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

Of course in public they might have another story [though that’s not as often as you may think], but one look at the work they put out doesn’t just show how they think everyone is pretty much the same, but doesn’t even develop.

We hate this.

Actually, we despise this.

To counter this myopic and – let’s face it – prejudiced view, we produce a quarterly paper called Luandun.

The whole purpose of this paper is not to say we know what’s going on in the country, it’s basically to cause some conflict in the heads of marketers & agency people.

It’s to make them rethink what they think they know.

It’s to make them question what is happening across the country.

It’s to make them wonder if they’re really connecting with their audience.

It’s to make them think whether the beautifully produced books they get from the multinational agencies tell the whole truth, or the bits that make them feel better.

By no means are we claiming we know everything that’s going on in China – who the hell can – but like our Boomtown project and countless other little experiments we do … our goal is to highlight that approaching the Chinese audience – especially the Chinese youth audience – with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ mentality is not just wrong.

But stupid.

As I was sat in the Doctor’s reception, I first thought it was an ad for water births, but on closer inspection – and accepting my French goes as far as asking where the tourist information is and how much is a kilo of pineapples – I worked out it’s simply an ad for a holiday destination.

At first I thought it was mad.

Then I realised it was genius.

You see so many tourist ads try and appeal to everyone.

They fill their full page ads and 30 second TV spots with snapshots/vignettes of as many varied activities as is physically possible to do … and all it ends up doing is looking like every other holiday ad that’s running at the time.

That’s why I loved the Tourism NZ campaign [“Pure”] because they talked about a single emotional benefit rather than a bunch of varied activities … even though they seem to have now succumbed to the ‘pile it high’ approach favoured by so many tourism destinations.

It’s also why I was so proud of the work we did for Taj, because we not only targeted a specific group of people [rather than everyone] we created the reason for them to actually come and it went way beyond just making some ads.

And it’s why I like the island of pregnant ad.

It focuses on a particular segment of society.

A segment of society who are very aware of their need to stay rested and relaxed … but even smarter, a segment of society who have husbands and families who – in the main – will do absolutely anything their wife needs/wants/asks [at least during the pregnancy] so they can feel they’re doing everything they can, to encourage a healthy, happy birth.

Evil genius.

While I appreciate all brands want to gain as many customers as possible in the cheapest way as possible, this ‘one-size-fits-all’ ad approach is getting less and less effective, simply because they’re becoming more and more common.

Of course that doesn’t mean they all fail, but I find it interesting that many companies prefer putting all their eggs in one basket over maybe doing multiple ads, with each one focusing on a specific audience segment.

Sure that could add to the cost.

Sure, that could add to clutter.

Sure, that could add to confusion.

Sure, that could lead to a less-than-good brand experience.

But it doesn’t have to be that way … especially if the media you use is as targeted as the strategy.

And besides, ‘effectiveness’ isn’t about how much it costs up-front, it’s how much you get back from it.

Look, maybe what I’m saying is all complete and utter bollocks, but I still believe the difference between good advertising and wallpaper advertising is doing/saying something that is meaningful to someone … and at the end of the day, if you’re making communication that wants to attract and appeal to young, old, boys, girls, single men, single women, married couples and families, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to find – or say – something that is powerfully motivating and attractive to each and everyone.

Then, of course, there’s the fact that there’s nothing more likely to put people off going to a particular destination than the belief they’ll be spending their 2 precious weeks of holiday at a destination that is basically filled with all the people they come into contact with at home, just in a sunnier environment.

Unless that actually is what you’re looking for.

No judgements, just saying. Ahem.

At the end of the day, it’s worth remembering a target audience means having a target.

And I’m happy to do that.

But I find references pretty mad, because at the end of the day, who the fuck is going to put forward someone who will write a negative point-of-view on them?

OK, so you can say that a reference allows people to hear how someone else judges their character – and that has merit – but if you’re going to base your decision on hiring someone on whether their mates gave a glowing report on them, then you only have yourself to blame if they turn out to be nut cases.

That said, I try and write honest references, especially when I’ve not worked with the person for 10 years or so.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to be nasty, but neither am I going to give a glowing endorsement to someone I last worked with before electricity was invented.

One thing I find amazing is how easily people are willing to sacrifice their reputation.

OK, I know this might sound mad coming from a person who has written blog posts about his calculator and best friends appendage, but where work is concerned, I take things pretty seriously.

I know that must come as a shock to you [and probably to my colleagues] but the longer I’m in adland, the smaller I find it gets which is why one bad move could easily result in the wider industry calling your abilities and cred into question.

OK, so the fact I’m still in a job despite all manner of shit that I’ve pulled in the past means it might not be as black and white as I am implying – but the fact is, if you want to end up being paid for who you are and what you believe as opposed to simply ‘filling a vacancy’, it’s worth making sure the things you say can be backed up because in this back-biting, bitch-ridden industry, it’s very easy for things to come back and bite you on the ass, especially if it involves you recommending someone for a job which is completely inappropriate for them.

Of course there is an alternative for career progression.

Stuff that on face value, serves little purpose than to be ‘dinner-party fodder’.

Maybe it’s because I never get invited to dinner parties that I find myself often using these ‘weird facts, observations & stories’ in conversations with clients and colleagues to help illustrate or highlight a specific point.

I don’t mean I throw any old weird shit into any old conversation … I mean that there are times where I have found quoting one of these ‘weird pieces of information’ has helped communicate a view or a solution with far more clarity than alternative means.

Of course this means you have the right fact for the right occasion, hence the title of this post, but if I have any skill at all, it’s my ability to ‘borrow’ information or experiences and adapt them for other situations and uses.

I call it the magpie effect.

When we had cynic, we used to collect a bunch of this stuff and occasionally we would put it on our website.

While cynic is no more, it appears people – probably weirdos – still check it out now and then, because recently I got an email saying they had used one of these bits of info in something they were doing.

Apart from being touched, it encouraged me to re-look at some of the stuff on there and I was shocked to find that I could easily remember a bunch of occasions where I had pretty much used all of that info at some point in the last few years.

I guess what I’m saying is that as much as the planning industry likes to consume and quote viewpoints and philosophies that demonstrate their razor sharp brain [read: ego], the ability to get other people to understand a perspective or a point may often be far more effective when using something far more mundane, yet with a little bit of twistedness about it.

And with that, I’ll leave you with this: