Back in 2002, British Airways ran a TV ad where a company was trying to pitch their services to a businessperson in New York through the medium of sending them a printed presentation and pitching them over the phone.
The strapline of the ad was the moment the phone was put down, representatives of a second UK company had actually flown over to meet the prospect in person to the narration, “if you won’t fly to your customers, someone else will”.
I never realised until watching it back this evening just how on the nose that writing was but, you know, it’s Saatchi and Saatchi, not Subtlety and Subtlety.
22 years on though, and does anyone actually want to travel anywhere to see a customer? I always feel like I’m having to twist people’s arms to book in face-to-face meetings. No big insights on this one – it’s just funny how things change.