Mission: clean data

Time to go public on a private passion.

Good work is being done to improve direct mail's image in the UK. Royal Mail have launched a 'green' version of postage for their wholesale clients. The Direct Marketing Assocation (DMA) has set up a Direct Marketing Commission to give the public better access to information and services. As part of both of these there is discussion about the correct use of suppression files, and even talk of how to ensure that data is processed correctly before it is used to create mailing campaigns.

However, there is one important part of this that is not yet being addressed. There is huge variation in the quality of data processing itself. It's just not enough to say 'the data has been deduplicated and suppressed'. I've seen the difference between some of the low-cost online deduplications, and the 'proper' kind, and it's huge - it's entirely possible to say you've processed your data, yet still mail thousands of duplicates, people who have opted out, or people who you know to have died.

There's a job to be done to raise the awareness of this, and to get some form of recognition of the importance of the quality of data processing for direct mail. I'm not the only one who believes this, and we're working on how to get it done. I'll write more as this (long-term!) project develops.

Burned bridges

A friend of mine used to be on the board of a medium-size company that was very successful and grew organically and by acquisition. Some years ago he parted acrimoniously, and was not entirely private with his opinion of his former colleagues.

He moved on, and made good things happen at other companies. I spoke to him yesterday. His business unit has just been sold. To a large competitor. Which is run by the CEO he used to work for.

He does see the funny side of this; at the same time he does not expect to last long.

Despite what we would sometimes like to think, it's a small world. Even if it's hugely satisfying at the time to burn the bridge, it's very unlikely to be a good strategy.

Teams

I'm setting up a company that will provide specialist creative and execution of highly targeted, highly personalised marketing communications, integrated across multiple media. People have been working in this area for a while, and there are some fabulous case studies. But there aren't many of them.

Turns out, that they are quite difficult to do.

Well, actually, they are difficult if you are trying to do them the way you do your other campaigns.

If you reorganise your resources and your structure properly, they become a lot more straightforward, and as a result a lot more fun to work on too. I'm aware that this is a challenge for many companies, but I don't really understand why. All you need is good people, a clear mission, and an open, enabling culture. Which is not difficult at all, is it ...

Periodic updates will follow.

It could be coincidence

Article in the 'Guardian' the other day (here) about the difference between the way that Senators Obama and McCain organise their volunteer networks. The Obama network gives the power to the local volunteers themselves on how to organise and what to do, whilst the McCain camp operates much more as 'command and control'.

It takes some bravery to commit to the devolved model as Obama has done. It's a lot easier though, when there is a clear vision behind which the volunteers can rally. The local teams can then interpret the vision to make it work on their ground. There's also a great deal of hard work required to set up those local networks. However, it does seem to be working well at the moment ...

The Blair Ditch Project

Great fun watching the story of the sacking of London's Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. A lot of outrage coming from national politicans. Interestingly, the outrage seems to be less about the decision - by London's new mayor Boris Johnson - than the manner of it ('did not consult appropriately', 'did not follow process'). Yet for me the most significant aspect of the story so far, is that the mayor was prepared to take a decision - on his very first day as chair of the body to which the Commissioner reports - on a matter which has been festering for at least three years, which is hugely complex and highly politicial. Perhaps, after all, Boris has some of the important characteristics of a good leader.

Of course, it's much too early to tell whether the decision was the right one. But that's part of the challenge when you have that level of responsibility. You won't necessarily know for a while whether you made the right choice; you just know you have to choose.

Democracy

I recently started singing with a local choir. A vote was taken at the last rehearsal about dress code for performances. Talking to other members, it was clear that a debate about this had rumbled on for many months. In the end, the vote was to choose between 'no change' (all black), or going to a mandatory white blouse for the women.

It would be easy to satirise this. But it's not easy to handle in real life. Everyone has an opinion, it's all subjective, so how do you reach a decision? Consensus is difficult, a 'leadership' decision may not be acceptable (perversely because it's not a very important issue), so what is the best course of action? Perhaps uncomfortable compromise is the occasional price of democracy.

McCain Decisions

There's been a lot of talk in the UK about the Republican choice for Vice President in this year's US elections (see here for one of the more interesting commentaries, especially about Ms Palin's media training). Whilst there has been much debate about the maverick McCain (and 'maverick' is one of those words that's supposed to be neutral but is almost always taken to be a negative), there's one thing I've not seen mentioned.

McCain appears to have made a choice based on limited information, instinct, and the need to move things forward. And guess what, for much of the time in office, a leader operates in a complex and changing environment, with incomplete information. Instinct, experience, luck, call it what you will, but they cannot just sit there waiting for perfect data in a perfect world.

Mr McCain, I admire you for taking a lead, and a risk. I think that shows you qualify for the big job.