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

Before I start, I should say this is another one of my all-over-the-shop posts. Without doubt you will probably find it has contradicted itself by the time you come to the end of the post [if you even make it that far] and without doubt you’ll be scratching your head wondering what the hell I’m trying to say. I don’t know what’s going on at the moment, but this [literal] brain dump is happening quite alot at the moment so just consider yourself lucky you only read this blog rather than work with me.

OK, now I shall begin.

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For quite a few years, I have read a bunch of blogs each and every day.

I have always made it a rule to find a new one to check out each morning however I have my ‘faves’ and whilst they cover a whole range of topics – from child education to micro economics – what I want to talk about are the adland ones.

[So strictly speaking that shouldn’t count Lauren, Marcus, Dodds, Neil, Gavin etc … but they write about people, culture, attitudes and life [and write it brilliantly and interestingly] so for the sake of convenience, I’m going to count them in the category I’m about to write about]

Now there’s bloody loads out there … loads … and whilst there’s the obvious brilliant brain ones [Richard, Russell, Gareth, Faris, NP, Charles, Jon, Scamp etc] there’s a whole host of genius from folk who have seemingly been in adland for 12 minutes.

To be honest, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with these blogs …

I love how they are developing their own thoughts/theories/ideas/approaches … it’s so exciting, especially as there seems to be a fashion to just agree with whatever the supposed ‘statesmen of adland’ and/or ‘the new creative gods’ are spouting out of their gobs … however the bit I hate is that they continually get me to question my own abilities and more often than not, I come out on the losing side.

This may read like I’m seeking appreciation … acknowledgement that I’m “OK” … but I’m not.

Underneath it all I know I’m quite good at what I do – well quite good when the stars align and I’m surrounded by my clever mob – however I have noticed that in the last few years I’ve become more mellow. Don’t get me wrong I still want to make things interesting, exciting and better but the hunger/abilities I once had just don’t feel to be at the same level as they once were.

Now I could blame this on age, maturity or having a bit more cash … but I genuinely don’t think it’s that because the will is still there, I just don’t know if the ability is.

I’m not saying I’m ready for the knackers yard yet – but I am saying that when I read some of the ‘new to adland’s’ blogs, it makes me feel invigorated … excited … challenged.

Saying that, this is not all about the power of youth.

One of the big problems with adland is that they happily turn their back on people with a lifetime of experience in favour of some 19 year old without any experience – or worse – someone with a qualification in ‘advertising studies’ or some equally offensive certificate.

I’ve said it so many times … but adland is more about understanding people and how to connect/motivate them than processes, science or education. Sure … those things have an important place in modern thinking/communication … but there’s a bunch of folk out there that think knowing societies thoughts/attitudes/ideals is incidental to producing great creativity and that is plainly bollocks. Actually I should rephrase that … it IS incidental to producing great creative, but it isn’t incidental if you want to produce great [effective] creative.

That’s why I also love talking to people who’ve “been there, done that”.

Sure their experiences may be less relevant interms of the circumstances leading up to a certain situation, but it doesn’t mean they can’t adapt their thoughts to modern times and yet most people over 40 in adland [who aren’t an MD or CEO] are viewed with eyes of pity, as if their time on earth is drawing to a close – it’s pathetic.

Where am I going with this?

God knows …

Oh yes I remember …

The thing is, when I look at the rubbish I write on this blog and then compare it to what others are saying on theirs, I just think I am so superficial and out of the loop.

That doesn’t mean I’ll always agree with the clever thinking that is being said … for example I’ve had more disagreements with Niko than I’ve had with Andy even though I feel he is a really exciting brain … but it does make me happy that there are a bunch of young guys out there [From Rob and Age to Sam and Paul and a whole host inbetween] whose thoughts/ideas could really create positive change even though adland tends to embrace the people with hype rather than opinions and ideals.

When we started cynic, one of the things we decided was that we wanted to surround ourselves with people who were smart, talented, had a wide range of life experience and a pinch of unpredictability.

That didn’t mean they had to be young in age … but it did mean they had to be young interms of thinking and attitude because it meant they would keep us on our toes, learning stuff, questioning ‘rules’ and hungry to do more … and that’s why I suggest to anyone in adland – especially the young, talented and ambitious – that the blogs they should be checking out are not just the ones by the ‘Masters of the Adiverse’, but the ones where people express ideas, thoughts and emotions regardless of experience, viewpoint or industry, because if the future of advertising is getting back to understanding and interacting with the real World, then they need to ensure they don’t only associate with the people who live within the ad bubble.