One of the things that has always bugged me about cynic’s perception, is that people think we’re a bunch of miserable, negative focused bastards.
OK, so I accept some of that view is driven by the attitude of Andy and me … however the company has never been about undermining, destroying or humiliating, it’s actually been about trying to do the right thing for people, brands and us.
Our view has always been that our ‘clients’ are the general public and our role is to ensure that when companies try to connect with them, they do it in a way that is relevant, honest and valuable to their needs and life, rather than purely in the interests of the companies doing the advertising.
It’s for this reason we have been so active in areas that are now seen as the ‘in thing’, such as product development, freakonomics and social influence as opposed to just traditional advertising.
Maybe I’m saying to this to feel better about myself/ourselves, but my belief is that we’ve always been much more about justice than ridicule – however to achieve this, we’ve felt it necessary to explore the negative as much as the positive because we believe this leads to finding ways that will be much more relevant and pragmatic [our mantra: anger is energy] than the contrived Disneyland tone so many brands happily churn out.
This isn’t about us trading on fear … far from it … it’s about us trading on a real understanding of people’s lives as opposed to the marketing version so many companies like to embrace and promote.
Over the years we’ve been accused of all sorts of things, from being negative to courting the controvertial … but it’s never been about that … it’s just we believe you can’t move forward unless you have breadth and depth of information – and that includes the less favourable stuff as much as the uber-positive elements – and if people/companies don’t think that’s worth chasing, then we’d rather not work with them because ultimately what they want is delusion, not liberation.
I have to admit it really pisses me/us off when companies refuse to accept counter trends and views. Of course there’s going to be generalisation in our industry [even though there’s way too much] however there seems to be this unwritten attitude that the World all thinks/acts/dreams the same and that’s annoying to the extreme – especially as most of these views are based on very superficial levels of exploration.
As much as the World thinks Asia is a region obsessed with ‘face’, in my experience it is something that lives within everyone and by taking the time to find out the conflict that lives in people’s minds and lives … things they feel unable to openly express for fear of ridicule … you can not only understand the emotional elements that are dictating their choices and lives, but you can identify ways to make things better for them, whilst still working in your clients best interests at the same time.
I know that sounds weird or wrong … but it can be done … even though I admit it is harder to achieve, especially as it doesn’t revolve around traditional ad campaigns. [ala my social capitalism philosophy that I’ve been banging on about for bloody ages ]
Anyway the reason I bring this up is that I’ve just read a great book that is basically about liberating people from the emotionally delusional life we have all been encouraged to live.
The book, Smile Or Die, questions the value in obsessively thinking positive, regardless of the situation.
The author, Barbara Ehrenreich, argues that this approach often results in the creation of stress, depression, inactivity and a complete disregard for your own responsibilities.
I’ve read some reviews of the book that basically lambasted the author for being negative … but the people saying that are missing the point … because pretending everything is great doesn’t mean it is or will be, and whilst I am not suggesting there’s no value in thinking positively, this trend of one-dimensional thinking [or said another way, ‘entitlement’] does seem to be undermining the potential of people, communities, countries and companies as a whole … especially given the rise in activities such as drug and alcohol abuse indicates its more about denial than delusion.
Whilst I don’t agree with everything Barbara says, I think she has a very interesting – and valid – point of view so if you want to judge it for yourself, you can buy the book here.