The lesson for us comes in three parts; be relentless, work as a team and use history to inform action, but not dictate it.
Where does the name Marengo come from?
Time for a quick history lesson…
The Battle of Marengo took place near Alessandria in Italy on the 14th June 1800 between the Austrians and the French, under Napoleon Bonaparte.
The night before the battle took place, Napoleon was double-crossed by an Austrian spy. He believed that the Austrians were preparing to withdraw and so sent an entire division to cut off their retreat.
Instead, the Austrians attacked and forced Napoleon to redraw his lines and fall back. Under considerable pressure, he refused to give up and fought carefully for an entire day while the Austrian commander – thinking the battle won – retired for a long lunch. Finally, around 5 o’clock in the afternoon, Napoleon’s (now well-travelled) division returned, led by General Louis Desaix and drove the Austrians from the field. While a triumph, it cost Desaix his life.
It was regarded as a high watermark of Napoleon’s campaign and secured his elevation to First Consul and Emperor of France.
So…what does this mean for communications?
The lesson for us comes in three parts:
1) Don’t give up on the dream, the campaign or the goal - you may need to realign temporary objectives, but keep your eyes on the prize. Be relentless.
2) The leader is rarely the real hero. Napoleon may have had the vision, but without Desaix and many thousands of unknown and unsung heroes, the battle would have been lost. Working together as a team is everything.
3) History and experience provide us with lessons and insight. To ignore them is wasteful, but equally, don’t assume history is always repeated. Experience can help inform what to do next, but should never dictate it.
In conclusion
We didn’t find many firms that represented those behaviours or attitudes so thought it was time to start one. We are determined to make the Marengo Communications experience a unique one.
As a team, we are committed to delivering on our proposals, being relentless and thinking fast on our feet to find new ways to succeed.