Mantra media: Thankfulness

4th May 2020

Firstly a thank you. To all our clients, partners and friends for thinking beyond the next few months, concentrating on the long term and understanding that the creative spirit of commerce and art will always find a way.

We’re all riding what appears to be the middle of the storm and if you’re paying attention to Switzerland and Lithuania today, the end definitely seems in sight. At the beginning of this crisis, we found that many people were stuck in fear-based decision making, concentrating only on the short term. In business, this is useful for about five minutes, short-termism and finite mindedness only leads to temporary, short-lived gains. Experienced business owners know that cutting costs don’t save businesses long term. Innovation, smart thinking and strategic focus are the pivots for long term success and infinite mindedness.

Since the crisis began I’ve had roughly 162 work-related video calls. It’s amazing how many meetings you can have when you don’t need to travel. Don’t get me wrong though. I want to travel, a lot! This is the longest time in the last five years that I've not travelled to Japan. The Mantra team has kept to sensible routines and have dressed each day as if it were a normal working day, (it’s important for your mental health). Ikigai House is also undergoing a further facelift while there’s a skeleton team in and out of the offices, ensuring plants are watered, walls are rebuilt to spec and the new spaces are ready for after the lockdown.

For those that know me well, know that whenever I hear a great phrase, I write it down. Over the past few weeks I’ve heard some fantastic phrases, here are a few of my favourites - ‘It’s a pandemic, not a productivity contest’, I think a few people may have missed the memo on that one.

‘Read this if you want to smile today’, a completely new way of categorising books in a retailer in Japan. They’ve done away with the standard, History, Politics and Fitness categories and gone with a more personal, if you want this outcome, read this. A beautiful example of merchandising innovation. ????, ‘Neko Ni Koban’ literally (Gold coins to a cat), translation, don’t offer things to people that won’t or cannot appreciate them. Offer what is useful rather than just what you want to sell.

As always a huge thank you to our clients, partners, friends, and of course the Mantra family for all of your hard work and resilience throughout the global lockdown.

Stay safe,
Johnny

P.S - If you've ever wanted to attend a chocolate and wine pairing/tasting evening please get in touch at hello@mantrahq.com

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