role (in our case PR).
If a client’s story appears transparently manufactured by someone else, rather than by virtue of their innovation, excellence, vision, etc, then we haven’t done our job. Yes, ideas do get stolen, but hopefully the mutual buinsess relationships forged over time mean it’s a rarity.
Believe me, come the PR awards, we shout our successes from the rooftops, but that’s not the same as muscling in on the client’s spotlight.

By: Mike Rowland

Mike Rowland — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:37:21 +0000

From those of us who act as “that man behind the curtain” making OZ look almighty and powerful to the outside world while avoiding the spotlight ourselves, thanks for the call out. There are many more of us out there than anyone realizes…