“A critical moment in the project came when we were working with one of the cross-functional client teams. One of the people on the team was very negative about what we were doing; she said she didn’t want to invest any time in it. I didn’t even have to answer that remark, because someone on the team stood up and said, ‘Hey, I don’t agree. This had huge value to me and I will apply it to my work.’ And this was someone who was working for her, standing up to her boss.”
“When we listened to one of the country brand teams put forward a brand plan for their product, they did it in a way that made me really proud. They had discovered opportunities to grow their brand in ways we hadn’t seen before, and they were able to convey the information with a level of rigor and logic they had not used previously. It was a huge step forward. You could see satisfaction in their eyes and the sense there was a real business opportunity here.”
“Early on we had our whole client service team of 20 or 25 people on a weekend retreat in Sweden. There were quite a few I had never met or had only spoken to on the phone. Imagine going to Sweden in December. It was minus 10 or minus 15 degrees, there was snow all over and the days were particularly short. But we had a great weekend there. When half of the team is in the sauna together and then diving into a frozen lake, it does create a bond.”
“A relationship does not come from just being with the guy in the office. You need to be able to have a drink with him. Now, when I go to Vienna, I still stay in the house of one of these clients, and if I am in Brussels, I catch up with some of them there. We talk about personal stuff, but sometimes they call me to ask whether or not something work-related makes sense.”
“We introduced the concept of challenge to the client, asking, “What’s new, different, and better?” about this brand plan, relative to last year’s or to the competition’s. The phrase came from a person at McKinsey who was not an expert in pharmaceuticals or marketing. One of the client’s leaders liked it and used it at every meeting. Now everyone is asking themselves, “What’s new, different, and better?” Their use of this slogan highlights how well the client took ownership, and how a simple thing can help shape the mindset and culture of a place.”