The following story is true. Ridiculous, but true.

The big presentation day dawned golden with promise. In the quiet northern Ohio town, the agency team met in the hotel lobby before heading off to the famous industrial client.

“Better go through one last check,” advised the CEO. “This is a big one, after all.”

“Creative, are all the concepts tight? Good. It’s almost showtime.”

“Media, are we ready with a bulletproof plan for every segment? Thought so. We’ll own this market.”

“Account, do you have the budget estimated down to the last penny? Nice. We’re really buttoned up.”

“IT, is the presentation loaded and ready to roll? Perfect…and I didn’t know you owned a suit.”

“Oh, and I have my intro speech memorized. This is stellar work, everyone. The extra effort shows, and the client will love it.”

With that, the agency team paraded proudly out of the hotel. This presentation was a lock. Nothing could spoil it.

Fast forward to three hours later. An angry, dejected and utterly confused agency team trudged back into the lobby.

“I can’t believe it,” the account executive groaned. “Did that really just happen?”

“Afraid so,” said the art director. “We just had five weeks of work torpedoed by a cat.”

“I should have been an accountant,” lamented the CEO. “No surprises or ulcers.”

The concept killer 

To understand how the “can’t miss” presentation went so wrong, let’s consider the client’s feedback.

At first, all was wonderful. The client team thought the media buy was smart, the budget was reasonable, and the creative was inspired. In fact, everyone was ready to celebrate, until the company president spoke up.

“Is that a cat in the background next to our products?” he sniffed. “Hate ‘em. Allergic to them. Sorry, no cats and no deal. Thanks for coming.”

That was it. Meeting over. Business opportunity killed. And all because an innocuous feline slinked through the background of a Photoshopped stock image.

That strange but true story is a rather extreme example of a very common marketing mistake: Allowing personal bias to dictate professional decisions.

The mistake is made every day by agencies and clients alike; professionals who should know better. It can kill concepts, derail campaigns and even end relationships.

If that seems like an overstatement, ask yourself a few questions:

Do I disdain a certain color, image style or font?

Have I ever rejected an idea without a solid rationale for doing so?

Do my coworkers recognize my personal likes and dislikes?

Are there good ideas I never see because of the fear of my judgements?

Personal bias is unavoidable because we’re human. But there are some simple ways to keep it from clouding your reactions.

Tips for reviewers

If you’re reviewing a presentation, think like your customer. Shut off your own filters and see the work through their eyes.

Ask your unbiased self these questions:

• Does the work address the customer’s pain points?
• Is your brand positioned as the logical solution?
• Does the presentation leverage recent data to prove its claims?
• Will the creative stand out in the market and stand apart from your competition?
• Is the action the customer should take crystal clear?

If all of those are affirmatives, your campaign is off to a very good start.

Tips for presenters

If you’re presenting, a similar set of rules applies.

Your presentation should:

• Remind the audience who you are targeting and what their tendencies are
• Level set with the realities of the marketplace challenge
• Always focus on the customer’s perspective
• Support your ideas with recent, relevant data and proof points
• Think differently from the competition
• Make it easy to respond and give compelling reasons for doing so
• Have a solid rationale for everything

Finally, remember this: Your opinion isn’t the final word. Your customers will have that say.

Now, back to the cat.

It turns out the infamous “cat” image was chosen because there was a feline in it. The subtle background tabby underscored the industrial client’s commitment to creating pet and wildlife friendly products.

Too bad the agency didn’t mention that at the time. Meow.