How being a tech geek makes you a better brand custodian.
Im my years of Creative Branding, Mobile Media & Communications. Ive learned that being a tech geek has helped a lot. Especially in the tech industry.
Mobile operators in the Middle East have great people, but some have no geeky side to them. I’ve met a few and especially senior ones, you can say they are good at theoretical marketing but are not marketing power houses. As displayed in my picture, I believe no one at STC from the CEO down to the tea boy would ever know that the image on the main page is taken from a product called Speck and that the super imposed image they used was not rightfully used or authorized neither by Speck or Apple ( in this case as the Speck Case is for the iPad 2 – PixelSkin HD )
Because I am creative branding professional, a marketing communications nut bag and tech geek to the bone. I immediately saw it, picked it up and just had to communicate about it. This is not the first time I come across this, once upon a time a multi-national award winning American advertising agency tried to pitch to me a Google I/O campaign that was for Google Maps in Europe. During the presentation as they finished, I said ” this is wonderful work ” in a very excited tone. They agency guys were all going to wet themselves with joy. Then I said the statement of doom ” Did the campaign do well for Google? ” turned my iPad and started to flick the various images i found on Google Search. I didn’t get a response from the agency as each one scrambled to a phone a started calling in a frantic manner. Not their fault, they are just account managers, very spineless and no tech creativity.
Here is what I saved the company, a disaster from bloggers who will eventually pick up the copycat campaign, our reputation will go down the drain also the product credibility will be forever shattered. People like me are perceived as the “A holes” excuse my language. However being that has made me better at what I do and more creative than the monkeys with no competency.
In all cases, this is still the problem with corporate culture, HR who have no clue who and how to hire, and management who can’t take being shown how incompetent they are. I would rather look like an idiot, than be fired and look ruined.
Good Luck STC, you need creative branding people who are tech geeks.
Nourhan N. Beyrouti 