So we’re in Thailand helping Ovaltine become even more relevant. [They don’t suffer the same image ‘issues’ as they have in Western markets]
It’s been long, long days … with discussions, debates and downright arguing … but we’re now in an area that is soooooo exciting [for them and for us] that without doubt, it’s been worth the exhaustion.
[In all honesty, I am beside myself with excitement about how this idea could develop – and it reminds me how much I love this job – even though I can’t tell you what the idea is [yet] because they’d go stark, raving mental. Again, ha!]
Anyway, one of the things I love about these workshop thingies is that they provide you with loads of great food to eat at almost every moment.
The weird thing is that when you do these things in Asia, they supply you with this weird hybrid of local dishes and international ‘classics’ – though some of these seem to be rather strange, including an almost unhealthy obsession with ‘Bread & Butter Pudding’.
So in one of the breaks today, I went outside to see one of the weirdest groupings of food ever placed next to eachother …
Fruit
Quiche
Sausage Rolls
Carrot Cake
Prawn Pita Sandwiches
Tiramisu
Chicken Pies
Orange Juice
Tea
Coffee
Water
Ovaltine [which you can understand]
… and best of all …
… yes, Jam Donuts!!!
Before I’d even got one into my gob I felt a surge of excitement – and it wasn’t just because [1] I like food that is ‘bad’ for me or [2] I was hungry.
What was amazing was that the feelings I had about donuts from when I was a kid [ ‘naughty but a bloody nice treat’] were still alive and well inside me – even though I hadn’t eaten one for god knows how long.
They put me in a good mood … they made me happy … they made me smile … all because years and years and years ago, donuts were something associated with ‘nice moments’ – be it parties, with Mum or Dad or friends.
So what is the point of all this?
Well the fact is that there is a growing trend amongst marketers to put communication back into the 1950’s … where every element is expressed rationally and any emotion is sanitised or simply ridiculous. And this is not just in many parts of Asia … I’m talking about Europe and North America too.
Don’t get me wrong, I hate communication that …
[1] Doesn’t have a product ‘truth’ in it [a real one, not some marketing bollocks]
[2] Doesn’t motivate consumers to act in some way that will benefit the brand
[3] Doesn’t have a real idea at the heart of it
… but this overly rational approach just doesn’t work.
Luckily, clients that choose to work with us do so because of what we believe, what we stand for and what we do … but I am seeing a scary number of brands seemingly forgetting that the majority of things humans do [if not all] are driven by their hearts and justified by their heads – which ultimately means they make communication that will have little or no impact on society at all.
I talk about this issue in Marketing Magazine … saying that if NIKE started today, there is a high probability it would not ever achieve the same level of success it currently enjoys [agency and client depending] because the attitudinal positioning of ‘JUST DO IT’ would never see the light of day.
In all likelihood, what we’d end up with is advertising that say’s, “The rubber bases on our shoes are designed to grip tarmac more strongly resulting in you increasing your running speed by [on average] 0.826mph. NIKE: The Science Behind Sporting Achievement”
Inbetween bites of food, Fred said something very interesting today [as he does most days, ha!] … he wondered how many job ads for Marketing/Brand Directors features the requirement: MUST HAVE IMAGINATION
I would guess none.
And yet, this is such a vital component of the job – because as much as they must be business focused, they must also be consumer focused … which means understanding how to connect with people emotionally, rationally, culturally and/or attitudinally.
Without the ability to ‘imagine’ … I do not believe they can perform the fundamental role of ‘connecting brands to people’ – let alone credibly judge whether an idea or a creative piece is good or not.
If the industry [and I am talking anyone associated with communicating to consumers – so clients, as well as agencies] do not get a grip on this, they better hope they have astounding distribution [as well as poor competitors] because in all likelihood, they are on a road to decline.
If anyone knows a website like Flickr that allows people to host documents that other people can then download, I’ll put up a piece I wrote for MTV entitled, “WHY BRANDS CAN LEARN FROM BANDS” – which basically says that bands are achieving a level of loyalty brands can only dream about [often for less than 0.0001% of the money spent by the big corporations] because they are connecting to people via their values, beliefs, attitudes and emotions rather than the bland, rational communication which most companies churn out each and every day.
Communication is not rocket science – however much we try and pretend it is – infact it is fundamentally simple … the problem is more and more companies are turning the whole industry into something that should be called PETTY BOASTING – and what’s sad is that the ad industry [in it’s constant quest for cash] – is generally sitting there and letting it happen.
A great creative guy I worked with [now a famous Author with a soon-to-be made Hollywood Film of one of his books, David Rollins] once said, “Clients Get The Advertising They Deserve” – and not only do I now actually understand what he meant, but I am now in a situation where I am forced to agree.
I didn’t get excited because my donut contained the finest raspberry jam [each containing 100 seeds] encased in a fluffy dough kneaded by World class chefs from a French Patisserie … I got excited because it made me feel like a kid again and yet, if we keep going down the path we’re heading, what I – or billions of other consumers – feel/need/want, will have no bearing on how a brand chooses to communicate with me. Their loss.