Above: the flaccid Strategy Cow. Below: the erect Strategy Cow.

Richard Huntington’s blog Adliterate introduced us to the Strategy Cow. He wrote:

My eldest son has this toy. It is a cow (I think) which normally stands erect but when you push the base upwards it collapses. It perfectly describes how I feel when I come across lacklustre or cliched thinking – flacid, deflated and lacking in the strength to perform simple tasks like standing up properly. From now on I will submit the strategies of the moment to the Strategy Cow for her to pass judgement.

Richard has started a thing called The Advocate in which people debate the merits of current strategic thinking and first up for consideration was our Honda campaign. (This was last month so I’m a bit late in linking to it.

Anyway, the debate is interesting to read. (Or at least it is if you work on the campaign.) Some people see the work as a triumph of execution over strategy, some question whether the impact of the campaign can be isolated from other factors in such a way as to demonstrate effectiveness conclusively. But in the end we were awarded a strategy cow, complete with authenticity certificate. Stuart’s got it somewhere but I’m not sure what he’s done with it.