W+K To The Power 3

It’s a long time since TBWA first presented that idea to 3. Eight years in fact.

In that time the business has been on a hell of a rollercoaster. From initial excitement about the possibilities … to realization that the technology and handset manufacturers hadn’t yet got out of bed … to the wonderful world of Korean cowboys, singing cherry charts, Agent Provocateur parties and record contract sales … to the recent malaise of an opportunity seemingly lost.

As an ex-3er I still retain a certain emotional attachment to the brand so I was pleased to see W+K pick up the business. It feels like the brand needs to be in new, hopefully strong hands.

I don’t know why the business went from Glue. I can only assume the work didn’t work. Getting a brief to tell people you are working hard to improve your network is understandable but fundamentally flawed. People don’t need to hear it, they simply need to experience it.

So I hope W+K get to take the brand back to its true opportunity, away from an existence as a channel for handsets + cheap tariffs. It can play in a youthful, positive, uber-innovative space. Doing things differently, living on the edges of the mass-marketing mobile norms, understanding what the people who care, care about and building its image around that.

That of course is much more than just a communications task.

And that is something I hope everyone involved both realises and is up for.

Otherwise another agency will simply end up being judged as having failed to deliver the dream.

Friendly Little Coppers

Now there’s an ignition point….

It didn’t quite soften the blow of my first £1.35 a litre diesel experience but I thought my local Esso’s ‘Penny Pot’ was a nice touch when I filled up last week.

A simple idea – admittedly only relevant when not paying by card – where I can leave a few coppers to brighten my fellow man’s day or equally benefit from his or her thoughtfulness before me.

We rightly search for the big ideas and platforms we believe can transform and propel brands forward but it is sometimes worth remembering – especially in a category like fuels - that the little things can also have a positive effect.