Sir John Hegarty seems to be saying this a lot lately, but a good article in AdAge nonetheless.
Sir John's first job was at Benton & Bowles' London office. "I was this upstart young creative who was very lippy, who had all the opinions going for me in the world." And he soon found out he was dealing with people "who just didn't get it."
But he kept offering up his unadulterated opinions on how things should be, "and in the end it was kind of, 'John, I think our paths should now part and you should seek your fortune elsewhere.' It was a very nice firing in a way."
I can't help but feel an affinity for his first job where people 'didn't get it' to how many people today don't really 'get' content marketing and how to be truly effective in marketing their brand/product/service by using content properly (not just using it as a way to get your logo on minutes of video, for example). (It's funny how he even places disdain on "some bloke in a sweaty T-shirt who's 18-and-a-half has said to you, 'You don't need to do that.") Does Hegarty now not 'get it'? (don't shoot me!).
With regard to content marketing, it certainly feels there's still a lot of educating to do to bring people (agencies, brands, colleagues) around, and in line with Hegarty's point - everyone needs to be brave and courageous with their budgets to really be successful.