I'm
no fan of the phrase
We eat our own dog food. If I worked for a company that literally made dog food, I wouldn't want team lunches to involve bowls of kibble. If the company I work for
figuratively eats their own dog food, I shudder to think that I'd work for a company that characterizes its product as something chewed up and sometimes hawked up by canine muzzles. At OMMA Global
Hollywood, Alan Cohen, president of Initiative West and Innovation Worldwide, impressed me with a simple statement: "We need to hire who we are advertising to." In Alan's world, HR provides a simple
test to weed out the lameness. They slap you with about 12 logos and if you don't recognize them all, you're out. I recognized six brands; yikes! It's smart and simple, yet it's not a widely practiced
hiring or retention behavior yet. Is it fear of ageism lawsuits? I hope not - youthful urban brand awareness is a state of mind. Maybe agencies just aren't ready to eat ... their own ... dogs.
