Transcript
A (0:00)
You have to really listen. Every touch point with the client, every call you have with them. They give you so many hints. The one thing that I've also learned is when they profusely thank you at the end of the presentation, you're not winning the job.
B (0:16)
Really?
A (0:17)
No.
B (0:17)
What are they thanking you for then?
A (0:20)
Hi, I'm Mikam Van Gastel and you're listening to the Future.
B (0:27)
What's up, everybody? My guest today today is Mekan Van Gastel and he's somebody that I've crossed paths with back in my days when I was running a motion design firm. But I don't think we ever got to talking. Mekan, do you know if we've ever talked or anything like that in person?
A (0:41)
Oh, my God, yes. This is very funny. So I came 30 years ago now. I came from Cranbrook and I went to Imagine Armed Forces. That was my first job out of grad school. And I was seriously drinking the Kool Aid. I was drunk on Kool Aid. I loved that company. I love to work. I love everything about it. And there were two people that I couldn't understand why they wouldn't want to work at Imaginary Forces, and that was Chris do and Michelle Dougherty. So I caught you. I literally think maybe two or three nights, you were still kind of making a little bit of extra money. You had already started blind, and I think you were just making a bit of coin late at night. And I don't even think we talked because I was like, who are these two guys? Who do they think they are? They don't want to work here.
B (1:41)
Amazing weirdos. I think in school, especially undergraduate level, we're so focused on craft. And then when they get out of school and they enter into their workforce, they start to think an idea like, why is that person in charge of all of us? Some of them don't even have design backgrounds. And then when you're in the room, when they're presenting and talking about ideas on million dollar campaigns, you start to understand there's a gap between where you are as a practitioner and where you are as a business owner, leader, communicator. Can you talk a little bit about that since you've been in this game for so long?
A (2:15)
I think as designers, we're so invested in what we do and what we make. And it's the beauty about being a designer. I mean, we're all lucky to be doing something we love. But when you're dealing with the client, you can't lose sight of what's important to them. And that goes beyond what the assignment is. It's about what keeps them up at night, what worries them, right? When you think about, I read a stat once, I'm sure you've heard this too. Like, the average duration of a CMO at a company is 18 months. 18 months, just think about that. It takes about a year to get a campaign developed. I mean, that is one hell of a lot of pressure on an individual. So a lot of the details and the things that are really important to you as the designer that you slaved over, that you got stuck on, they matter nothing to them. So you have to really listen very carefully. Every touch point with the client, every call you have with them. They give you so many hints, like, I've lost so many jobs that I listen, I think back at the call and I'm like, my God, they mentioned that. Like, why didn't I queue in on that? Right? And then on top of that, so many students struggle to present their work and again they get lost in the details, they're nervous. It doesn't matter how good the idea is, how beautiful the frames are, or incredible the poster is, if you can't sell it, it's never going to see the light of day.
