This isn’t a breakup email, or one of those ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ type deals, and it’s definitely not like the time I was dumped on MSN messenger as a young whippersnapper with far too much hair gel. 

Sometimes we just need to be honest with ourselves, and realise that:

This isn’t working

Did you know that “smart people” make more mistakes? 

• They’re overconfident thanks to a lifetime of praise and pats on the back. 
• They think they’re always right, and find it hard to accept when they’re wrong. 
• They have a hard time accepting feedback, and tend to undervalue the opinions of others. 

I mean what’s not to like? Smart people sound just great, don’t they?

(Another cracker from Liz Fosselin)

Well, smarter people learn and grow from their mistakes, and often manage to prevent them from happening in the first place. They’re not afraid to rip it up and start again - in fact I actually deleted the section you would have been reading next (proper Einstein over here).

Back in April 2019, Paramount Pictures revealed their upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog movie, and it became a viral hit, taking the internet by storm. 

Only thing is, it didn’t go viral for the right reasons. Their Sonic character design was so bad (we’re talking James Corden levels of bad) that it became one of the year’s biggest memes, drawing in criticism and laughs from all corners of the internet.

The smart thing is - the studio actually listened to the feedback, and just a few days after their initial announcement, director Jeff Fowler responded with a tweet announcing they would fix the character design before the movie’s release in 2020. Corporate movie execs - give yourselves a pat on the back!

The result - they got a load of PR, impressed their audience, and the movie was a massive hit at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing video game movie of all time in the states. It got signed up for a sequel too, which releases in the UK on Friday 1st April 2022. 

So you should probably ask yourself:

What isn’t working for me?

This could be a number of things:

• Your brand identity isn’t working and it’s affecting sales
• Your core messaging isn’t resonating with your audience
• Your team structure isn’t set up for success
• Your customers don’t believe in your marketing plan
• You never reply to your WhatsApp messages
• You also wear far too much hair gel 

Then ask yourself…

What can I do to improve it? 

One of our recent client campaigns didn’t work out as well as we’d hoped, with our initial outreach gaining 3 pieces of coverage and 1 link. 

The campaign was centred around children’s books - ‘The UK’s Most Loved Children’s Bedtime Stories’ and was initially launched for National Storytelling Week.

With World Book Day fast approaching, we decided to pivot the campaign and the results were phenomenal. For just an afternoon’s worth of work, this time round we secured 31 pieces of coverage and 28 links. 🙌

So what have we learnt?

• We shouldn’t expect to succeed with every idea or campaign.
• We should always listen to feedback, and the most valuable feedback comes from our audience. 
• One of the smartest things you can be is wrong. Learn from being wrong and improve. 
• Don’t ever be afraid to rip off the Band-Aid and start again.

📚📚A few more things to read 📚:

Should you really be saying that? - Becky Lewis (NORTH) Global Disasters & When Brands Should Be Quiet  📚  

It’s ok to quit - Ellen Forster - How To Know When It’s Time To Quit 📚  

Refresh your content - Megan Mahoney - A Step-By-Step Strategy 📚  

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Thanks for reading, this issue was written by Dominic Apes (NORTH - Senior Marketing Manager) If you fancy a chat, then please reach out!