Two Guys Walk Into a Bar

What’s your business’s communication message?

They see wall-to-wall beautiful women.

Guy No. 1 sees this stunningly beautiful woman, sits in a miraculously empty stool next to her and starts talking about himself – his cars, his penthouse overlooking the ocean, his great vacation in Bali, the little-known tailor he discovered in Savile Row who makes perfect suits.  Smiling, the woman says, “Excuse me, I need to use the ladies’ room.’ And never comes back.

Guy No. 2 sees this also stunningly beautiful woman, sits in another miraculously empty stool near her and says, “Hi, I’m Peter, what’s your name?” From that point, the conversation is all about her. What does she do? What would she like to do? What does she like? Dislike? What are her plans? An hour later, they are still talking. But now the conversation has taken a more personal bent: is she even aware of what a beautiful smile she has? How her eyes dance when she is smiling – you get the drift.

Question: Who gets the woman?

And yet, we have the same conversation every day. This medium “works.” That one “‘doesn’t.” This medium is “hot.”That one is “cold.” This one is “engaging.” This other one is “below the line.” That one is “above.”

Let’s be cold and objective about it. Every medium works.

It’s the Message

I began my career on the creative side, switched to media, then to strategic planning and have been privileged to work everywhere: in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Along the way I’ve learned more than a handful of lessons. The main one was: It’s the message.