A couple of years ago, I attended the annual meeting of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) in balmy Chicago in mid-February (whoever thought to hold a meeting in February in Chicago must have been crazy. Daytime highs were in the teens, and overnight the low was 4 degrees). Over 1,000 retailers, ad agency execs and suppliers attended, and we spent 2 1/2 days talking about all aspects of retail marketing, and the challenges we all face to grow our business.
The theme of that conference was “Opportunity, Knowledge, Passion”, and the featured speakers addressed each of these three aspects of marketing as they related to their respective businesses. By far, the most impressive speeches were focused on the power of passion and I've never forgotten how powerfully they affected my thinking on how to succeed in business, and in life..
Gordon Segal, founder and CEO of Crate & Barrel, told how he and his wife grew a small storefront in Cambridge into a multi-billion dollar retail chain because they had a passionate desire to provide something that no one else was doing – moderately priced, high quality kitchenware and accessories. He told us stories of 100+ hour weeks searching around the globe for suppliers, and how he and his wife still go on buying trips to Europe and the Far East in search of new items. His passion now is finding the next new thing. The next decorating trend. The next color scheme.
Michael Francis, Senior VP of Marketing for Target Corporation, gave us fun and informative insights on the evolution of the Target brand and their distinctive style of advertising. He talked about the passionate attention to detail in every thing they do, and especially about their strong belief in providing a consistent personality through their advertising. He talked about their passionate belief that the need to differentiate themselves from K-Mart and Wal-Mart was the driving force behind their success. He said that a recent study showed that 96% of U.S. consumers correctly identified the bull’s-eye logo as belonging to Target, which is higher than the Nike swoosh. And, again, he talked about their passionate adherence to the use of this visual symbol as a quick reminder of their corporate brand. Throughout his presentation, he probably used the passion word one hundred times.
And we had many other speakers, including executives from Best Buy, Big Lots, American Girl, Weber Grills, Washington Mutual Bank, BMW, and Yahoo. And all had the same basic belief that passion has been the key factor in their corporate and personal success.
As I listened to each of their presentations, it was easy for me to hear the passion in their voices. And I think it gave me a greater appreciation for the need to have a passion for something in order to achieve your goals, no matter what they are.
Think of the passion that Lance Armstrong must have had to not only overcome cancer, but to become the greatest cyclist in the history of the sport. Think about Jerry Rice, who at 42, was still competing successfully with men half his age. Late in his career, Michael Jordan’s body didn’t allow him to do what it used to, but he still had the passion that every exceptional athlete must have to reach the top. And the championship rings on his fingers to prove the power of his passion.
When I think about the agency business today, I am confident that meeting the new challenges of digital technology, evolving social behaviors and attitudes, changing demographics, and a host of other factors impacting our business cannot be accomplished without all of us developing and maintaining a passion to be the best.
It will take a passion to do better creative work. A passion to write better business plans. A passion to find new ways to reach the target audience. A passion to go well beyond what everyone else is expecting from you, in order to find a better solution.
I hope that everyone in our industry will also develop a passion that goes well beyond the walls of their agency. To be a successful husband or wife takes a passionate commitment to make your marriage work. To be a successful parent, takes a passion that doesn’t give up on your children, not matter what your teenager has done. Heck, to be a successful human being takes passion. You’ve got to want to succeed. To do better. To be better. And you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice something to get something in return.
When you succeed at whatever passion you have, the feeling of accomplishment will go well beyond anything I am capable of describing. But like those businesspeople I listened to at that conference, I’ll bet you will tell others that you couldn’t have done anything without having a passion to succeed that kept you going, no matter what you faced.
Passion is all-powerful. Do you have the power?
