On gin, The Guardian and working with accountants...
To say that it’s been a funny old time is probably the greatest understatement ever made in the Sound Marketing offices. For a start, those very offices morphed into garden sheds and dining rooms for a while, and whilst we weren’t exactly laughing out loud, there was a certain level of amusement to be had when children who ‘needed’ biscuits joined in on our Zoom calls.
The ‘funny’ old time also saw elements of the entertainment technology industry (our specialist area) grind to a juddering halt. We strapped ourselves in, looked at each other uncertainly with raised eyebrows, and tried not to speculate on where the virus would take (and leave) us.
Bizarrely, and you may read this elsewhere on our blog, the early stages of the pandemic resulted in a knock at the door from a plastics manufacturer who was aiming to ‘pivot’ (oh the jargon!) his business towards PPE visors. Not unreasonably, StaySafe Visor’s MD assumed that as a marketing agency, albeit one conspicuously connected to the technology industry, we’d know something about - well - marketing, and all the magic mysteries that sail on that particular ship. He also needed someone to work quickly, and having outlined his ideas at one hundred and fifty miles an hour, was suitably convinced by our responses. We got the gig, ran a good campaign, and it worked.
No sooner had the ink dried on advertorials in The Grocer, Dentistry Online, The Carer and Salon Business - that’s some way removed from Lighting and Sound International - than we received a call from a gin distiller. It’s not every day that happens...
As a small business known to one of our clients, GinJar needed some work doing for a piece that was to appear in one of The Guardian’s supplements. Very kindly, our client pointed them in our direction, and we had a nice chat about their requirements whilst drooling over the range of rather delicious looking gins on their website. We completed the job, bought The Guardian and had a G and T...
Perhaps strangest of all for a company that specialises in technology we recently picked up the phone to Another Answer. Based not too far from us in Bucks, they’re accountancy and bookkeeping specialists, and were looking for some regular marketing help. A few meetings later, and here we are, delivering the number-crunching message.
As to the core of our business, we remain optimistic. Live entertainment WILL return, and the technologies it requires to function will continue to develop. It is also to be sincerely hoped that the people in whose hands the technology is deployed will all find a way back to their rightful positions at the forefront of making things possible. The overall contribution of the entertainment industry to the UK economy is measured in tens of billions of pounds - it’s value to society is immeasurable. Here’s to its speedy return...
Meanwhile, we live and learn, apply the principles and practices that we’ve evolved, and continue to learn new tricks. These are trying times, but they’re interesting as well, and as Nietzsche asserted, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger...
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