BIGGEST FAILS OF THE YEAR.

This past Monday night, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles on a last-minute touchdown pass by Drew Lock. As a 49ers fan, this was the only time that I can remember really rooting for the Seahawks. This win knocked the Philadelphia Eagles back another game (they’re a challenger to the 49ers top seed). But the best part of the game was the post-game interview by Drew Lock, who was brought to tears by the moment. He said:

"It’s so hard. It’s so hard to describe the feeling of, you know, not playing for so long or at least what feels like a really long time to me," Lock admitted. "And then you sit there and you watch games, you wonder, ‘Can I do this still?’ I haven’t been out there on the field, that’s the human nature of it. You get back out there last week and I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m the man still, I can go do this.’

Drew Lock on Monday Night Football

For a guy who had all the success in high school, college, was (relatively) highly drafted, this resonated with a lot of people. He was, in essence, discarded in a trade to bring Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. He’s been sitting on the bench for the past year and a half. And surely, in his mind, there were doubts whether he would reach the top again.

  As 2023 winds down, my various social media feeds are filled with top 10 lists. Best agency, best agency wins, best marketing plans, best media plans, best movies, best songs, best books, best restaurant, best use of Tik Tok…you get the picture.

And while this is a good way to get a quick download of what happened in the year, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m much more interested in the mistakes and failures that people have committed.

No. I’m not keeping a database of mistakes that I can refer to when I interact with these folks. It’s just much more interesting to learn about the challenges that people and companies have overcome to get to the success they’re experiencing. Or maybe they’re not experiencing success. Maybe they’re still struggling. And going through the struggle with them is relatable… even inspiring. The drama is in the struggle. It’s not “I got $10 million to start the business, and we SOMEHOW made it work.”

Sidebar: When I was at St. John’s University, we were required to take some Theology courses. In one of those courses, the professor argued that life is struggle. (and even pain) As a 19 or 20 year-old, I didn’t have that experience. I was an immigrant from Poland who’s parents moved to NYC. And while learning to speak the language, immersing myself in a new culture was sometimes tough, I would never define it as a struggle. So, I did what any 19/20 year-old would do. I argued and debated and challenged and eventually threw up my arms. “This guy just didn’t get it.”

St. John’s University

 Now, twenty years later, armed with just the tiniest bit of perspective and experience, I’m seeing that perhaps this professor (and I apologize, but I don’t remember his name…if anyone at St. John’s University has that info, please let me know.) knew a little bit something about something, and that the challenge and the struggle and the journey is really where life happens. And that failures and mistakes can be BIG learning opportunities. The goal should be not to repeat those same mistakes. To learn, improve, and grow.

So, with that whole preamble…here are some of my three biggest mistakes of 2023:

1) BLOWING AN RFP – As an agency, we don’t typically fill out RFPs. Almost all our work comes from recommendations, word of mouth, and relationships. But this one was in our wheelhouse (or so we thought), and we could have added headcount if we won. Someone suggested we hire a professional RFP writer with government experience, but I, in my overzealousness decided that myself and a creative copywriter could knock it out. It goes without saying that we didn’t win. When we filed a FOIL request for the winning submission, we realized why. The structure of the RFP, as well as the type of information needed, was not at all what we presented.

Lesson learned: Don’t think you can do everything by yourself. There are experts in each field. By not hiring subject experts, you’re selling yourself and your company short.

2) WFH vs. OFFICE – I am a big proponent of WFH. I am a parent of three young children and being able to be more present in their lives is priceless to me. But there are times that we, as a company need to be present, in the same room to discuss strategy, creative, business approach. Balancing that has been difficult. There were times where I’ve been too lax, and working from home has led to working going sideways, prolonging timelines. Other times we’ve huddled up in-person when it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Lesson Learned: Fine tuning a new situation is difficult. Especially with personalities that are unique. Some folks want to get out of the house, some want to stay there at all costs. This is a fine line everyone will have to walk for a while

3) AGENCY SELF-PROMOTION – On the one hand, we are using our time to work on client work. And that’s a good thing. But on the other hand, you have to manage your time so that there’s some juice left over for your own shop. We were much better at that in 2021/ 2022. We produced a small book of our work, some YouTube interviews, attended events, then we got busier. In 2023, we didn’t do any of those things. All we did was email folks. And you know how much people LOVE those emails.

Lesson Learned: Take care of your own household. Control what you can control. Good things will happen.

If you’re in the advertising or marketing space, and you want to chat about mistakes, successes, how much you hate cold emails, hit me up. peter@salukandco.com

I really am passionate about learning how all this works from other people’s POV.