It’s Monday. I’m tired and exceedingly grumpy and while that is no justification at all for what I’m about to post, the fact is it’s definitely part of the reason.
I should point out that I do not know any of the people being referred to in the article below.
I am sure they are lovely, smart, talented and genuine … and quite frankly, if someone said what I am about to say, I’d want to smash them in the face … however that aside, I believe there is a lesson to be learnt and it’s not just that I should keep my fucking opinions to myself.
OK, so an article appeared in Campaign Brief Asia where they talked about how McCann Ericsson Singapore has hired Todd Waldren as their new ECD.
As part of the piece, the magazine also featured comments from the agency CEO which had soundbites that included:
“It’s time to throw away what you thought you knew about McCann because everything has changed.”
“Together with the other members of the team in Singapore, McCann is set to make waves, providing highly creative, transformational solutions to our clients that will lead the industry.”
“Every agency talks about creativity and change, but at McCann it’s really happening.”
“… rip up the plan, start anew and maintain the positive feeling that comes with change.”
“Exciting times, so watch this space.”
OK, so it’s bloody excellent to hear someone so passionate about both his new colleagues and his agencies new energy but the thing is – and please remember I am in a pathetically petty mood so whatever I say should be taken with a large pinch of salt, which I know you always do anyway – but as much as he say’s it’s time to throw away what you thought you knew about McCann because everything has changed, the comments he makes [albeit comments I’ve taken a bit out of context] sound exactly the same as every multinational.
“Make waves” …“Providing highly creative, transformational solutions to our clients” … come on, does that really give you the feeling there’s a massive shift on the way?
It’s like people who say “think outside the box” when that’s the most unoriginal way to express the desire to try new things known to man.
Yes … I’m being a petty little fuck and I’d like to publicly apologise to Ben and his team because none of them deserve this … however while I am really glad and impressed he is up for changing everything from the inside out, I suggest this attitude should also be spread to the agency lingo because to paraphrase Bill Bernbach [though I can’t find the bloody quote anymore so maybe he didn’t say it] … you can proudly pronounce you’re different from everyone else, but if you say it in the same way and in the same places as everyone else, you’re really showing you’re no different at all.
The thing is, many people in adland think the way to get back to the boardroom table is to talk like you belong at the boardroom table – but in my experience that’s not the case because what they really want to hear is how their business value can be increased.
Adland used to be hired because the people in it had interesting approaches to making companies and brands more successful and famous.
The fact they didn’t look or talk like people in the corporate World was attractive because while they were smart and knew what was going on, they weren’t inhibited by systems, processes and internal cliché.
Somewhere along the line we forgot about this.
Somewhere along the line we thought looking, sounding and acting like our clients was a good idea.
Somewhere along the line we forgot board members put more stock in what we say rather than how we say it.
Somewhere along the line – coincidentally when we ended up being a mirror image of the CEO – we lost our seat at the boardroom table.