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By now, you will have likely heard about the tragic earthquake in Sichuan Province, China.
While China is a powerful and rich country, help is needed.
What help?
Well the authorities are still working that out but if it’s anything like the tragic situation in 2008, it’s less to do with sending clothes and food and more to do with getting medicines and items that can help ensure hygiene to the people … however the best places to learn what is needed and what you can do to help is either …
or
… though scarily, as I write this, a few hours after the earthquake happened, there is nothing up on either website – though I know that will change very soon.
[Please note you may be better off contacting the International Red Cross rather than the China ‘branch’ as sadly they were previously implicated – though vehemently denied – in some shady practices. That said, they are already there helping, so hopefully their alleged issues of the past are just that … past]
Any help is good help, so please – however small, even if it’s just making sure people know about this situation – help.
Thank you.
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So following on from yesterdays post where I talk about the 10 steps to working successfully overseas [of which, if I’m being honest, there’s at least 100 more] I wrote in the UK edition of Campaign, I thought I’d continue with the blatant ego flag waving by talking about this …
The Stuff You Can’t Bottle by King Adz is a wonderful, wonderful book.
Not just because King Adz is a smart, informed and interesting guy, but because he got off his arse and travelled to a bunch of countries so he could discover what was going on there culturally and creatively and gain more insight into what makes those particular countries ‘tick’.
For all the talk our industry makes about ‘understanding people’, it never fails to amaze me how much they ignore or simplify cultural understanding.
Saying ‘China likes rice’ is not cultural insight, it’s lazy and embarrassing as is claiming everything can be nicely packaged as a ‘global human truth’ when the issue is far more about how people interpret and express those ‘truths’ rather than acknowledging that they love their children as much as the next person.
And that’s why I love this book because not only does it explore cultural differences between territories – and how that manifests itself into some sort of cultural creative code – but it also reminds you that London, NYC & Sydney don’t hold the monopoly on creating amazing ideas.
There’s so much in this book – culture, interviews, case studies – in fact the only downside is that I’m in it, ranting about China, but even people as clever as King Adz are capable of making the odd error of judgement along the way.
So if you want to get a little glimpse of all the exciting things happening outside your bubble, you can get The Stuff You Can’t Bottle here … and don’t worry, none of the proceeds go to me plus you can easily bypass my mutterings by simply ignoring all the brilliant stuff it talks about that is going on in China, just like most companies do.
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So the very lovely [read: mad] folk at Campaign Magazine in the UK asked me to write a little piece about working overseas.
Obviously they know no one reads my blog because I’ve written a lot about this, including a rant only last week.
Despite knowing they were also asking two very professional, charismatic and lovely people to do the same [Gareth & Sarah Watson at BBH NYC], my ego felt it was still worthwhile to do, even if it meant I’d look a complete idiot in comparison … so in a desperate bid to fill another day on this blog, here’s what I said:
_______________________________________________________________________________________
So how has a man from Nottingham ended up as a planner in China?
As much as I’d love to say it was down to a series of carefully crafted career choices enabling me to work in the most financially influential country on Earth, it was actually down to a bunch of happy – & not so happy – accidents.
After a few years of working in planning, I left England in 1995 to chase an Australian woman I thought I couldn’t live without.
Unfortunately, within weeks, it became apparent she could live ridiculously well without me so instead of going home to face the smirks of my friends, I decided to try & get another job in planning & see what happened.
That was 18 years ago and since then I’ve lived & worked in Australia, America, Singapore, Hong Kong & China.
Oh China.
Wonderful, mad, vibrant, crazy, brilliant, weird China.
A country of extremes & paradoxes where tradition & ambition struggle to live side-by-side.
It is, without doubt, one of the most magical & frustrating times of my career.
Magical because I really feel I’m learning, growing & developing.
I’ve ‘relearnt’ what ‘normal’ is … what ‘common sense’ is … what people’s frame of reference for pretty much everything – from food to shoes – is.
But it’s frustrating because things don’t always go as you want, plan or expect.
There’s the barrier of language & culture … the lack of trustable data … the general disbelief regarding the commercial value of creativity … the attitude that whatever the client wants to see, they get & a planning discipline that’s still relatively young.
But you know what, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.
Apart from being an amazing country that’s kindly giving me an amazing experience, I feel you can create something here … something big, exciting & meaningful.
Of course I know it’s not going to be easy, but in terms of potential, I honestly believe it stands more chance here than anywhere else, which is why I’d like to finish with the 10 things I’ve learnt to navigate working in advertising in China.
1. Do your homework: Don’t think you can learn everything in the first few months … you can’t, you’ll be spending too much time trying to work out how to open a bank account.
2. Never pretend you know everything, you don’t & you won’t & you’ll look a fool if you try.
3. Don’t relate everything back to your own frame of reference. Those little things you think are small differences, aren’t that little.
4. Listen and learn from people who know what’s really going on in societies heads. Remember few will be from adland & even fewer will be from your homeland.
5. Never say “you’re only going to be there for 2 years”. Apart from not sounding very nice to colleagues and clients, it means you’re not truly committing yourself to the country or the experience.
6. Respect the culture. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with all of it, but respect it.
7. Be inclusive, not exclusive but always lead by example.
8. Be open to change but not where your standards are concerned.
9. Explore, experiment & enjoy.
10. Have a very understanding wife.
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Remember a few weeks ago, I wrote about Smarties Australia and their poor showing in the acquisition of Facebook likes?
Probably not.
Bastards.
Anyway, just when I thought I’d seen every give me a million Facebook likes so I can get [insert blatantly self-serving prize here] possible, along comes someone who:
1. Changes the game.
2. Changes the rules.
3. Changes the relationship of flatmates forever.
This is that person.
Personally, I hope he only gets 10 likes because his flatmates deserve all they get for letting him get away with his breakfast activities for god-knows how long, but then I once spent a month cleaning the bathroom of my shared house with the toothbrush of a particularly annoying housemate, so I guess this sort of thing goes on everywhere.
Though, just for the record, I do think masturbating in the kitchen and cleaning a shower with someones toothbrush are entirely different things.
Anyway, I look forward to brands adopting this same approach in the near future, no doubt endorsed by some self-proclaimed ‘social media guru’ who is of the belief nothing great or creative or social happened prior to the creation of Facebook and that every problem in the World – from flogging more tubes of Colgate to finding a cure for AIDS – can be solved purely with the use of cat videos, Facebook likes and Twitter hashtags.
Twats.
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Over the years, long copy ads have given way to much shorter, straight-to-the-point, advertising.
The reasoning people like to claim for this change is that society doesn’t like to read long copy anymore, however the popularity of Harry Potter sort-of flies in the face of that view.
In my mind – and it’s something I’ve said many times – it’s not about the length and more about the quality … though maybe I’m confusing that with what I tell my wife.
Ahem.
But writing from ‘be interesting to the audience’ perspectives aside, one other element of copywriting that has, in my mind, sadly declined, is the quality of the headline.
These days it’s either a very bad pun … a blatant cry for attention or some utterly beige bollocks.
Maybe this is more a sign of my age, but I recently came across a headline [via someone’s instagram feed] that not only grabbed my attention, but charmed me enough into wanting to know more.
No, I’m not joking, I’m serious.
This was it …
Yes … yes … I know all you can see is the headline so you can’t tell what it’s referring to, but that’s not the fault of the castle but the person who took the photo of it, however given I have an inherent loathing of castle visiting thanks to countless days as a child being dragged to all manner of them by my parents, the fact I would actually consider seeing whatever rundown piece of history they’re talking about is utterly amazing.
What I love about that headline isn’t just that it’s the antithesis of the shouty, meaningless and soulless rubbish you see in all manner of ads, from cars to clothes … nor is it that it’s got charm and a genuine human-touch to it … no, what I love about it is more than that, it’s the fact it’s intriguing and interesting – not in a contrived kinda-way, but in a genuine relevance to the product/brand kinda-way – and in these days where advertising either seems to talk a lot but says very little or spouts off a stream of ‘rational benefits’ that no one other than the marketing team gives a fuck about, it’s refreshing to see and, I would imagine, effective to encounter.