Engaged in Corporate Espionage?
This is an open letter to my competitors.
Just so you know, if one of my clients or prospects were to offer me your materials (proposals, brochures, etc.), I would happily accept the offer.
I compete with you. By beating you, I get to put food on the table; put my kids through college; buy that dream chalet in the mountains. By beating you, I provide that same opportunity to SHIFT’s 100+ hard-working employees.
It’s important to beat you. I take pride in it, because it’s never guaranteed – it is always, always hard, you cagey and talented SOBs!
So if you have better ideas than me, a better presentation, etc., I want to learn from you. So I can improve. So I can beat you next time.
I assume you feel the same way. I hope you do.
So, are you reading my best-of posts? Are you reading Brian’s blog? And Dave’s? And Geoff’s? And Mike’s? And Maggie’s? And Steve’s?
I read their blogs. Not just because I like them and support their work (which I do). Make no mistake: at some level, we are competing for clients. So I read their blogs religiously to see if I can “steal” their ideas and share them with my staff.
Except, it’s not stealing. They offer up some of their smartest ideas – for free. In the hopes that prospective clients will be impressed, sure, but just as importantly as a karmic service to the industry – including their competitors.
By reading your competitors’ finest thinking, by incorporating their proven strategies and cutting-edge concepts into your own agencies’ DNA, you have a golden opportunity to kick their butt in the next RFP.
But, are you?
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Todd…
Right on! Couldn’t have said it better. Famed golfer Lanny Wadkins said when he was a kid in competition, his Dad would tell him: On the golf course, the opponent is not your friend. You are there to beat them anyway you can within the rules. Once the competition is over, then you can be friends.
Hey Todd -
I follow you on Twitter & read your blog regularly! I happily engage in espionage! Keep posting good intel. Hopefully I’ll be able to return the favor.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Todd,
Glad to see this post, especially since I recently finished an internship at a big PR agency where I worked on numerous RFPs. Of course, we won some and lost others, and I always wondered what happened to ideas we presented that clients seemed to love despite not winning the business.
I’ve read a lot of posts recently where people look down on what you call corporate espionage, but I liked how you presented it as a learning process. It’s a great paradigm shift that I’ll be more conscious of now.
Cheers!
Meg
Honored to be linked in this article as a competitor. Thank you.
lol, I’m not even in PR and I’m given to read them.. Imagine that!
Karma is great, but the tangible benefit of giving away ideas for free is that you and the others you mention are helping evolution of the industry, as a whole. the more PR evolves and shows success, the more clients will want to engage, thus growing the industry.
There are only a limited number of clients any one entity can take on (granted, Edelman can take on more than most, but there’s still a limit), so why not share knowledge? This is anti-capitalist, I suppose, but I think competition spurs innovation.
If the leaders aren’t worried about the pack chasing them, they’ll slow down. Kudos for having the courage to throw some meat behind you to keep the pack in the hunt.
Just for the sake of argument, would you accept that same proposal from an unhappy employee of the competing agency looking to jump ship to yours?
I agree with what you’ve written here; I’m just curious where you’d draw the line.
@Shel – Curse you and your tough questions.
No, I would not accept a proposal from a disgruntled employee who still worked at a competitor.
If a CURRENT employee had some old examples from their former employee (i.e., that they had created), yea, I’d likely take a peek.
Thanks for that answer, Todd; perfect.
I remember waiting in a room with two competitors outside the room where we were all presenting to the prospect. When the first presenter finished and left, the second went in to make their pitch and accidentally left a copy of their proposal behind. We did not open it, but returned it to them when they came out. Yeah, it was their own mistake, but none of us felt it was ethical to take that kind of advantage.
But if the client had given it to us, well, that would have been a different story.
Ya know what I think? Ultimately, this isn’t about competition… it’s about having fun, telling good stories, and surrounding ourselves with interesting people. Sometimes we’re on different sides, but ultimately, we’re all in the mix together.
Oh, and check out my blog too while you’re at it.
http://adventuresinpr.blogspot.com