A friend of mine recently told me about a series of meetings he’d been a part of. As a junior staff person he wasn’t able to really participate in discussion; his job was to listen and take notes.
The subject of discussion was that the company was sending a notice in the mail to communicate that they were changing their billing system. As a part of the change they’d decided to change the color of the paper invoices to blue. In the letter the copywriters had written “We’re the company with the blue bills.”
During the first review meeting someone came up with this hilarious idea: “Why don’t we put in a picture of a duck with a blue bill?” Regrettably the other senior members thought this was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. The letter already had a working layout, but they sent it back to the communications department asking them to insert a blue billed duck.
The communications department hired a designer to draw the duck. There were drafts, revisions, approval at the base level, and then approval at the management level. Then, the duck was sent to the layout department. Unfortunately, here it was discovered that the insertion of the duck threw off the entire format: they couldn’t fit all that content on one page anymore. There needed to be less text.
So, they sent it back to the writers who re-wrote the entire letter so that it would fit. They, in turn, sent it back to the layout department who re-structured the letter so that it would fit both the text and the duck.
Back to the review committee, who looked at the final product. They liked it. But what was the cost? $28,000. For a duck.
Let’s review the mistakes this big, publicly traded company made. Leave a comment citing everything you see wrong with this picture.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Matt // Jan 8, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Ha ha, apparently they cost alot!
2 Justin // Jan 8, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Can you believe this? I’d be willing to hand draw a duck on every one of those letters for $28K
3 Matt Orey // Jan 8, 2009 at 8:01 pm
This shows the absolute stupidity of some people. For a dumb idea like that they deserve to lose $28,000.
4 Doug // Jan 8, 2009 at 9:10 pm
“His job was to listen and take notes.”
As a leader, I need to be looking to all levels for creative input and participation in process. The “blue-billed ducks” are hiding in the minds of every person from janitor to CEO.
“communications…to review…to communications….to design….to management….to layout….to writers….to layout…..to review.”
The US Navy SEALS are trained in, arguably, the most complicated hierarchy on the planet. Yet, when the chips are down, the commanders KNOW that the men are trained to handle any situation with minimal or no input from upper levels. And the job will be done with an exceptional degree of quality, professionalism and efficiency with stunning results.
As a leader, I am responsible for ensuring that my people are trained to the “nth” degree and confident in their field. Cell based and site based decision making saves time and money but risks quality control.
“What was the cost?”
The dollar figure of $28,000 represents a highly inefficient structure and a suppressed creative environment BUT the saddest end to this story would be no blue-billed duck on their billing. The duck represents a potentially money-saving corporate brand. “Honey did you pay the blue-bill this month?” These kinds of icons MAKE COMPANIES MILLIONS. The Pillsbury Dough Boy (600 commercials, 50 products), the Energizer Bunny (115 commercials, thousands of public references) and the Michelin Man (introduced in 1898 and represent Michelin in over 150 countries). We could be looking at a new cultural icon.
Doug
5 jesse // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:40 am
what i think is most relevant here is that, yes, from the perspective of people like us 28,000 is a big number, however, this is different.
i think the main thing to consider is that the company we’re talking about is a massive corporation. there is a “due process” that’s made it as large as it is, and no matter what things take place, the basis of the company contiues to revolve around what worked up until this point.
Due Process seems wasteful, however, there’s a purpose. it keeps the necessary avenues that catch things that could otherwise be costly, greased and working properly.
true, companies are always looking for ways to save money, but this sounds like a rush job. and from the sounds of things itsone that worked out well because of the systems they already had standing.
why is the cost associated with keeping people who are good at their jobs, ever second guessed?
they may have spent 28000 dollars, but the truth is that i have a group of know-nothings working for me, most of them on only their first year of the job, and it would take no more than 10 or 12 of them to cost me 28000 dollars in just a week or two, considering overhead and other associated costs…
28000 is a relatively small amount of money.
and i can guarantee that this document, as well as the re-write and printing costs, probably cost a fair bit in itself.
…..
but i digress, i like the blue duck and i agree with Doug.
.jess.
6 Justin // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Sorry, but I have to disagree with Jesse and Doug (but I’m so glad you’re here debating with me!).
First: the blue billed duck is a dumb idea. If you’re going to be a big company, with a “multi-billion dollar brand” then adding something like this shouldn’t be a last minute thought.
Can’t you see how decisions like this piss people off internally? The layout people were ticked because they had to do a last minute job, the graphic designer was ticked because she wasn’t given more advanced notice and had to work overtime to get it done, and the accountants were ticked because the project was $28K over budget.
However, even more important is that I think the age of slick, expensive branding is gone. Even when it’s well-thought out (which this one wasn’t), it doesn’t have the same pull on people.
You know what this company should have done? The only practical thing you need to do with a bill is remind customers to pay it, and give them a convenient (and friendly) way of doing it.
My advice to this company? Put that $28K towards making people’s lives simpler.
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