Totally Hooked on TED

June 22, 2011, 4:10 PM

Over the past year, I’ve been smitten . . . by Ted. No, not the coffee delivery guy; but rather by TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) – a conference where innovators are given a brief platform of 18-20 minutes to share engaging and innovative ideas. Each segment is later made available on YouTube a/k/a, “TED Talks.”

I recently watched a TED Talk by Simon Sinek, author of the book, “Start with Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.” The premise is that influential leaders – and the companies they lead – are successful because they focus on “why” their organizations exist, rather than WHAT they produce or HOW they produce it.

I encourage you to watch the video, and then ask yourself:

• “Do I focus on selling WHAT my company does?”

• “Do I spend too much time explaining HOW we make our products?”

If you’re like most companies, the answer is yes. But, here’s the big secret that Sinek reveals in his book:  People don’t buy WHAT you do . . . they buy WHY you do it!

At Burgess Advertising & Marketing, we recently did our own team exercise around this concept. We have a great group of 18 staffers, many of whom have worked together for a decade or more. We also work in an industry that can be very homogenous in its offerings. For example, most ad/PR agencies essentially do the same things – we have a fancy process for branding; we produce communications products. Our WHAT includes TV, print, radio, online ads, brochures, exhibits, PR outreach, web sites, social media campaigns, and so on. Our HOW includes: by listening to our clients, by generating more great ideas than other agencies, buy being smarter, working harder, being more vigilant with budgets, etc.

But, as we went through the process of discovering – and articulating – the WHY, the WHY do we exist and WHY do we do what we do and WHY do we come to work every day, the REAL answers were revealing . . . and extraordinary!

Why do the creative strategists, copywriters, graphic and web designers, social media and public relations managers at Burgess come to work each day? Because:

  •  We are driven to :achieve goals for our clients through creative ideas
  •  We have a gift, we love what we do and we are here for the thrill of creation
  •  We believe in ourselves and we believe in happy endings – for our clients and us!
  •  We are in an environment where we are all leaders, and we thrive on the challenges
  •  It’s fun!

And why do our clients work with us? In fact, some stay with us, some for 6,8, 10 years and longer?

Turns out, it’s pretty simple. What is important to us is important to them. Our clients believe what we believe.

I encourage you to try this exercise at your company. Or, if you’d like, call us, we’ll come and conduct a workshop for you!

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