Embracing Marketing Mistakes
Welcome to the world's number one podcast on Marketing Mistakes by Prohibition PR. This podcast is specifically for senior marketers determined to grow their brands by learning from real-world screw ups.
Each week, join hosts Chris Norton and Will Ockenden, seasoned PR professionals with over 45 years of combined experience, as they candidly explore the marketing failures most marketers would rather forget. Featuring insightful conversations with industry-leading marketing experts and value-packed solo episodes, the show tries to uncover the valuable lessons from genuine marketing disasters and, crucially, the tips and steps you need to take to avoid them.
Chris and Will bring practical experience from founding the award-winning PR agency Prohibition PR, where they have successfully guided top brands to significant growth through PR strategy, social media, media relations, content marketing, and strategic brand-building.
Tune in to turn f*ck ups into progress, mistakes into lessons, and challenges into real-life competitive advantages. Well, we hope so anyway.
Embracing Marketing Mistakes
Behind the Skip: How Eight Students Nearly Ruined a VIP Event
Melanie Parker, a university recruitment professional, shares a hilarious mishap when student hospitality staff abandoned their posts at a high-profile university event to get drunk behind a skip. Eight students helping themselves to champagne and wine during a Vice-Chancellor's gathering led to a mortifying call from security and a scramble to manage the fallout.
• Worked at Leeds Becker University running a recruitment business placing hospitality students as event staff
• Students were supposed to be catering and waitressing at an important gathering with the Vice-Chancellor
• The student workers played "mind sweeping" (collecting drinks) "at a whole new level"
• Security called to report that eight students were "mortal" (hammered) behind a skip surrounded by empty bottles
• Had to pick each student up and remind them they were representing the university
• Managed to handle the situation without the Vice-Chancellor finding out
• Reflects that while mortifying, it wasn't as bad as it could have been if it had happened with external clients
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Well, this show is all about fuck ups and stinks in marketing. So there's people out. This is what everybody's waiting to hear, and the best ones are always the candid ones, where people tell us the truth. And I must admit, we in the show notes, we like the sound of your fuck up. Yeah, so do you want to tell us what professional mistake you've made and what you learned from it. Oh, dear.
Melanie Parker:Well, this was so. As I mentioned, I worked at Leeds Becker University Don't kill me Leeds Becker University but when the VC was having a really high profile gathering, you know there was loads of important people there. So as part of the recruitment business I set up for them, I used to hire, like hospitality staff, which were all students, obviously because we had had hospitality courses. So it does come with its uh issue. So I mean they just decided to play a game of what's that thing you call it when you go around nicking drinks?
Melanie Parker:oh uh, mind sweeping mind sweeping at a whole new level yeah, mind, so you're told at a whole new level.
Melanie Parker:So all these students were meant to be, you know, catering the event, uh, waitressing and whatnot. Well, anyway, they saw the amount of alcohol and everything and they just got a bit giddy and it was far too tempting. So they kind of like had a lot of champagne and wine and I got a call from security saying, melian, you need to come down here. And I was like why, what's going on? They're like all your students are mortal behind a skip and they've just basically, you know, helped themselves. I don't want behind a skip. They were mortal. Mortal, have you not?
Chris Norton:heard mortal. Yeah, it's like hammered hammered, hammered, absolutely mortal.
Melanie Parker:So yeah, surrounded by empty bottles, and I had to pick each student up and say you're supposed to be representing the university here. I mean, how many of them?
Chris Norton:were leathered about eight and how did you sober them up is the real question coffee and a stern word yeah, absolutely I was.
Melanie Parker:I was saying to them you know, god, you represent your university here I'm we're gonna get killed the vc um c no, I hit. No, no, no, no no kind of managed to just sort of yeah, no.
Chris Norton:What was the worst thing they did? How did they know they were leathered? Were they dropping things?
Melanie Parker:Well, yeah, and of course the security guard had called me to say well, anyway, they'd all nicked off, hadn't they? They were all behind the skip drinking.
Chris Norton:They must have drunk a lot if a skip looked like an appealing place.
Melanie Parker:Yeah, no, that wasn't.
Chris Norton:So what's your lesson there then?
Melanie Parker:Well, I wouldn't change. You know, the funny thing is I wouldn't change it because I mean, obviously this was me getting students into jobs. But you know, I don't know, it was just. You know, it was like a bit Lord of Flies mentality Once one started, they all started. But I mean I can laugh about it now. At the time it felt like a bit, oh my god, but actually it is their university. So I mean they get told off a little bit, but not not as bad as it could have been. If it had been like a client it would have been absolutely horrific. It was bad enough.
