An extraordinary email has come our way from Ogilvy & Mather China. Drafted by the agency’s chairman TB Song and sent to all staff (in both Chinese and English) in the market, it lambasts them for a “collective failure” in 2008 that saw them miss financial targets - meaning the 13th month bonus was not paid out.

A particularly choice paragraph reads: “We must be also aware that we have already become too lazy and proud and have been resting on our laurels and enjoying our good reputation. We considered ourselves infallible and even arrogantly believed that we could engage consumers without actually understanding them. This has destroyed the Ogilvy brand and David Ogilvy’s vision: ‘We sell or else!’”

It also lists the problems of 2008, including unsatisfied clients and, worryingly, “unrealistic business judgment”.

Curiously, this no-holds-barred tongue-lashing seems to be an attempt to motivate staff. Song told Media: “We are tough on ourselves because this is what it takes to improve our services to our clients and to maintain the momentum and high caliber of our team.”

In the interests of absolute fairness the English version of the email is printed in full below (note: this is Ogilvy’s translation). The question is, would you feel inspired after reading it?

——

Drafted on the last day of 2008

Finally, it is the last day of 2008!I believe that most everyone feels the same way I do about this year: the world is changing and is unpredictable. In 2008 we saw the tragedy of the Sichuan earthquake, the passion of the Beijing Olympics, moral issues raised during the SanLu melamine scare, Barack Obama
becoming the first black President of the US, the Bombay terror attacks, renewed violence in the Middle East and, of course, the financial tsunami sweeping the entire world.

Over the course of the year, Ogilvy China also weathered many changes. Most regrettably, we had a very challenging financial year and missed our financial target. In fact, we were far from achieving this. As a result, I am pained to report that we will not be providing bonuses this year. I am extremely sorry for this. I want to let everyone know reasons for our collective failure and what we must do to make sure it does not happen again. In 2008, we faced the following:
1. Unclear control and supervision
2. No improvements in our efficiencies.
3. Unsatisfied clients that terminated contracts early
4. Unrealistic business judgment
5. Unenthusiastic pitches for new business that was lost to competitors
6. …?
But here I should mention our PR team; they not only met but exceeded their targets. A very special “job well done” must go to Scott and Debby and their team. Thank you for your efforts and contributions.

As we enter 2009, and against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, there is certain to be more instability. As a result, we need more cautious planning and to act accordingly. First of all, we need to adjust our attitude. Ogilvy China, in 2009, should adhere to two basic principles:
1. Enthusiasm/Optimism. In all economic downturns, there are companies that still manage to grow strong, profit and thrive – the Ogilvy Group must be one of them.
2. Moderation. Although China is a growing market, we should demonstrate moderation and control in our operations, which will provide the security if we face unforeseen financial challenges.

We must also change the way we act! A few thoughts here:
1. We, including planners, account service and creative professionals, must be more active and engaged in our clients’ businesses. This means doing a better job of understanding their operations, strategies and market positions. We must stand alongside our clients in facing business challenges and
changing market conditions. We must infuse our creativity – our core competency – into our clients’ businesses. Our creative people can’t simply sit at home, receive the brief, and then “do creative.” Our advertising must be more than just TVCs or print ads, as our creativity should blaze new paths of
communication which aims to help our client’s business. The best ideas are still undiscovered. If Ogilvy’s creative people think only about the awards, TVCs and print ads, or even scam ads, I will encourage them to leave. Our creative people should be forbidden from working on scam ads. I’m not against awards, but the focus must always be on our clients’ businesses, and let the chips fall where they may.
2. We must work to deeply understand the client’s business model, especially their financial systems/cycles and the up/downstream structure of their industry. These factors will impact the client’s short-term marketing and communications strategy. We should incorporate these considerations in the
advice we give clients and adjust our service accordingly.
3. For our operations, to improve flexibility, speed and efficiency, we should pay more attention to written agreements, such as bill estimates. Keep all written business communications transparent and in neat order to avoid potential payment disputes.
4. Go out into the world with your clients. Directly face consumers, retail stores and dealers in the 2nd or 3rd tier markets. Share your views during these investigations, and form a creative strategy from the insights. This is especially important for our senior creative people. The time to do it is now.
5. There won’t be any opportunities for taking it easy. We will not allow this. We will not be a team of “average performers” who drive out people who are destined for excellence. This only happens to teams who do not transform and adapt during the hard times. This will not happen to Ogilvy. Never. We will
not tolerate laziness and complacency of any kind!
6. We should pay more attention to on-the-job training. It’s important to train junior staffers by working with them hand-in-hand. Leaders must be generous with their time. No training is better than working directly with a skilled practitioner. Training junior staff is even more important during the hard times, as it solidifies our foundations and gives our clients more confidence. Training during the hard time makes it easier for us to work together, from A/S, planning, and creative, to media, PR, and action- no discipline is exempt. Creative people may have great marketing strategies, planners could be on the front line of business consulting, A/S may have really creative ideas, PR professionals may have the most creative product branding ideas. In bad times especially, we need to be considering all of the
available angles and resources to help our clients grow.

7. We need to remember that we are “Brand Stewards.” And branding is a long-term project. In 2009, clients will be looking for quick solutions to their sales problems. Ogilvy should be focused on being “effective in a short amount of time, but also beneficial to long-term branding.” That’s the key to
sustained success in hard times.
In fact, we should be doing this all the time, but under the ordinary circumstance, we take this procedure more seriously than we do finding solutions to solve our clients’ problems.

Ogilvy China remains in the leadership position in Greater China, and irrespective of the downturn, Ogilvy is still regarded as the best option in the eyes of many clients. However, we must be also aware that we have already become too lazy and proud and have been resting on our laurels and enjoying
our good reputation. We considered ourselves infallible and even arrogantly believed that we could engage consumers without actually understanding them. This has destroyed the Ogilvy brand and David Ogilvy’s vision: “We sell or else!” Remember?

It is the beginning of the New Year, and I hope everyone has a happy, exciting and challenging 2009! At the same time, let’s remain focused and ambitious as we strive to create the most influential and effective campaigns and to remain “the most international of the local firms and the most local of the
international firms.”
And Happy New Year!

2008, Dec. 31st TB
P.S.: I returned to Beijing from Wuhan last week. I was attending MengNiu’s Central China Dealers’ Meeting. Even MengNiu suffered a great deal from the melamine event, however they have achieved 80% of their budget targets. In addition, the sales volume of Telunsu, an advertising client handled by the Ogilvy Guangzhou office, hasn’t been affected at all and achieved 100% of their targets; 60% growth compared with the previous year. That’s the power of branding.
During this meeting, MengNiu made many revolutionary breakthroughs: growth is not required but a revolution in procedures and a grounding in the brand spirit is. I found that they have a very clear picture when they talk about their brand, much like we do. I’m very surprised with the incredible progress they have made.
The “Ogilvy Ivory Tower” will not protect us any longer. Dealer meetings are an excellent way for us to learn — all of us. When is the last time you attended a dealer meeting?

P.P.S.: I hope you don’t feel that this note is corporate bullshit. It is NOT. I am enthusiastic and optimistic, and energized by this challenge, and we will not tolerate anyone that does not feel the pressure to change, adjust, do great work and add value to our client’s brands. This is time, in David Ogilvy’s words to: “Raise Your Sights and Blaze New Trails!

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