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For reasons I’m still not sure of, I purchased a copy of Esquire magazine last week and within the first 30 pages, there were 14 pages of watch ads.
FOURTEEN PAGES.
OK, so some of that was because there were a bunch of double page spreads, however that’s still a fuckload of watch ads – especially for a category I keep being told is ‘dying’.
I fucking hate it when people say shit like this.
Sure, watch sales have declined over the years – and yes, some of that can be attributed to the rise of mobile phone acquisition – however in the luxury segment, watch sales have not only grown, but have increased their average purchase price [dependent on market and brand] and while that is probably being driven for completely different reasons than simply wanting to ‘know the time’, the fact is that part of the category is hardly on its knees – infact, it’s quite the opposite.
The reason I say this is that our industry is way to happy making sweeping generalisations – and while I understand we deal in ‘mass markets’ more than ‘niche’ – to blindly claim entire categories are dying [or growing] is madness unless and yet time after time after time I see this being done … which then a bunch of people on blogs and twitter happily repeat in a desperate attempt to appear ‘in the know’.
I’m not saying you should contrary for the sake of being contrary – nor am I saying you should call the people who make these claims, wrong [because quite often they’ve detailed and clarified their point even if the only thing that gets ‘reported’ is the ‘big headline’ making part] however you shouldn’t fall into the trap of making big, generic statements just because someone else has said it because at the end of the day, it’s better to get paid for what you think rather than for repeating what others say.
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If yesterday’s post got over 100 comments, this should get 200 because this is a much better post. I am also frustrated hearing people in the advertising or planning communities make sweeping statements without clarifying the specific details or blindly repeating what someone else has said without exploring the specific details. What did you use to call them, corporate amoebas?
Putting the issue that you read a copy of esquire to one side, the last paragraph in the post gives better advice about being a better planner than you’ll find in any of the official advertising media despite their attempts to position themselves as highbrow protectors and informers of the industry at large.
PS. I wear a Casio and I like it.
Comment by Pete June 1, 2011 @ 6:41 amyoure such a fucking nice guy pete. makes me fucking sick.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 7:55 amThat depends on the pay.
Comment by john June 1, 2011 @ 6:47 amTo buy one of these top brand watches or to make sweeping statements?
Comment by Pete June 1, 2011 @ 6:48 amThe latter. Though obviously said to point out firstly that Campbell was making a sweeping generalisation and secondly that it’s up to employers/clients to make sure they don’t reward people who make such generalisations.
And if this post gets more than 100 comments, let alone 200 there will be hell to pay – especially as it exists solely to allow him to claim the cost of Esquire as a business expense.
Comment by john June 1, 2011 @ 6:55 amNice one Doddsy.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 7:03 amYou’re right John, I sort-of did make a sweeping statement about the industries bad habits … and yes, clients and employers should not reward this behaviour, but more than that is the issue we seem to be a society [another generalisation there] who are fixated on finding short-cuts to ‘fame’ and as long as you shout loud enough, you can often find it – mainly because [at least in adland] we seem to put more stock in people who talk about interesting stuff than people that do interesting stuff.
I’m not saying – as you’ll see in a post I’ve written for later in the week – all these commentators are bad or wrong or have no value, far from it, however technology has allowed many of these types of guys to prosper [me included] when I would say those who are genuinely deserving of such praise is a much smaller group [me not included, but then I don’t get any so it’s sort-of OK isn’t it].
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 8:18 amthis post you describe has be on the edge of my fucking seat. on no, i mean the edge of a fucking skyscraper ready to jump the fuck off.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:20 am“talk about interesting stuff”. ‘interesting’ is a relatively gooey term. what some might find interesting others might find ridiculous. or boring. just saying. ha.
Comment by peggy June 1, 2011 @ 2:16 pmTrue Peggy – but you know exactly what I mean so stop being all Doddsyesque, it doesn’t suit you.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 2:53 pmare you saying im being like john? to some this might be an insult. to some it is a precious well-suiting compliment 🙂
Comment by peggy June 1, 2011 @ 2:57 pmI leave it up to you to choose. Ha.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 4:41 pmWatches control time and I don’t let anything control me. I’m a time rebel.
Fuck watches (with an extra fuck to the overpriced & oversized shit), fuck planners and fuck esquire readers.
By the way Rob, what watch do you wear?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 6:47 amYou might be a time rebel Billy, but you’re also a footsoldier of pay which helps explains why you were always the first person ready to leave for client meetings which I’ve never seen from a member of the creative department before or since.
Good question to Rob. Proper nasty.
Comment by Pete June 1, 2011 @ 6:53 am1 Being a time rebel doesn’t mean you are jot responsible.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 7:04 am2 I know.
the words rebel and billy go together like anal and rape.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 7:57 amWhy am I laughing at this?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 8:08 ambecause youre a thick twat who hasnt worked out ive just beaten the shit out of you with my wit and words.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:19 amI prefer to say I am forgiving.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 8:46 amI like this post but then I like bedside clocks and wearing a watch. It’s a nike if you must know.
Comment by George June 1, 2011 @ 7:01 amToo busy to make a proper comment today george? That’s because you’re a time victim because of your watch.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 7:05 amNot at all Billy, it’s just a case of having a life, you should try it some time. And wearing a watch does not mean you’re a victim of time anymore than having your calendar default appointment length being 60 minutes, but that hasn’t stopped the planning community getting awfully excited about how this situation may create inefficiencies because we have days filled with consecutive hour long meetings.
Comment by George June 1, 2011 @ 7:13 amAnyone from outside the industry reading these things would question whether those in the industry are human or robots without the ability to make their own choices or changes.
How can I feel I’m being picked on and listening to stuff I agree with at the same time.
Where’s Andy?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 7:17 amim here billy and if you think im going to defend you after youve called yourself a fucking time rebel youve got another fucking thing coming.
hello auntie, where the fuck have you been? nice to see you joining in on the planner kicking, i knew youd see it made sense. what a bunch of twats and i dont even know what the fuck youre talking about with this hour long appointment shit. then i never have known what you are talking about. i just think its charming and sweet. like seeing a little kid destroy a song at the school nativity play. which i dont go to before you start calling me a fucking gary glitter you bunch of sick motherfuckers.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:00 amOh George, I know exactly what you’re referring to and I have to say when I saw it, I was both transfixed and horrified at how much fuss people were making over the observation.
Sure there is something in it, but the way some people went on [literally repeating the initial post, not adding to it in any way] you’d think they’d discovered the cure to every illness known to man.
This ‘seek out interesting stuff’ rather than ‘do interesting stuff’ is really starting to scare me. It used to just bug me, but now it scares me because while knowing a lot of things is both helpful and rewarding, if you don’t do anything with them or understand the underlying thing it’s telling you – it’s just creating a production line of smart emptiness.
That’s very dramatic, but it really is getting on my tits.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 8:42 amplenty of fucking room.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:46 amwhy the fuck were you reading that magazine for wannabe fucking social climbers campbell? that is the fucking main question that needs answering because no one else gives a fuck about the watch category, luxury or otherfuckingwise.
did you buy it? tell me you didnt fucking buy it. tell me you didnt buy it in commieland. those fuckers let that shit in? ive lost all fucking respect. that mag is fucking evil. evil. its only use is to show me who i should go round and shoot in the fucking head.
good work on kicking planners though. ignore dodds and his pedantic throw it back in your fucking face comment, you make sense. well you make sense for you.
now why the fuck did you read that shit. watching a queen documentary is less fucking bad. well equally as bad but thats how shit esquire is. for fucks sake campbell, whats happened to you while you were away?
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 7:54 amI could give you a million reasons – well, 3 or 4 – but when I think of them, none are good enough to explain why I BOUGHT and READ bloody Esquire. I honestly feel …
[1] violated
and
[2] It would have been less horrific if I’d bought ‘Big & Busty OAP’ [which as far as I know doesn’t exist, just in case you think I’m a candidate for Police observation]
So yes Andy, I kneel infront of you begging for forgiveness and reminding you that I read a couple of the pages that describe the sort of life I’d rather die than have which means I have suffered punishment enough.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 8:26 amnever fucking say you are kneeling in front of me. ever. nothing could fucking scare me more. bowing is fine but not fucking kneeling.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:45 ami wear a fucking tag, want to make something of it? its not as fucking poncey or pricey as campbells watch but hell get out of it by saying it is connected to his dad. fucking bastard has a post rationalisation for everyfuckingthing.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 7:57 amI have one watch, a Panerai and I’ve had it ever since my Dad died.
It has nothing to do with cost, size or status – and everything to do with my parents. That’s not post rationalisation, that’s reality … and there’s no ‘relative’ element to it at all.
And for the record, despite being surrounded by stuff that offers to tell me the time in 27 different timezones, I wear a watch to tell me the time, I prefer it and like it especially as this watch tells me the time and lets me feel close to my family at the same time.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 8:36 ami fucking told you. he should be in fucking politics. or organised crime. not much difference between the 2.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:44 amare luxury watch sales up because every rich bastard in communist capitalist china have about 10,000 of the bastards or is that another generalisation? if it is, i heard it from a fucking planner.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:05 amThere are a lot of watch collectors in Asia as highlighted by the fact you can’t move without bumping into some high-end luxury watch retailer, but while I am sure they have contributed to the sales lift, I don’t think it’s purely down to them and I certainly don’t think every “rich bastard in communist capitalist China” buys 10,000 of them.
Another thing you can blame on a planner, ha!
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 8:39 amCouldn’t agree more Campbell.. and to build on your point, the tendency to take the ‘average’ trend, and apply it to a problem, without thinking about if that trend can be relevantly extrapolated to the new problem. I often think – are we really talking to the ‘average’ consumer? Should we be?
I think a big reason comes down to the dubious way we evaluate and compare media and marketing effectiveness on the basis of volume when we all know that this is not how the world actually works. To your point, the majority or people may be abandoning their watches, but a smaller more engaged group put more emphasis on the product than ever before, and profits aren’t dissolving for those who understand their market. This pattern is evident in all sorts of fields – not just in luxury goods. But how can you convince a client that has been trained (mostly by us) to value mass appeal over targeted appeal that value us just as crucial to the bottom line as volume?
Comment by hayley June 1, 2011 @ 11:45 amGood question Hayley [hello by the way] and my response would be that the best way to get clients to change their view/approach is to understand that they are less likely to believe us over someone they hold in higher regard and you should try and get them to fight your corner rather than continuously smashing your head [and ego] against the wall.
I’ve written about this in the past – but I can’t find it – however I once worked on a bank pitch where we categorically disagreed with what they wanted us to do.
Knowing the senior management at the bank wouldn’t take anything we say with any worth [even if they should have, at least a little bit] we found someone – Geoff Burch – who was highly respected and also quite well known for the same views as us and paid him a fortune to present our case to the clients on our behalf.
The thing is, while they still didn’t like what he/we were saying, they couldn’t simply brush him off because they appreciated he had the experience, expertise and credibility to be heard and so we ended up getting the outcome we wanted by knowing we could never have done it by ourselves.
Sure it cost a fortune – sure it wasn’t guaranteed to be successful [we’ve had mixed luck with this approach over the years] but what I can say is we increased the odds of getting a more favourable outcome [to both client, audience and agency] by accepting our failings than trying to persevere with an approach that was doomed to despair.
Hope that helps, at least a little.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 2:10 pmi’m sure you wrote some great stuff in the rest of this post, but this is the one liner that i wish you posted on its own:
“it’s better to get paid for what you think rather than for repeating what others say.”
and yes, i see the irony in me quoting that. i’m fine with it.
Comment by lauren June 1, 2011 @ 12:36 pmI’ll write that on Twitter and see if anyone retweets it. Something tells me they might not get the irony of it all.
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 1:59 pmit would only be truly ironic if that person was being paid to RT it. but you know, semantics and all that. i made it a favourite anyway.
Comment by lauren June 1, 2011 @ 3:36 pmMany of us wish his posts were limited to one sentence.
Comment by john June 1, 2011 @ 5:24 pmgentlemen wear watches. good morning from Munich.
Comment by Marcus June 1, 2011 @ 12:38 pmAre you saying I should hand mine back in then?
Comment by Rob June 1, 2011 @ 1:59 pmwhat about ladies. i like mechanical vintage ones. i dont care about the brand. just the design. and its fascinating that a little piece of handiwork is still living it up after decades, sometimes even after the company is no longer operating. i just need some cash and will outdo any womans stupid shoe collection one day lol
Comment by peggy June 1, 2011 @ 2:32 pmgentleladies wear them too, Peggy.
Comment by Marcus June 1, 2011 @ 3:08 pmMorning Marcus.
Comment by john June 1, 2011 @ 5:22 pmafternoon, John.
Comment by Marcus June 1, 2011 @ 10:39 pmI don’t know if fewer people wear watches, but I do know that lots of people don’t notice all the clocks around them. Now that’s an insight. Not a good one, but at least I’m doing what you suggest and not repeating other people’s thinking.
And in case his lordship checks in from his life of leisure, my pedantry was specific – it didn’t mean I disagreed with the post.
Comment by john June 1, 2011 @ 5:22 pmim your fucking lordship and dont you fucking forget it.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:34 pmI was referring to your life of leisure not Campbell’s.
Comment by john June 1, 2011 @ 9:05 pmleisure? fucking leisure?
i have a house i dont want in a country i dont want to live in that costs me more of my fucking cash everfucking day.
i have a house i do want that i never get to fucking stay in.
i have 2 ex wives who think im their personal fucking bank.
i have one old business partner making fucking squillions at nerd paradise and anotherone making more than minimum fucking wage at the best fucking agency in the fucking world where all he does is tell them they need to build a fucking car.
and then i have to comment on this piece of shit every fucking day to keep the masses enthralled with insightful genius.
life of leisure? you fucking bastard.
enough of this shit, i have a late breakfast to go and fucking enjoy before a spot of shopping and a boozy lunch.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 9:16 pmthat reads like a horrible life. hope you can cope. are you sure youre not having an esquire subscription.
Comment by peggy June 1, 2011 @ 9:54 pmI bought my watch in Hong Kong for £100 and I love it, even though it is nearly impossible to tell an accurate time with…
The point is spot on. If planning won’t read between the lines then we’re in trouble!
Comment by Rob Mortimer June 1, 2011 @ 6:10 pmso you paid 100 quid for a watch you cant read from a country that sells fucking fake shit on every corner for 10 pence? youre as bad as campbell. and thats fucking about as low as you can fucking go.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 8:35 pmIt’s a Phillipe Starck watch with no minute hand.
I love it though, it looks fucking awesome.
http://www.watches2u.com/watches/philippe-starck/ph5036-unisex-black-dial-and-pu-strap-watch..html
Peggy – I do like binary ones, but i prefer this.
Comment by Rob Mortimer June 1, 2011 @ 10:08 pmyou paid 100 quid for a watch by a french dude who designs kitchen bins. fucking madness.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 10:15 pmIt gets more comments from ladies (and guys, but I know where Andy’s bread is buttered) than any watch I’ve ever had!
Comment by Rob Mortimer June 1, 2011 @ 10:30 pmnow youre fucking talking.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 10:58 pmBut have you got any action out of it.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 1, 2011 @ 11:05 pmsilence speaks fucking volumes doesnt it billy, so dont waste your cash on some wank watch hoping itll end your bed notch drought, it wont. watches cant make up for fucking personality disorders.
you can buy me drinks with the money ive just fucking saved you.
Comment by andy@cynic June 2, 2011 @ 5:34 amBilly – Well the second hand moves if that’s what you mean.
Comment by Rob Mortimer June 2, 2011 @ 8:34 pmits a binary one isnt it?
Comment by peggy June 1, 2011 @ 9:08 pmi hope to fuck its just a digital one.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 9:17 pmPhillipe Starck does a wicked loo brush too.
Comment by Marcus June 1, 2011 @ 10:40 pmdevious lol i do like your watch tho, rob m
Comment by peggy June 1, 2011 @ 10:43 pmgood afternoon marcus
good afternoon, Peggy.
Comment by Marcus June 1, 2011 @ 10:48 pmThank you Peggy 🙂
Comment by Rob Mortimer June 2, 2011 @ 8:35 pmdoesnt look so wicked when its covered in skid marks.
Comment by andy@cynic June 1, 2011 @ 10:57 pmMaybe the “watches you buy to tell the time” industry is dying, while the “watches you buy to buy time” industry is now gaining ground.
You can only go with the flow so long, before forgetting what you’re all about. Then you need to buy the history you neglected to write all along.
Comment by Aditya June 4, 2011 @ 9:23 pm