Filed under: Comment
Hello … well you’ll be happy I’m out of my depressive lull, and I’m now back and ready for some fighting action.
In the next few weeks, I am hopeful to be able to explain just what I mean by that statement – but there’s exciting things happening in my/our background and one of them is the brilliant news we’ve just been awarded [without a pitch] the absolutely wonderful DISCOVERY Channel throughout Asia Pacific.
Not only do they have one of the greatest ‘products’ on Earth, they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met … however the best bit [for me at least] is that the idea we’re developing with/for them, is one of the most exciting I’ve ever been involved with – and given I’m an old fart whose worked on some rather famous campaigns … that’s saying something.
Anyway, enough of all that, I want to comment on a couple of things starting with how (Red) have missed the point. Again.
So a couple of nights ago, I went to see one of the most creative bands in the World right now, Muse.
They were absolutely astounding – their level of musicianship is quite extraordinary and their songs, arrangements and use of musical dynamics make them a band whose inventiveness is right up there with Pink Floyd and Queen.
Whenever I go to a gig, I love the moment just before the band hits the stage, because the crowd are whistling, cheering and screaming in feverish anticipation and it creates what I can only describe as human electricity.
And for the bands about to perform, this energy surge must be absolutely addictive, because whilst I never got to play to the size of audiences that Muse/Floyd/Queen did/do … I did experience the feeling of 15,000 people going mad [in a good way of course, ha!] for something I’d just performed for them – and it’s a feeling beyond all levels of normal comprehension. [Yeah … yeah … so they were really cheering D’arby, le Bon or Kershaw – but I can pretend my guitar playing made all the difference to their experience can’t I!!!]
Annnnnnnyway ….
… when I got to the gig, I was quite surprised to see that (Red) MOTOROLA had a corporate hospitality tent there.
(Red) talk about how they want to help end poverty … they talk about how they want to help the poor prosper … but here they are, proudly supporting facilities for the privileged few.
Now if (Red) said their mantra was ‘Robin Hood: Steal From The Wealthy [&/or Label Obsessed] To Help Provide For The Poor’ … then I’d understand it [and I actually think it would be more powerful and interesting] but they don’t and the whole concept just smacks of being nothing more than a marketing stunt which, admittedly helps some of the poor poor [which is a good thing] but probably benefits Bono and his aspirational brand owning friends, to an even greater degree. [which is a bad thing]
To be fair, the corporate tent was more a Motorola thing than a (Red) one … but if the organisation and it’s supporters are serious about it … then they should ensure the brand is not used in areas that just aren’t appropriate to the cause. Sure, Motorola can sponsor the event … but being so blatant in their corporate hospitality? Nah … don’t think so.
One of the other things I found really interesting at the gig was how people watched the show.
Many centuries ago … when I was a much younger man … the gigs I went to had a very enforced policy of ‘NO PHOTOGRAPHS’. Infact, if you ever wanted a memento of the gig, you’d have to either buy an official programme or send off for the snaps of one of the ‘official photographers’.
However nowadays we all tend to have mobile phones with cameras in them … so apart from the fact it means the amount of work for ‘official concert photographers’ is now probably next-to-nothing, it also means many people go to concerts and watch them via the small screen of their mobile phone. Mad! [And yes, given I’ve attached loads of photos of the gig on this post, I do appreciate I am showing myself to be one of these ‘weirdo’s’]
Finally … when I was walking home from the gig … I came across this ad for ‘BROTHER Colour Printers’ …
What the … ???????
Can someone … anyone … tell me what the fuck the people behind this were thinking.
Lets look at the copy of the ad again …
WE KNOW WHAT YOU NEED:
Like twins who understand eachother completely, we know you best. Especially your need to complete various tasks quickly and efficiently. Brother is the brand you can depend on.
First, WHY do they know us best.
Secondly, if they think all we actually care about in life is completing tasks quickly and efficiently, then they need their heads kicking.
Thirdly, with this level of arrogance, I would say Brother are the brand you can rely on … but for patronising, condescending, mindless, misguided, self-important, dillusionary stupidity!
This is a perfect example of what is going wrong in corporate land … a complete lack of understanding of your place/role in people’s lives and minds … and as far as I am concerned, the people who briefed it, wrote it, approved it and booked it, should all be shot, cut up into little pieces and then chucked into the sewer where they belong.Years ago we had a South African printer client who wanted to do some ads about how great they were. When we looked into the mindset of the consumer [business, not home] … we found people only knew the name of their printer if it was continually failing them.With this in mind – and an idea based around our clients reliability – we did a sweet campaign based around the thought of “We Don’t Want You To Ever Know Our Name”.Now I’m not saying this was the best comms idea in the World … but when you look at what the big corporate printer companies are coming out with today, maybe it was better than we gave it credit for.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … planning is about UNDERSTANDING AND REPRESENTING HUMANITY … it is not about justifying the beliefs of misguided, ego’d or arrogant corporate types… and until [some] ad agencies get a backbone, then we’re going to continue seeing the decline of advertising [both interms of creativity and credibility] … which is very sad, because in the right hands, it can still be one of the most powerful investments for any business.
See … I told you I was feeling better, ha!
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CLUE 1: In Vietnam, the main means of transport is the moped – meaning everywhere is a potential ‘carpark’.
CLUE 2: In Vietnam, every road is literally heaving with people and transport every minute of every day.
CLUE 3: In Vietnam, there’s no such thing as a ’single dwelling home’
CLUE 4: Vietnam is a social place resulting in people spending more time ‘out of home’ than in it.
Well, have you got your answer yet?
It’s simple … if you’re a Vietnamese hairdresser without enough money to open a shop, what you do is …
ANSWER: Turn the street into your shop!
OK, I admit it … I looooooooooove Vietnam.
Apart from the fact the people, the culture and the history are so amazing, their ingenuity is what totally blows me away.
It doesn’t matter if it is on an individual scale or on a National scale … when the Vietnamese are faced with adversity, they unite and persevere till they find a way to achieve whatever it is they need to achieve – as demonstrated by their ability to overcome threats as diverse as the US Army and Avian Flu to name but two in their long history of overcoming aggressors.
This country truly embodies ‘Triumph Over [Any] Adversity’ which is maybe why cynic have decided to set up a company in Hanoi called ’The Smarts Lab’ … a Vietnamese co-operative [local people will be share holders in the venture] that helps major global organisations overcome business issues be it in manufacturing, production or distribution. [More details as I get them]
Seriously, for all the talk of creativity in business today – I am yet to see an organisation that can solve problems as amazingly, consistently and effectively as the people of Vietnam.
Filed under: Comment
This is a very self-indulgent post today, and I make no apologies for it … because on this day, 8 years ago at 10:34am [GMT] the single most terrible event of my life happened.
My Father died.
He was 60.
Now because he’d suffered 3 years of illness [mainly numerous strokes] I should have known things weren’t likely to get better – but I had amazingly convinced myself that because a stroke had taken away his ability to speak, walk, move … another stroke may help make it all normal again.
Obviously this was me exercising ‘blind hope’, however it wasn’t totally without merit – because at one point, another stroke did help him regain some elements of communication – which for an articulate, intellligent man was an absolute blessing. However, whichever way you look at it, my Father was pretty much trapped inside his body … aware of everything going on around him but unable to participate in it.
The general belief is that pain fades as time passes … but I’m not so sure about that.
What I think happens is that we manage to hide the feelings/memories into some dark corner of our mind – because when a situation occurs where they‘re brought back into our consciousness, the sadness comes back with the same force as we originally experienced.
I had a great childhood … my parents were [and my Mum still is] wonderful parents. I was never left wanting for love, support or advice … and they believed in me with such passion that it gave me the confidence to ‘have a go’ at pretty much whatever I fancied … surely the most valuable gift a parent can give their child .
Now please don’t get into your head my folks were like some middle-American set of parents where every little thing done is given over-the-top praise … from wiping your arse to opening the door … because that so wasn’t the case. It’s just that in my parents opinion, if something was important to me, they felt I should explore it [and they should encourage it] because a life of regret or denial was/is no life at all.
Of course there were moments when I was in serious trouble … but to be fair to them, when that happened, I bloody well deserved the bollocking I got! Ha.
Now a while ago, Northern Planner wrote about how he feels ‘different’ when he goes back to the place where he grew up and I so relate to that – except my Mum not only lives in the same area, she lives in the same house.
As I said, I had a great, great childhood and my family home is somewhere I truly treasure. However, ever since my Dad died, I can’t help but feel the ‘air’ in the place has somewhat changed – there’s now a sense of ’emptiness’ even when it is echoing to the sound of laughter from me, my Mum or my friends.
It’s weird because it’s the same yet so different – like I’m in some sort-of parallel universe – and I get the same feeling when I go back to my home in Australia … that sense of being stranger in your own home. I guess that’s normal but it still feels strange … uncomfortable … un-nerving.
However the thing that really blows me away is how much I can be affected by totally ‘normal’ situations.
I can be walking down the street, minding my own business, and see a man with the kindest eyes and immediately have to tell myself not to go up and hug him. I can see someone on the television and the way they speak or the way they sit instantly transports me to a time where the word family meant sitting at home and talking with Mum and Dad. And once when I watched Billy Elliott at the cinema, I cried for ages straight after the scene where Billy and his Dad finally bonded over his love of ballet.
Why?
Because I miss his support and conversation. Infact it’s that I miss the most.
Now please don’t think I don’t talk to my Mum … I do and she is wonderful and supportive – it’s that just as I was about to embark on the adventure of my life, my Dad went and had his bloody stroke. What you have to understand is that my Dad was very inquisitive … he loved asking questions [and passing opinions, ha!] … so not being able to discuss with him all I was experiencing is unbelievably, desperately, heart-wrenchingly sad.
My Dad had his stroke 3 weeks prior to me leaving England … and whilst I was ready to cancel the whole trip, my parents told me I had to carry on with it because I’d planned it for so long. And even when in a period of 6 months I had to rush back on 3 separate occasions because I’d been told he had only 24 hours to live, they continued to send me off again because they felt I still hadn’t experienced all I needed to and that my life should never stop because there’s was.
And whilst there were many arguments [about me wanting to stay and them wanting me to go] I know that what they were doing was the ultimate demonstration of love, support and selflessness. I hope I can be like that should the situation ever arise.
I suppose the hardest bit was that while my Mum and I were given incredible support when my Dad died … within a week it was as if our pain had been forgotten by everyone around us. Of course life goes on … but as bad as I was feeling, I knew that my Mum was going through more because not only had she lost her husband of nearly 40 years – a husband she had cared for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 3 years – she had also lost her only son to the other side of the planet … meaning that for the first time in 29 years, the house she returned to was completely empty but for her.
Now my Mum is bloody cool. She’s 74 and the most tech-savvy OAP I know.
She video conferences with me on SKYPE everyday, she follows my plane routes on the internet every time I fly, she sends me SMS’s using text language … however for all her love of embracing the new, she – like me – knows that deep down inside her is a sense of loss that is more painful than anything else we can experience.
I should point out it’s not all pain and sadness … there’s feelings of happiness, love and warmth as well [how could there not be, he was a wonderful man] … however even though I’m 36 years of age, at certain times, in certain situations, I can honestly say that the loss of my Dad frustrates the crap out of me – because apart from the fact he was way, way too young to die, I’d just love to hear what he thinks of what I am doing, what I have done and what I want to do.
My Dad was a fantastic, intelligent, warm, caring, loving man and whilst he would often lecture me on the decline of ethics or how beautiful sweet peas were when they are in bloom… I’d still give my right arm in an instant to hear it all again.
When people say the dead are always with you, they’re right – they are – but don’t wait till it’s too late to understand all the bits of them that make them who they are.
Thinking of you Dad …
PS: Apologies for the depressing nature of this post – but on the brightside, my Dad probably loves the fact he still can drive me to tears, Ha!
Filed under: Comment
You’d of thought the internet scam artists would be happy they can still us send thousands of dodgy spam emails each day – despite Microsoft, Apple and Norton’s technicians all trying to stop it … however you’d be wrong because some Turkish bloke has gone and hacked into our site and put up a load of anti-America claptrap! [Though bizarrely, the background music is The Animals ‘House of the Rising Sun’???]
Anyway, while this guys say’s he’d like George Bush and his gang to have rather unpleasant deaths … I/we don’t think that’s the real reason … infact, if you ask us, it’s all to do with this man …
Yes, Borat.
OK, so Borat isn’t ‘Turkish’ but come on … the physical similarities to the clichéd look of a Turkish men is astounding … and if we were betting men, we’d say the prime suspect for this whole episode is the once-famous, always-proud Turkish-bloke, Mahir! [Spot the similarities????]
Now my beloved Jill [who is a computer genius as well as a design Goddess] has somehow managed to get us back on-line – however while our evil IT nerd checks that there are no more ‘nasty suprises’ on the site, can I suggest anyone trying to send/receive work via the cynic FTP, contacts Andy, George, Katerina or myself so that alternative arrangements can be made. Ta.
Oh, I’d like to publically point out that I am not a big believer in karma, so don’t believe this is the Universe’s way of getting me back for my 10 Answers. At least I hope not.
Finally … to our friendly Turkish Hacker, I leave this for you …
Filed under: Comment
Look at this wonderful spoof about an agency pitching for the US Ovaltine business.
It was done by those lovely, talented folks at Cliff Freeman & Partners … and serves as another great example of why they are one of the best at developing incredibly entertaining communication. [They were ‘Mother‘ waaaaaaay before Mother]
Anyway, when you’ve stopped laughing … spare a thought for me/us, given we’re about to present the REAL Ovaltine Client the brand idea they asked us to develop about a couple of months or so ago. If anyone in that company has seen the clip and thinks it’s a true reflection of how ad agencies go about developing work, I/we are totally screwed.
Mind you, if the client asks me why we’re not proposing the ‘MC Hammer’ [“It’s Oval-time”] idea that is featured in the spoof – then I swear to God I will murder somone, even if part of me thinks it would be funny to turn a spoof clip into the real thing.
Actually, forget that … I am totally in love with our brand idea … so it’s now down to whether a bloody funny ‘viral ad’ has the power to screw up my day. Lets hope not – for all our sakes, ha!