the challenges of teamwork

Unless you are a complete and highly dysfunctional genius, you need to work within a team to let the best of you shine through. It took me 10 years to be able to even think that " I would not have done it like this, but I think it can still work". So I apologise to my first teams who had to suffer my dictatorial experiments....and I give them this trailer as  a gift  In any case, giving honest feedback seems to work. And it makes even the most obnoxious @#$%^&*( seem sympathetic. Good night and good luck.

Swiss irony

I had not been in Geneva in summer for 4 years and forgot the sense of irony that at times permeates in the Swiss otherwise very pacified environment.
Geneva in Summer is a magnet for outrageously wealthy members of the world economies...you name it... eastern European oligarchs, Gulf oil magnate, African dignitaries, Latin American new billonaires from very old families...all congregate here.
The interesting thing is also that most of the countries our modern heroes come from are known for taking a very "liberal" stance on environmental issues, freedom of speech, democracy, humanitarian issues, armed and religious conflicts...and the same way all the French are all collectively the bearers of the French goods and evils ( no, I do not rape maids when I stay in luxury hotels. This is not taught at school either ) , the wandering billionaires inevitably come to represent their countries.
Someone in the Canton of Geneva must have thought than you cannot simply take the money and shut up. They decided to use the President Wilson lakeside promenades to host the www.cartooningforpeace.org  exhibition. A UN supported exhibition that basically aims at using the power of journalistic cartoons to  attract your attention and mine on all the things that can go wrong in the world...with an ironic focus on the countries where some of our vacationing billionaires come from.
There I am, strolling along the Quai Wilson a night, looking with gourmandise at all said tourists being "forced" to endure cartoons making visible to the world the sufferings and pains some of their own people have to go through back home in a place they chose for its "neutrality"!
I cannot believe noone thought of this before authorising the exhibition. Nor can I believe something good cannot come of it. This is probably the closest you can find to a Swiss revolutionary initiative. The Swiss sense of irony is alive and kicking. I will enjoy it again another night before flying back to Panama, the country that is now waiting for the return of Noriega with anger or passion. make up your own mind on the issues of the world on www.cartooningforpeace.org.  That is one no censors can stop anymore so it would be a waste to turn our back to.  One of the drawings mentions malnutrition...a way for me to remind all of us that 2 billion people in the world live with less than 2 dollars a day, half of which suffer from chronical malnutrition and 800 000 do not have access to clean water. You can help by donating a dollar or  luxury car to www.csdw.org. My friend Paul in Malawi and my brothers in Haiti will be thankful.
Good night and good luck.

The globetrotter's guide to marketing

23 years ago I boarded a train in Beijing that was heading towards Paris via Ulan Bator,Moscow, Warsaw , East - and West - Berlin, then Maubeuge. Think Soviet Moscow, with the first Macdo on Poutine Square which was a tourist viewpoint , Jaruzelski Poland. That trip taught me everything I ever wanted to know about marketing. Today, I am boarding a plane towards Lilongwe, Malawi, via Nairobi. It may well be my refresher's course.

The advantage of trips that last more than 12 hours is that they leave you time to think, to look and to feel what is happening around you. Waiting in airports or train stations, without mentioning motorway rest areas, is one of the best observation point there is. Beats any focus group for sure. Most times, it is an observation point from which one stands and watches as opposed to being a part of the crowd. But that is where my Transiberian and malawi extravaganza differ. I am sitting in row 28 on Kenya Airways and trust me, this is as much  in the middle of the plane as I want to be. No fancy shmancy food menu for me today. 23 years ago, I even had no idea there was a business class anyway. And i thought anything above 2nd class was luxury. Little did I know that first class in the Chinese Transiberian was just below deluxe and  2 seater wagon...and just above wooden benches. Scotty beam me up back to my youth!

On both trip, I can feel that insisting knot that freezes my brain and whispers...what is around the corner? what does it look like on the other side? How do I call for a taxi, make friends, what food will I eat, will it make me really sick? Did I take the right clothes? Do I have enough money? As i think of myself as the proud product f a multiracial family, how will I face the "real deal", where those who surrounds me do not look like me and have no clue that grandmother of mine was black?

It challenges everything I know and leaves you hanging there with the task to find all the answers by yourself. And there is no pre-testing in this world. It is not Livingstone's survival but close enough to get the thrills of traveling pumping again.

Now, imagine a moment you are in the office, tasked with developing that great new idea that will rock Brazilian's socks off and get them to rush "en masse" for your nicely packaged profit sweetener. You wrote the concept and someone else translated it so that you do not even have a clue about what you are doing but you will assume somebody else , from a highly qualified research institute, can give you the answers. And you will compare with poland because the demographics are similar enough to draw statistical conclusions.  Based on those, you will get the mad men to work. All brought up in the cult of Bernbach and Burnett who did not have a clue what a street market in Campinhas looks like. And you may even have a nice film produced in Uruguay because the purchasing people love Uruguay these days.

Rewind. Invert the roles. become the learner of your "consumers". It will piss off your partner and your kids because things do not necessarily happen where you sit and you have to go away to learn. By the way, why do we bring our kids up with the love of the world when the only thing we want is for them to live at the end of the road?

That is what I learnt in that train and which comes back to me since I left Panama last night...the best marketing I ever did was when i assumed I knew nothing about what I was looking it. it was easier 15 years ago because...well, I did not know much to be honest. About motherhood when working on Pampers or about breakfast when mine was very often taken in a bar after a long night. I did not assume I knew. so I would question everything...the nagging why? why do we say think visualize things the way we do? is there another way out? What would the Japanese do ( yep I went to business schools in the 80s, China was not yet existing)?

This permanent uncertainty was and still is for me the magic of great marketing. That is when you are not Steve Jobs or Jonathan Ives. Because I have no clue how these guys do it but I have a feeling they would never say they are into marketing anyway.

Voila, this was me and my moment of doubt sitting in Schipol. malawi, here we come.

Good night and good luck

The radiologist will see you in a minute

Today is medical check up day at the Punta Pacifica "John Hopkins affiliated" Hospital  in Panama. The highest standard health facilities in the country, courtesy of the corporate world. It is normal procedure for a guy my age so nothing to worry or joke about; apart from the now traditional Panamanian hiccups of "your name does not appear on our register" at the 7am check in, followed 15 minutes later by the legendary "now you appear but you were not born on the birthdate you indicate on your forms". At which point, the really nice lady of the "programa ejecutivo" offers to take all your info by hand and then type them in the form for you. First victory on the system, you can now get in and hand your body fluids samples to a lady you will probably meet with embarassement  at the cafeteria at lunchtime. Who ever forgot to think of embarassement as a motive not to get tested for stuff !...even if it is true that when you actually are sick, embarassement tends to rank very low on the scale but what if it were a factor for actually getting sick ?
The rest of the day is supposed to be rather uneventful, which does not match with Alexandra`s twinkling eyes when she wished me good luck on my way out this morning. It starts in a routine that offers nothing to the inspired blogger...until I get to the echography room ! Now, so that you know, the only echography I experienced so far where the - not so few- ones granted  to get to know Pala and Titide ( how did Alexandra manage to get one a month and still get it covered by the insurance is still a mystery to me?). So imagine me lying there whilst the lady rubs the gel on my belly and rolls her scan on me, pushing hard on my ribcage and whilst still not moving her eyes from her screenw asks " sure it does not hurt?" in Spanish. At which point I confess I do not speak spanish to limit the interactions between Cruella and me. THEN...THEN....she mutters  " the radiologist will see you in a minute" , "el radiologo va a llegar en un minuto".

So, here is me thinking "why do I need to see the radiologo? I thought I just needed a radio! "Have they found a foetus in my belly? Paloma would be thrilled but I am not convinced this is how I want to make the headlines of the local newspaper...has she seen something that is so bad she cannot even discuss it herself and needs UN DOCTOR.....Just with 5 words, the nurse transports me from the world of the healthy to the world of the sick. In the next 10 minutes, waiting for the radiologist - who will never come in the end so do not expect a Dr House moment with me today- I will be thinking of my Parkinson suffering dad ( which one obviously diagnoses with an echography of the lower parts of the human body), my granny who only went to hospital because the food was better than at home, and all other things that tie me in to the hospital scene.
I know the medical world, I know some doctors, I watch Dr House and Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. I even once had a fling for a woman who would come home at lunchtime and announce in the most charming voice.."I just told a 25year old he had leukemia...what is for lunch?" I should not be surprised nor obsessed.
But everytime I am confronted to the harshness of the medical way of saying things...I am puzzled. And I am even more certain that at least one of my child has to be a doctor. The other one, in true Guadeloupean way,  being destined to become a lawyer and the third one whe he comes a famous football player ( no plans yet if it is a girl, as he / she is not even conceived so we have some time). When I enter an hospital, I dream  to be talked to as a normal individual. I long for transparency and honesty and empathy. Why should the radiologist come in to sign the examination scans if there is nothing to examine or if he / she has nothing to tell me? as we say in my line of work, "if it ain't broken, don`t fix it". And then why does the doctor not come in the end when I have been told the doctor would come.
See, I am not even sick and I already when to get out of here asap.
It is time to go out for lunch. I am dreading the encounter with the samples lady. I shall pretend I do not have body functions and come from a strange planet called France where they put dicators in prison and behead the kings. That was my moment of hospital terror. Even less eventful than an episode of Shwarzwaldklinik. Mental note to self : never ever use your professional jargon with the beotians. Or call in a more senior expert if you can handle the situation. EVER. Even if I do not plan to heal or kill anybody with advertising anytime soon.
Here is to the experts fo their trade, whatever that might be. And those who always want the senior guy to sign on on the report. Live from Punta Pacifica Hospital which I prefer to remember as the place  where Aristide was offically named Touchaud Touchaud by an officer of the Panamanian registro civil.
Good night and good luck.

The magic of being wrong

I just watched a TED conference during which kathryn schulz talks on being wrong and links it to our compulsive urge to understand what is going to happen in a world where failure is terrifying.....It illustrates one of the questions I keep asking myself...why is it we keep making the same mistakes? Here is the trick...geniuses got it right when everybody thought they would get it wrong. Think of Hayek Senior, going to a meeting during which he demonstrated to Swiss bankers that a profit could be made by manufacturing watches in Switzerland. And apparently got a very cold reaction along the lines of " if your eally believe it can be done, why dont you do it yourself...?". I remember him saying 20 years later that it taught him never to ask anything, let alone money, to a banker....
So where can you draw the line between being stubborn to the point of failure and being the only one knowing you are right ? I really liked the 3 assumptions stages described by Kathryn Sculz in her TED talk...if they disagree, assume they must be ignorants. Try to explain again until thay change their mind. But if they still do not agree, then assume they are idiots. that is, until you realise they are not. At which point, if they still disagree when they have been provided with the same facts and exposed to your brilliant reasoning and the same brain power to process it, assume they are evils. And probably try to get rid of them or ignore them.....
For those who do not wnat to fall ion the EVIL trap, I would recommend the reign of the fools;  In every royal court, a wise king would always walk with a fool ( le fou du roi in French ) to let them know when they were going off board. Some fools lost their life doing so but some kings gained empires. We shall never know the ratio....however, when you go up the executive ladders, fools become a scarcity because it is hard to pay people to disagree with the boss. And especially if you want to make sure they do not want to replace the boss. Which is tricky...as we are all todl from oru firtst days making coffee for the big guys to treat the job as if it were for your won company......So today, here is my pledge to create  the function of official fool in all companies..and see where it takes us.

Good night and good luck. Here is to the corproate fools.

The rise of philantropic propaganda

Nearly a year ago, I was stuck on the highest floor of an apartment building in Santiago de Chile with Alexandra and the kids when the 8.8 earthquake struck. A lot has been said about natural disasters but the noise and the smell and the feeling of panic never really leave you. To this day, I have an primal reaction when the winds get too strong and I can no longer come close to the windows of my 28th floor apartment. Alexandra is even bugging me to change the bed because she feels it is moving too much when I move at night ( for the record, I dont move that much).  But this is not the only visible effect it had on me. Though I did not suddenly develop a limitless capacity for empathy, I started to look at the news with a different eye, always looking for the people beyond the broken landscapes. I started to wonder how I could DO something about the whole situation. Some call it finding a purpose, others think it is a certain sense of charity or an education. To me, it was a healthy way to make some sense of what had happened. And also the deep conviction that I have time, money and even without the capacity to turn back time and change the course of events, a certain ability to manipulate others to spend their money on things they may not need or want in the first place......A conviction that I share with a few individuals who I really like and trust . They are all in the propaganda business in some way but have been able to do some good at the other end of the planet. I wanted to give them a share of my blog today. They are the living proofs of the rise of the philantropic propagandists.

When we got back from Chile, we gave money and diapers to Haiti; it never felt enough. We thought of adopting an orphan child to get one human being a better life; it did not feel right.  So, we ( I )  gave more money. Alexandra supported this without ever asking me to consider setting up a University fund for the kids. In Haiti, I could see all my Caribbean brohers and sisters. I know it is a cliche but I grew up reading secretly the life and works of Toussaint Louverture and hoping one day to get to know the first country to free itself from colonialism. I never went to Haiti before though I have met with tons of Haitians, from cab drivers in New York to friends in French Guyana and have been an undeterred fan of Tabou Combo. It is ironic then that the light came from my Irish friend, Camilla, a reformed advertising executive  ( she is so going to hate that description ) and up and coming script writer ( and that one even more), who announced on December 8, 2010...."I'm proud to launch the HaiTee shop with the support of the Soul of Haiti Foundation. The unique ''Purrrsuit of Hoppyness'' design was inspired by the uplifting, true story movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness' starring, of Haitian descent, Will Smith and his real life son, Jaden.  100% of HaiTee profit go directly towards empowering Haitians to rebuild their communities after the devastating earthquake last January"..........A long way since her days trying to convince teenagers to drink more Minute Maid OJ than they can swallow. By the way, whilst we are at it, you can do more by checking www.haitee.com, and www.soulofhaiti.ie .

Last year, my friend and movement master, Scott Goodson, founder of the Strawberryfrog agency, announced the launch of another initiative : The girl store for Nanhi Kali. By buying items online, one could directly help Indian girls get their life back ( www.the-girl-store.org ). The initiative in itself is controversial, linking so clearly a humanitarian issue to a business strategy. But it drove attention to a cause that many girls in India thought was already lost. Scott's agency also designed  another mindopening movement, called "A girl story". "A Girl Story..."follows the path of a young Indian girl named Tarla who wants to go to school to better her life. Whether she succeeds, however, is completely up to you because Tarla's story progresses only by audience donations that unlock new chapters within the YouTube film series.A Girl Story has created a sustainable effort that people can belong to and share, as they become a part of an organization currently supporting 10 years of education for 58,000 young girls". Also disturbing but don't you feel the drive to go and check on Tarla? This is propaganda. And somehow, ..., yeah right,....philantropic.


Then, as the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident had hit and hurt Japan, another buddy, Quibe, who I have not heard of in years, sends me a Facebook note, directing me to  http://tsunami.cfsl.net/ . This site is an open blog publishing illustrations from comics artists who want to support those in need in Japan. The sale of the works will go to Japanese NGOs. I was really proud that  a young French artist who has zero connection with Japan except a wicked talent for drawing and an unhealthy attraction for Goldorak and Japanese superheroes - check his own blog to see what I really mean ( quibelog.blogspot.com ) - found in no time the drive to put his talents at the service of a great and far away cause.

This starts to sound like a Pepsi marketing operation. But there is a  wavelength on which you can find Camilla, Scott and the teams at Strawberryfrog and Quibe ( and me ). What we can control is a meaningful aptitude to communicate. And I thank the masters of the soap industry ( and breakfast cereals, and airline, and yogurts, and Swiss timepieces, etc,..) who  taught me so  much about persuasion in the last 15 years. The pieces of the puzzle are now coming together!

Our talents, any talents, can always be used for a better cause but are we doing anything more than good old charity? I believe that we are acting, as much as we can. and giving in a currency that is normally used to deliver volumes and sales. Fundraising IS an irritating business to be in because one too often fights for the dollars in the pocket with misery and shock tactics.  Finding a respectful way to do it is the new trend. And it does matter than more than 5 folks , without counting my family members, click on the links , watch the videos and the illustrations and feel moved and compelled enough to change something.


As far as I am concerned, I wanted to get a more insightful and personal view on what it means to be facing a humanitarian crisis before I put my pen to paper....: On May 15th, I will be somewhere in Malawi, helping communities get clean water. More will come on this very soon but this is one way to feel the real life before I come up with a truly groundbreaking strategy for Haiti.....

In the meantime, here is one idea you can jump on : go to Haitee.com, buy a Tshirt, take a cool picture of yourself and send it to me. I am sure Camilla will find a cool way to put all these pictures together and sell them for a decent profit for Haiti. This is trigger her Irish sense of purpose to get in action.

This was my second post. I am not a blog virgin anymore. Good  night and good luck. 

I wake up and inform Alexandra, who had a girls night out with Ola yesterday and has not seen my FB annoucement because she never connects to FB, that I finally started that blog I have been talking about for...years. She informs me that the name I chose is not written in proper English. Granted its not . Thank you mon amour. But if I was writing in perfect English, how would the rest of you know I am so desperately French? This will be the written expression of my charming Gallic / Caribbean accent. Seen from afar IS the correct expression. You should know I knew. All in Touchaud, we are moving ahead.
Then, because I want to do things right, I read for the 10th times the first chapter of "Create your own blog" by Tris Hussey. And Tris tells me - in the first chapter!- to know what I want to blog about. I quote "If you want to write about knitting beanies for baby bunnies, more power to you. Just do it". I am by now at a standstill and it is already 830 am. Aristide wants to go to Kindy and Paloma needs to get dressed ( she is skipping school today to go to the beach).
Here is me,  questionning whether I will be the King of knitting beanies for baby bunnies, the online VS Naipaul, the Emperator of the consumer connections theoretical discussions. And I don't even have the start of an answer. So I assume the only thing i can do is start and see. All in Touchaud, a small step for you, a big step for the blogging world !
Next come my editing choices. Editing for dummies they say. How come it takes me 120 minutes...do I need an art director to help me? If so, should I call a tradi or an online art director ? Or Martin Sorrell and he will figure it out for me? I choose green and black and the rest of it. Typos and all. All in  Touchaud, keep pushing the coal wagon.
Adsense shows up. I need / want / am intrigued at the idea I could "monetize" the blog. But does it mean my followers will become targets and be bothered by ads they dont want to look at? My greed is certainly bigger than my moral sense of privacy today and I dive into the unknown world of Adsense. All in Touchaud, we have been at this blogging thing for 3 hours and not one word has yet been written.
Along the ride, I have faced what scares me everytime I hit the firefox button. The endless compulsive nature of my surfing habits and the sheer variety of available choices is just overwhelming. I cannot start reading the news online without clicking on the links for the background info, watch the videos whilst at the same time listening to ( at he moment NHK World ) radio....And do my job. By noon, my brain is fried and lunch is a desert crossed on an empty mind. 
Which is exaclty when the new Adidas camapign hits the screens. All in !!!
Joe la Pompe informs me in no time that it is a rip off of an old Nike ad. On FB, Marco thinks its well shot and more but space is scarce on my blog. Franck believes its ok because it has a lot of French talent in it ( I think he wish he had shot it for Pepsi ). 5 other friends have an opinion. I want to answer all of them because I have something interesting to say about all of it. But I run out of time. A blog might be the best way to do it. I hope I will still have enough mental resources to write it the way I thought it. I should ask Kevin Roberts how he manages to pull so many interesting snippets in each of his messages. Does he write all of this by himself? 

All in Touchaud, that is my first blog and I have already mentionned Kevin Roberts. They tell me its good to increase readership. By the way, the only thing I like in the Adidas film is the selling line. Give it your best shot Tiger, because its All in today.

My lovemarks are Guadeloupe, Casanis, L'Equipe and Alexandra Munro Touchaud from Wellington. In no specific order.
Good night and good luck. Does anyone know how I post this on Linkedin?