Lost in Tanslation

I couldn't help it but Judy Collins' song 'Both Sides Now' kept filtering through my head as I sat in Bat & Ball yesterday having lunch with IABC T&T incoming presidents Maria Mc Millan (2008) and Nicole Duke Westfield (2009) and advertising gurus James Smith, Patrick Johnston and Mark White. All three along with Astra Da Costa (of Ample) have accepted IABC's invitation to speak at its November meeting "Lost In Tanslation: Bridging the Gap between Advertising & Corporate."

As communicators we know that advertising is involved in our product development cycle, sometimes from very conceptualization of the brand. Still even as we engage with advertising fraternity in the shaping of our products, reputations and markets we know that there is need for improvement in the way we engage with each other, that both sides need to listen, understand each other's perspective and deliver more on the client agency promise so as to have really effective relationships.

James Smith asked an important question at the end of the lunch: " What will people walk away with?'My immediate response is,understanding.

I will be posting more on this topic this week.