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

Oooooooooooh!

I must admit I’m feeling a mix of both excitement and nervousness … a bit like how I felt when I started school … however unlike my first day at Heymann or West Bridgford Schools, I’m going to have a bit of a different first day, because instead of meeting my new colleagues in my new office …

… I’m actually boarding a plane and flying to Portland.

Now that’s the kind of first day everyone should have, as long as I don’t come back an ex-W+K employee.

If they’re as smart as I think they are, that’s a very real possibility, which is probably making my wife worried sick after dragging her all the way here, ha!

Sadly for you, this means I’m getting my new life ‘sorted’ which means I’ll soon be back to regular blogging – so enjoy this final moment of peace while you can because like cockroaches, cold bugs and Arnie … I will be back.

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UPDATE

I knew Wieden were smart … they’ve made sure the Chinese Government need more time to approve my full VISA so I’m now not going because they’re scared that [1] I would not be allowed back in and [2] they’d have to keep me entertained at Portland till some point in the [unforeseeable] future and the thought of that is just too horrific a concept to consider.

Bloody clever move that … I’m dealing with the most cunning of foxes.

Despite having worked at some very highly regarded creative companies in my time – from HHCL to Google and a whole host of awesomeness inbetween – the fact is that even though I knew I was fortunate to be working at those companies at the time, I often didn’t realise just how valuable my experience or education was until well after I had left the organisation.

Sometimes long after I’d left the organisation.

Zoom forward today and it’s quite different.

To be honest, a lot of this is down to the fact I’ve turned 40 … an age where many in adland regard you as a dinosaur.

I’ve written before about how I view people with these prejudices as idiots – however it can’t be denied that I feel incredibly fortunate to be in this position at this stage of my life and career.

That sounds a bit like I believe I should be on the scrapheap – but that’s not what I meant.

Whilst I do think luck has played an incredible role in my career, I think I’m pretty good at what I do and can make a difference at any place I work – however the main reason I’m so excited is because I have the opportunity to make a difference at a company who genuinely believes in the power and value of creativity and doesn’t devalue age or experience which is why I believe my best work is potentially still ahead of me and to still be able to say that at my age is an exciting thing.

I was incredibly fortunate at a young age to work with great people, companies & clients however because of my age, I don’t think I realised just what I could achieve with all of it… and whilst I did pretty well, coming into W+K after 20 odd years of experience and adventure means I don’t want to just keep the gleaming boat on course, I want to help take it to new and exciting places and if there’s any company whose open to that, it’s them.

Or at least I hope they are, ha.

I am a firm believer that to actually make ‘fate’ happen, you have to declare your intentions publically – because once you’ve done that, you know others will evaluate you on your achievements ad that will ensure you get off your arse and make it happen – which is why once I’ve had a chance to spend some time with my team, colleagues & clients, I will openly detail my personal goals at W+K because when you get to my age, you want to leave your mark, not just improve your CV.

We arrived in Shanghai on Thursday and as moving goes, it was quite a breeze.

After getting up early to hand Rosie over to the animal transporter people, we had one final check of the apartment and then we were off.

Within 12 hours of shutting our door for the last time, we were sitting in our little apartment in Shanghai, bags all around us and a very nervous little cat going around sniffing everything she could find.

And it felt good.

The reality is all our ‘stuff’ … the computers, furniture, DVD’s, robots … will stay in HK for at least a couple of months, but as much as we like having our possessions around us, we know the really important things are the ones that give our emotions a workout – which in most cases means a living, breathing thing.

What do I mean?

Well, as we all know, love is a weird thing.

Whilst some in the marketing World would claim some individuals ‘love’ certain brands – I would say that in the main, to use that word as a definer of the relationship between an ‘individual and a brand’ is utterly and totally wrong.

Of course it’s not that surprising given love is probably the most overused word in history … but true love isn’t about single dimensional interactions, how fucking boring would it be if that was the case?

I love my wife when we row.

I love my wife when she forgets to pay the Visa card off.

I love my wife when she wants to visit old English castles.

I love my wife when she plays Elvis too long and too loud.

I love my wife when she buys me naff birthday presents.

I love my wife when she chooses shit films to see at the cinema.

I love my wife when she orders takeaway food that even pigs would turn down.

I love my wife even though she has the ability to make me feel angrier or more upset than the Incredible Hulk because she also has the ability to make me happier than Peter Pan on ecstacy … that is her power because that is what love can do …

Love isn’t always about being “happy, happy, joy, joy” …

Maybe it would be nice if that was the case, but I doubt it.

For me, the best thing about love is that underneath it all, you know the other person genuinely and deeply cares about you … they want to see you succeed … they want to do things that mean something to you … they want to grow and experience things together … which is why when I hear brand managers – and adfolk – claim people ‘love’ their work, I doubt they really understand the meaning of the word because offering a [contrived] moment of single emotion experience isn’t really love, it’s temporary escapism and whilst there is nothing wrong with that, there’s nothing better than being in love with someone that has pissed you off because that means that experience is real and in our plastic World where we spend so much time being politically correct, not saying what we really mean and pretending to be someone we’re not … having someone be able to give your emotions a real work out is a pretty amazing thing.

I do believe there are brands out there that have managed – over time and with a strong commitment to specific causes or values – to develop a relationship with society that, at a push, could be described as having the attributes of love … but far, Far, FAR less than the amount of brands that claim to.

Love and loyalty are very different things … but for me, one element that unites them both is the ability to fuck up.

I don’t mean it in the sense of selfishness … I mean it in the sense of trying to do something for the right reasons but not quite getting there.

Of course they need to have built up some ‘credits’ previously – to demonstrate their words are true – but once you’ve done that, failure can create stronger bonds which is why I believe if you keep investing in the relationship [ie: it can’t be one failure after another] and are open and honest about your situation [are you listening Mr Jobs and your iPhone IV?] you can create something that touches people on a number of levels which is far more meaningful and valuable than a single dimension experience.

As I have mentioned previously, Steve Henry once asked me what I loved most about my Mum.

Before I could answer, he said if I could define one single thing, she would probably be quite disappointed .

It’s been an interesting period in my life – one filled with happiness, frustration, excitement and disappointment – however from a lifestyle point of view, it has been a wonderful experience.

Without doubt, HK is a much more social place than say Singapore.

I always felt the people of the City State had this air of self-importance that manifested into them expecting to be asked out to events rather than doing the asking whereas in HK, the scene is much more social and everyone sort of organises stuff which is why in the first few months, we went out and met more new people than we did in almost 4 years of living in Singapore.

Even though I found the culture, environment and people of HK full of creativity, colour, diversity and entrepreneurship, the ad industry – as I wrote about – was a huge disappointment, though fortunately I met quite a few brilliant people who not only restored my faith in HK creativity and communication [even though ironically, none of us actually worked on any HK clients] … but also stopped me smashing my head against brick walls too often.

When you move countries, where you choose to live becomes very, very important and to say we’re sad to be leaving our apartment is a massive understatement.

In short, we absolutely loved it.

Infact, if it didn’t cost HK$20 million just to own a shoebox, we’d of bought it … but alas our budget doesn’t stretch to property tycoon standards which is why it’s with a heavy heart we say bye … especially as we haven’t actually got a place to move into in Shanghai yet and even when we do, I doubt it’ll have the sort of storage this place had.

Yes, I know talking about storage is very sad but there’s 2 very good reasons why it has so much importance in my life:

1/ I have so many DVD’s, CD’s, Videogames that it’s nice to have a place for them where you don’t have to spend an hour pulling everything out just to find a particular film/song/game that you’ve set your mind on enjoying.

2/ I have a wife who is far more ‘relaxed’ on tidiness than I am – which means there’s enough places for her to ‘store’ her stuff without it taking over the apartment.

[Please note tidiness is not the same as cleanliness … she’s anal on that, she just enjoys being free and easy with where she leaves her things]

Anyway, I will miss the place enormously, especially being able to watch the horse racing from our lounge – which sounds weird, but is a HK tradition. [I mean watching the horse racing is a HK tradition, not watching it from our lounge!]

In our 18 months here, we’ve met some wonderful people … people who will be friends with for a very, very long time including SHOCK HORROR, some clients … and whilst there’s too many to mention [but not as many as the number of cocks I’ve met] I want to say a special thank you to Amber, Kaichin, Sandy, Charles, Linda, Leon, January, Josie, Jessie & Katie who would have made my time here enjoyable just on their own.

[Oh, and even though I knew them before we came – Pat & Juanita deserve a special thanks. If only for me constantly asking them stupid questions!]

So thank you HK, it’s been a fun and memorable ride and whilst I am looking forward to my new adventure, I hope I see you around – especially as I can catch up with the lovely guys who decided to move here just as I was leaving.

Are you listening Jason? Angie? And don’t try saying it was purely coincidental. Bastards.