Evasive marketing

By Fiona Czerniawska

The day they turned on the Christmas tree lights at Rockefeller Center, I found myself trapped in a cab on W 49^th Street wondering why on earth the driver had chosen that particular route.  Although a couple of hours ahead of the actual lighting, streets were cordoned off and fizzing with excited families; the traffic had slowed to a jerky crawl.  Police were everywhere, giving me – an out-of-towner – a rare opportunity to observe New York’s Finest at close quarters.

Courtesy; professionalism; respect: that’s what’s blazoned across every NYPD car (and there were plenty around on December 4).  Important values and I understand why they need reiterating, but what happened to some of the other aspects of policing?  Catching criminals? Cutting crime?

Are consulting firms any better at getting their point across?  Firms actually divide into two distinct groups.  Many have strap-lines which aim to be inspiring, ‘Building tomorrow’s enterprise’ is Infosys’ claim to fame; EY says it’s ‘Building a better world’.  All good stuff, but what does it tell us about what these firms actually do, or what makes their approach distinctive?  Recognising the pitfalls, many firms have no strap-line at all: McKinsey, for instance, says nothing, relying on its name do all the talking.  Either way, we’re left with a void at the heart of consulting.  By contrast, you can’t imagine Google launching a new service or Samsung a new device without describing what it does.

Perhaps that’s an unfair comparison.  Consulting services aren’t standardised products but are customised to suit clients’ unique needs, so asking what a service is, is a bit like asking the length of piece of string.  Most consulting firms above a certain size comprise several services, making it hard to highlight the features and benefits of one.  Projects have different objectives.  But it still feels evasive, much as the focus on courtesy, professionalism and respect of the NYPD looks like tiptoeing around the crucial point about safety and security.

Someone once told me that the conversation is the relationship: the things you talk about, and how you say them, defines the relationship, whether you’re a parent talking to your child, a teacher to a student, a manager to an underling.  Shared values and aspirations are, of course, an important part of a meaningful relationship, but surely substance is at least as critical.  Shying away from substance helps ensure business has no broad, overarching conversation with the consulting industry: nobody – literally – is talking about consulting.