The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Music to my ears. So many ad networks/clients have a (bullshit) systematic approach and an ambiguous outcome (“I just don’t like it”) and then there’s Google with an ambiguous process and a definite outcome (“I don’t like it because”)

Adam posted about this just recently too saying exactly what you’ve just said:

“Some clients are too unnerved by ambiguity to accept this and create gargantuan superstructures of bullshit to provide a sense of security.”

I get the feeling agency days are numbered as we know them given the risible contempt they are held in. Not a bad post for a change.

I’ve no idea why those fucking smileys tipped up!

Nice PS – it makes me realise that my negativity here is appreciated.

doddsy, professor fucking smart arse or otherwise known as the blog grandfather.

wonder which one he prefers to be known by? whatever it is, ill be calling him the opposite

I am always impressed – and somewhat scared/disheartened – that you [Andy] can write evil comments while supposidly engaged in a phone conversation with me!

I look forward to your email Age [though I have a feeling you’re not going to be very happy writing it] and thanks for linking me to the post Charles – it’s very good.

This isn’t about everything Google doing being brilliant and everything adland does being crap because that’s plainly not the case – however I/we have been very impressed at some of the things we’ve seen/been exposed to because it fosters an air of creativity even within an organisation with 15,000+ employees … which is a damn sight better than most agencies who have only a fraction of that number working there.

As I wrote on a post over at NP’s blog [http://joymachine.typepad.com/northern_planner/2008/06/the-danger-of-p.html] I think adland [especially the ‘multinational’ variety] needs to stop thinking they are brilliant at everything and open their eyes and thinking [ie: be a magpie] to other systems and processes because they are one of the few industries that has the potential to solve business problems regardless of channel, medium or category and if we can embrace that [rather than just say it] we’ll get our value back in the eyes of people & commerce – even if will require some fundamental shifts in thinking from remuneration through to what we actually produce

Of course some agencies are already doing it, but I wholeheartedly want the whole industry to adopt this sort of thinking because [1] I hate to see an industry I love happily walk into the abyss and [2] I hate seeing talented people not being able to show their worth because of restrictive practice and thinking on behalf of their employer.

Here’s to the future – and just wait till I tell you about the Phoenix Meetings – that’ll be a complete mindfuck for adland 🙂

Duly noted

Disruption is, of course, unique and paradigm shifting though. It gets to the fundamentals of economics I’ll have you know.

You’re irony detection seems to be malfunctioning. You’re working far too hard.

I always thought that an agency stating they have a special process of working only means one thing: They are shit. I exclude TBWA and disruption here, because I don’t think it’s a process, I’d say it’s basic common sense (that you don’t exactly do, what your competitors do).
All the agencies that you consider to be creative and successful (Anomaly, Droga5, WK, CP+B, Goodby, Farfar) don’t have a model. They have a philosophy. They have their special approach. What basically is collaborative work. You stick your heads together, think hard, work hard, keep your spine strong, see the client as a partner not as a client…and in the end some bloody good work comes out.
I don’t really have a point here, do I? Anyway. Stop reloading this site every 30 seconds and spend some quality time with Jil. Mail soon.

i think big ad agencies try to own processes in order to create a justification for the quote.

rather than being able to truly adhere to the belief of what is being developed by saying it is is worth X much. full stop. adland has gone the way of the economic rationalism it helped create, by having to quantify good, creative/strategic thinking and ideas. it’s much easier to do that if you’ve given it a pet name.

Quantifiable success metrics? Wasn’t that the name of your band?

how can you say ive influenced you when youre coming over all gwynth fucking paltrow? get a fucking grip man, youll be hand pressing flowers next. if you associate your behaviour with me one more time ill fucking sue. this isnt about me, its not even google, its san francisco you should be fucking blaming. i hope jill can turn you back into a man by the time you come back or you might be eating from a straw for a while. now enjoy your break and grow back your fucking balls 🙂

What Billy said.
(That’s a first for you, isn’t it mate?)

What did Seb say?

You can see why I went into business with Andy can’t you – what a kind, considerate man he is. Oh hang on, he’s a rude, obnoxious prick – but he’s ugly and funny [and rich] so he’s worth putting up with. That sounds awfully like the rationale wives #1 and #2 came up with as well 🙂

Hello Seb, I wouldn’t say you sound a naive prick – but maybe abit naive.

Of course some of the big networks say “you don’t pay a baker according to how good the bread is” because they have clients who regard distribution, cost and timing as the predominant factors in their relationship – mainly because they see their advertising and agencies as being nothing more than ‘suppliers’ who contribute little to the success of their business.

Of course whether this attitude is because the client hasn’t given the agency opportunity to show just what they can do or whether the agency hasn’t been able to think outside of traditional advertising solutions is open to debate, but this is something that could be argued back and forth for years so I’ll quickly move on 🙂

You are right that there is a difference between an artist and an ad agency – one gets to do things completely on their own terms and one has to incorporate a number of external influences into their reccomednation … however the payoff for this lack of complete control is a greater sense of financial security because for every artist who achieves a good living, there’s probably a 100 ad execs.

What we do at cynic is not the sort of thing a major network could do because it impacts both the clients we choose to work for and the remuneration schemes we offer – however when we set the company up, we knew from the start we had to make clients feel we were focused on their short/long term goals, not just ads – which is why we incorporated elements like ‘idea royalty’ into our cost structure as this serves the double purpose of letting clients know we share the risk and are focused on the bigger goal, not just the execution of short-term marketing collarterol.

Of course it needed us to has case studies and be prepared to take an initial hit to prove what we were saying – but that’s what you can do when you’re small and have a rather famous man as your first client.

Remuneration is a massive issue in whether agencies get to do what they are truly capable of because [1] quite often they already expect too much for too little and [2] clients need to feel comfortable with what they’re paying [and how it is quantified] or they’ll just say no … so unless there’s a major shift in attitudes from both parties, I think we’re going to see the more innovative thinking from the smaller agencies with the entrepenureal/ambitious clients whilst the big networks continue to get a smaller share of the fucking massive multinational client pie.

Maybe 🙂

R2D2 was a business expense Lauren … and anyone who says anything to the contrary is a liar. Or a tax expert. 🙂

Of course he did Seb, we use him to present to clients all the time and they are always impressed – and every now and then, even more than the work we’ve just shown to them. Bastards 🙂

As I said, it’s a business expense – we don’t take the piss you know, ha!

which puts them ahead of most fuckers in adland then eh marcus. they come up with google earth and strawberry frog produce thumbvertising. they offer analytics and mcann talk demand strategies. no contest is it. if i didnt know a bunch of clever fucks in advertising, id be scared to show my face in their playschool furniture office. im amazed they let us breathe the same fucking air as them. im talking about rob and george, it goes without saying they want to wallow in my shadow. you good marcus? being fucking well behaved at the moment, this part of your new leaf i heard about? how fucking depressing, im surrounded by happy clappies all the time at the moment, wheres the fucking hate gone 🙂

For a scary moment Andy it looked like you were being humble but you came through in the end 🙂