A developer, an analyst, a marketer, a senior leader for various vendors and agencies — Ian Truscott has worn all of these hats.
And it is this rich background that Truscott brings to his articles on CMSWire, placing current industry trends into a broader perspective, providing practical advice for those struggling with web CMS procurement and deployment and in defense of content marketing.
Truscott shares these insights in clear, jargon-free language which comes as a relief in an industry so full of marketing-speak.
What was the biggest lesson you learned in 2016?
I’ve had a great learning year, working for the first time in a creative agency within a large agency network (McCann).
However, the stand out moments as a practitioner of content marketing and more specifically, as an advocate of understanding an audience, must be Brexit and Trump.Putting the politics to one side — hard as that may be — on the one hand they are great examples of understanding and leveraging the latent zeitgeist within an audience, and on the other, a lack of understanding and accurate polling of that same audience by the media and the establishment.
It’s a lesson for us marketers, to look beyond our established circles, the media we consume, people and experiences that make up our own goldfish bowl and to connect with real consumers.
What gives you the greatest satisfaction at work?
People moments. Not sure if that’s a thing, but that’s the best way I can describe it.
Those times with clients and colleagues when you have a moment in which you’ve helped them, they’ve appreciated the work or you feel you’ve changed their day.
Name one work-related moment that surprised or gave you an a-ha moment in 2016.
Besides being identified as a top contributor for CMSWire? That was a surprise!
I’d love to say something pithy about the state of the CMS industry, which never ceases to surprise me. A decade ago, we thought that a vendor would have emerged as the gorilla of this space, as SAP did in ERP. But aside from some obvious players, this space continues to be dynamic — with new vendors, some vendors on a resurgence and some established names slipping down.
But the moment I’d like to share is the day my daughter spent some time in our office. Through the generosity of our head of creative technology she was incredibly inspired by his work, the work we do as an agency and the potential for a future creative career.
Did you ever take on a job you thought you couldn't do?
I’ve read advice from a number of folks who say that you should always do that. You should feel that challenge everyday — if not you are settling, which I think is something Seth Godin talks about.
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If you only do what you know you can do every day, you will never grow.
I’ve also been fortunate that throughout my career I’ve worked for people and in organizations that have encouraged and supported that sort of growth, an entrepreneurial, can-do type spirit.
So, in answer to the question — yes!
If you had to get rid of your computer or your phone, which would it be and why?
Gosh, that’s a tough question or maybe a very easy question as they are both computers these days — it’s just one of them has a bigger screen and a keyboard, the other has GPS and 4G.
I’d probably ditch the laptop, keep the phone.
When you were seven years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Almost certainly to be like my Dad!
My father worked as a mainframe programmer on the first national police database in the UK (the Police National Computer Unit). He used to bring home discarded punched cards, paper tapes and we learned to draw on the old fanfold, sprocket printer paper.
It’s something I actually achieved, as coincidently I started my IT career working on police mainframes at New Scotland Yard (the HQ for the police in London).
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