It’s small but imperfectly formed and it’s going according to cunning plan

I am not saying that failure on the part of any communications consultancy to get a particular gig turns that consultancy bitter and twisted, but I’ll tell you one thing for sure: if the subsequent campaign goes a bit wobbly at the knees, the opportunity for the losers to crow is only mighty.

Media knock at your door, inviting you to dump on a rival firm — the company that won the account. Of course, you have to dump in a delicate way, lest you be seen as mean-spirited. You mention that you don’t know all the circumstances. You may even praise the shower that got the contract (“highly reputable company”) before kicking them in the whatsits (“but in this particular instance, may have underestimated the importance of”).

The household charge presented an open goal to communications consultancies — like mine — which hadn’t been hired by the Department of the Environment. The central proposition had nobody rooting for it. Small, but imperfectly formed, was the national consensus. Might not, on the face of it, be financially crippling, and yes, there were waivers, but hateful, nonetheless, in already tough times.