The process of change I experienced

While reading an article about Publi on the 2017 Cannes International Advertising Festival, one speech caught my eye.

It was about a message to advertisers under the title of 'moving upstream' during the 'the future of strategy' session. The speaker, Lucy Jameson, was the former CEO of Grey London (a company with 200-300 employees), and she was preparing a new type of company at the time.

I was first happy to hear a different perspective on the existing industry.

And I was very curious. A new type of company made by a successful person with a long career... Moreover, the main content she presented at the time was enough to capture my interest completely.

• Wake up advertisers. You are losing your jobs.
• Develop a macroscopic perspective.
• Understand the essence of business.
• Actually make something yourself.

After reading the article, I immediately searched for her profile on Linkedin and sent her a message.

Expressing my interest in the company's introduction and the new company they were preparing.

After about three months, I received a reply.

It was about the need for 'local research to understand the Korean startup market and strategic proposals' for a multi-billion dollar global annual campaign proposing to a well-known social platform brand. The brand was operating startup education and support centers in four regions around the world, one of which was in Seoul, which led to this opportunity.

I worked with them for about three weeks, and my main task at the time was to interview startup CEOs, investigate and analyze the limitations in operation and investment in the domestic market, and advise on the localization of the three key campaign ideas being prepared at headquarters.

It was an exciting and interesting process. It was new to me because it was different from the existing attempts, and because I was able to see the different behaviors of Koreans and Europeans using the platform.

Seeing the limitations of the same point again

The premise of the key campaign ideas that the headquarters team prepared and shared at the time was that 'startup CEOs are heroic figures.' Like Tony Stark in the movie 'Iron Man.' Ideas to expose cool slogans to the public, posting successful daily lives, and achieving true self-achievement through the process of starting a business.

But the 12 startup CEOs I interviewed at the time were not living that kind of life and seemed very difficult to relate to the above advertising content and messages.

The Startup curve below is a graph depicting the changes experienced by startups.

The drawing, which is said to have been drawn by famous investor Paul Graham with his partners, shows how startups initially get excited about their products/services, become discouraged, and hold on for a while, before they get opportunities and grow.

The problem is that most startups are stuck in the Trough of Sorrow. The grammar of traditional businesses does not apply to the world of startups, and even if improvements are made to the market, it is impossible to know how changes will occur in response to any given situation. And at this point, no one knows how many more years it will take until the company succeeds.

Returning to the campaign idea, the situation of startup CEOs who need to draw attention through the campaign and participate in the brand's education is almost entirely stuck in the trough, and these CEOs revealed the following patterns.

• They avoid social interactions outside of work as much as possible.
• Business items are highly personal and emotional.
• Comparisons to others are the biggest fear.

It was ironic.

Almost all of the 12 startup CEOs I interviewed were trying to distance themselves from the advice, encouragement, and impressive appearance of successful startup CEOs, not themselves.

Why? Because every day was a war-like day to fill in the gaps and create results to secure investment...

The most important thing at this time was 'solving the problem in front of you' and 'managing the CEO's own mental state' to avoid falling down.

What caught their attention was the everyday lives of people around them who fell and made mistakes, but still went one day further.

A completely different starting point is needed

I mentioned the above while delivering the requested survey data and my opinion on localization strategy.

And they understand, but they admitted that there are inevitable limitations because they have to proceed according to the RFP set by the client. (As a side note, the agency emphasizes its biggest difference by having a separate company handle strategy/implementation.)

Their perspective on startup CEOs was in line with the client's perspective. And usually, clients have already completed the organization of the work to be assigned and the expected results before meeting with the advertising company.

Perhaps this perspective of looking at startup CEOs was reinforced by the results of market research and customer research conducted internally by the client, and it can be inferred that the internal culture of the brand's view of startups and the perception of startup CEOs by decision-makers has been linked to the decision-making process and the research methodology.

The point where a different perception of the reality of target customers was needed was so far away, and I realized once again that breaking out of the framework of advertising as an industry is the starting point for creating different opportunities.

Become the target by changing your perception and perspective of customers.

The road ahead seemed long.

I was happy and grateful for the opportunity to be active, but

I was also full of a sense of emptiness wondering who I could meet and share this story with

It was another precious experience.

P.S. In 2016, I went to Singapore to set up the Korea office of nurun, one of the design consultancy brands within the Publicis groupe. The advice Jonathan ng, who was working as a creative partner at the Singapore branch, emphasized was as follows:

"Don't think about starting from within. Fear and criticism for quick achievements will eventually lead to a dead end without making a big difference."