Filed under: Comment
China is an amazing place.
I love it.
I literally love it.
I love it’s madness, speed, energy and down right weirdness.
But despite that, I still need a bunch of creature comforts and one of those is coffee.
Every morning, as I walk to work, I pop into Starbucks to get a latte.
Yes, I know Starbucks coffee is not real coffee.
Yes, I know Starbucks is about as corporate as you can get.
Yes, I know Starbucks is pretty much shitty all round … but in a land where good coffee is hard to find, beggars can’t be choosers.
That said, I think Starbucks is pretty amazing in China.
Not because of their products or their stores or their service, but because they almost single-handidly brought the coffee culture into one of the greatest tea adoring nations on earth.
Sure, it cost them an immense amount of time, money and training – but to achieve that is way more impressive than what most brands can claim.
But that’s not what this post is about, no, it’s about standards.
Last week, when I walked into Starbucks, I saw this:
Yep, it’s a heat sleeve dispenser.
Now I appreciate that might not seem much to you, but a brand that has built part of its reputation on its customer service, I found it interesting they decided it was time their customers sorted out their own coffee sleeve requirements.
This might seem a petty little thing – and it is – but it’s the implication of doing this that disturbs me.
What happens if they decide to charge for their sweetner?
What happens if they decide to charge for using a spoon?
OK, so I’m being alarmist, but the thing is, once a brand sets a minimum standard of experience, you cannot ever go back on it.
Well, actually you can, but you better have a good reason for it [ie: helping the environment] and you’d better make sure people know about it.
People might have bad memories … people might have better things to worry about and do … however they are very quick to notice a decline/change in something that has become part of their routine which is why while a brand might not think it’s a big thing, they’d be surprised how quickly people can turn it into that, especially when they feel they’re losing something they’ve previously had and it’s gone for no reason.
Filed under: Comment
I’ve previously written how I think LinkedIn have started to lose it, however further evidence presented itself when I recently saw this ad posted on the side of my page:
If truth be told, I’m quite ambitious … so while I’m very happy at W+K and pretty satisfied with where my career is at – I’m always open to chatting with people so I gave the suggestion a second look.
That said, I’d never heard of Johnson Controls – and while I accept that means nothing – the fact that LinkedIn were proposing I connect to them intrigued me, because let’s face it, LinkedIn is the World’s most connected professional network and if anyone knows what’s going on, it’s them. Ahem.
So I clicked.
While the development of products and services that optimise energy and operational efficiencies for buildings, automotive batteries and interior systems is very important, I’m still not sure what they’d do with a planner who is obsessed with getting his company to make a car [that’s for you Andy and NP] which leaves me with only 2 possible reasons why LinkedIn suggested we connect:
1. They’ve heard I’m shit & think I need to be a forklift truck driver at Johnson Controls.
2. LinkedIn is like many other CRM companies. Full of shit and hype.
As I’ve said before, I find it incredibly amusing when CRM/DM companies say “they get results” because what they actually get is data that shows how ineffective they are.
That’s a big difference, but in an industry that continually mistakes quantifiable for effectiveness, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.
Filed under: Comment
I am often asked to explain what strategy is.
At it’s heart, it’s simply identifying the most effective route to get from point A to point B.
That’s it.
Of course, how you identify that route has many challenges and complications, but as a function, it’s that simple.
Recently I came across an SMS exchange that highlights just what good strategy is.
Of course, no one who comes here [1] needs an explanation [2] cares about an explanation or [3] gives a rats arse what I think/say … however I’m going to ignore all that because basically, I just wrote this post so I could justify re-printing it for your viewing errrrm, pleasure.
So, here’s the brief:
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Your parents are awaiting news on your biology exam results.
They have already told you they regard this as a ‘must pass’ exam and that the implications, should you fail, will be severe and immediate.
Now the bad news.
You failed.
You failed big time.
Knowing you have to truthfully inform your parents about the result within a matter of hours, how can you ensure they will view the news with a positive attitude rather than grounding you for 35 years?
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Got it?
So how would you answer the brief?
Wonder if it would be as strategically effective as this?
Filed under: Comment
I hang a lot of crap on adland, but it’s not because I don’t like it – it’s because I don’t like what it’s becoming.
For an industry that has achieved a lot of amazing things in its history, it’s doing it’s absolute best to ensure all that is forgotten in favour of hype, ego and delusion.
Thankfully, there are still a great many great people – and a few companies – who continue to wave the flag for quality, purpose and meaning, however the tide is turning and I recently was reminded of one of our great issues when I read this.
Have you read it?
Please do.
You see the issue I feel that is contributing to our destruction is our ability to only view the World in black and white.
There is no grey.
None.
According to adland, you’re either this. Or that.
Nothing in-between.
Hence you read comments like “all creative departments are crap” which is obviously pure fucking bollocks.
Seriously, is that what we’ve come to?
In our desperate bid to ‘grab the headlines’, we’ve decided the best thing to do is make massive, generic – and totally unsubstantiated – claims?
Talk about doing society and humanity a massive disservice.
Don’t get me wrong, having a point of view – especially in this industry – is very important, but saying shit like that isn’t a point of view, it’s making a massive judgement … a massive judgement that ends up making you, and the industry, look like fucking fools.
Some people believe the secret to ‘debate’ is to not give the other side an inch and stick to your [myopic] view through thick and thin.
They’re idiots.
While our job ultimately depends on us making a call on who we are going to ‘target’, if we don’t accept and appreciate there are a mass of differences and exceptions between people, cultures, genders etc etc, then how on Earth can we create work that works … so while it might be convenient to express things only in black and white terms, the reality is doing that directly contributes to our lack of relevance, influence, believability and value – not just with business, but with society as a whole.
Highlighting a group is one thing, saying everyone is like that is completely different.
And stupid. Very, very stupid.
Filed under: Comment
I’ve written a few of these types of posts over the years – which all goes to show how much of a sad bastard I was when I was younger – however I’d say it also highlights something else, something we brush over as adults, far too easily.
You see, while adults like to say kids are filled with optimism and promise, the reality is that for many children, they feel weighed down by fears and concerns.
Sure, some of these things are relatively superficial – and without doubt, we tend to get over most of them when we’re older – but I would argue that some of them have such an incredible influence on how we grow up and develop that they could be classed as evolution barrriers.
The older I get, the more I realise how blessed I was to have the parents I had/have.
Sure, they were tough and wanted/pushed me to do well, but they also instilled in me a sense of striving for personal fulfillment [not contentment] regardless what that might be or where it may lead to.
[Well, within reason. Being a criminal was certainly not an acceptable career]
It was their desire for me to live a textured and interesting life that ultimately allowed me to have the confidence to do – or not do, as the case may be – a bunch of stuff.
From deciding to not go to university .. to becoming a musician … to not smoking, drinking or doing drugs … to chasing a woman half way around the World … to starting a bunch of companies … to moving countries … to flying around just so I could meet someone I found interesting in a book or documentary to countless other things … it’s all down to the values and beliefs taught to me by my parents.
And while I know there were more than a few things that they would have preferred me not to do, they knew- that if it was something I felt compelled to do, it was ultimately the right thing to let me do, even if it meant I would fall flat – as I invariably did – on my face.
It’s important to highlight they didn’t blindly support everything I wanted to do.
They would consistently challenge my ideas/thoughts before I did them, but once they were satisfied it wasn’t ‘only child syndrome’ and something I really actually wanted to do/try/explore, they would support me and for that, I can never repay them enough.
That said, I still encountered many things that, as a child, I felt were overwhelming – things that had the power to stop me in my tracks, even if it was something I really wanted to do – which is why as an adult it’s kind of liberating to revisit those situations and try to handle them as I wished I could have handled them, if only for the sheer momentary sense of empowerment it gives me.
Of course it doesn’t always happen which highlights how growing older doesn’t always make us smarter or more confident, it just teaches us more ways to avoid the issue so with that, here are 3 things that I used to think were more dangerous than dealing with the Russian mafia and why – years later – they still have the potential to fuck me, and countless others, up.
1. Telling A Woman She Looks Nice
When I was young, giving a compliment – any compliment – to a girl was social suicide.
It wasn’t just the fact that she would probably burst into tears [or maybe that was just me], it was that your friends would either [1] disown you for being a pansy and/or [2] tease you mercilessly for liking a girl.
What this means is that for many men, approaching a woman is scarier than staring down a lion.
And it’s ridiculous.
Who the fuck is going to get upset at receiving a compliment?
Sure, it might cause some distress if you do it while masturbating furiously in front of them, but in the main, telling someone that they look nice – for no other reason, than they do – is a wonderful thing, where all parties end up feeling better for it.
Isn’t it funny that in this day and age, saying something like that still has the power to fill people with a sense of dread.
Especially clients. Haha!
2. Saying You Don’t Understand Something
One of the worst things that could happen as a child was being told a joke by an older kid and then – in front of everyone else – get asked to explain why it was funny.
The reason this was a nightmare was half the time, you didn’t know why it was funny … you were simply following the unspoken code of junior school kids, which was to “laugh” when expected to.
You might think I was a sad sod – and I probably was – however I know many people who have left meetings where they’ve said to someone, “Do you know what we have to do?”
Asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength and yet many of us still feel that need to ‘fit in’, which is why we shouldn’t sneer at people who ask for clarification, but celebrate them.
3. Being Humouress At Moments Of Seriousness
One of the worst things for a parent is when their kid acts up in front of others or in inappropriate places.
Most of the time it’s because they’re worried about how other people will perceive them rather than their kid doing something particularly bad [though apparently I did something in a Church which literally mortified my parents, ha!] which is why we are educated from a young age that at certain times and circumstances, we have to reel in our personality and sit there like a robot.
Now I am not advocating you start shouting or flashing at a funeral – but some of the most inspirational people I’ve ever been fortunate to see/work with have had an amazing ability to ensure that when discussing the most serious of subjects at the most tense of times, they’ve kept the overall mood of the room positive, optimistic and energised through their humour, outlook, experiences.
Being humouress does not mean you’re not being serious about the matter in hand and while it’s all down to ‘what you do and how you do it’, I think there’d be a lot more positive and productive meetings if that sense of childish cheek was maintained in the business environment, rather than pushed away and guarded against with an iron fist.
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Being a kid is – in the main – a wonderful time and experience, but we’d all probably be a whole lot less neurotic if we took away the stigma of everyday situations and issues that, years later, still have the power to fuck society up.