Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Context, Creativity, Culture, Marketing, Marketing Fail
Let me start by saying that Women’s Day – and Earth Hour – shine a light on very serious issues.
Issues that should be on top of everyones mind without the need for a reminder.
I also want to say that I appreciate everything has to start from somewhere – but I’m genuinely concerned that Women’s Day will end up going the same way as Earth Hour … where society thinks if they engage on the day, then they’ve done all they need to do for the rest of the year.
I’ve written about this in the past.
While this approach is a great way to ignite a social debate about very serious issues, they often end up – at best – only having a 24 hour impact or, at worst, becoming a superficial celebration of a specific day.
Earth Hour have struggled to combat this … as demonstrated by them adding ‘+’ symbol to their logo … but it will take more than that to maintain an interest for the general population.
But at least Earth Hour has been interpreted by society as a commitment to helping the environment, because I’m not sure the same level of clarity can be said of Women’s Day.
Just recently I heard of a company who honoured the females in their company with a range of gifts consisting of an oven, a quilt and a set of pots and pans to name but a few.
I know for a fact they didn’t mean it to be offensive … quite the opposite … but this highlights how many people/companies have totally misunderstood what Women’s Day is actually about and why it is important.
To further highlight the issue, I heard that some guys wanted to start a ‘Man’s Day’.
These were intelligent, Worldly men – not Neanderthals – and if you spoke to them about equality, they’d be passionately behind it, and yet they didn’t see how their suggestion would completely undermine the importance of this day for the females in their company.
And that’s my worry.
Because equality is a fucking important thing.
Something that requires more than a day of awareness … but if that is the route we need to go down to try and ensure the debate is not allowed to be placed in the shadows, then we must at least ensure the purpose of the day is clear because frankly, while it’s fun that Burger King renamed their Shanghai store for the day, it means little if the only reason they did it was for superficial topicality.
I’m not saying that’s why they did it, but momentarily changing your brand name or giving out gender reinforcing gifts highlights that the real purpose of Women’s Day could be in danger of becoming as superficial as adding a Q&A element to the Ms World competition.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Culture, Customer Service, Emotion, Empathy, Insight, Marketing
A few weeks ago, I smashed the screen of my iPhone 7.
To say I was annoyed was an understatement, especially when I was told that all of Shanghai’s Genius Bars were fully booked for 6 weeks so the only thing I could do – if I wanted things to be sorted quickly – was to turn up at an Apple store and queue up for hours on end.
So I did.
I got up early and was at the store at 8am so I could be first when the doors opened.
And you know what, I’m glad I did because otherwise I would not have been able to see this …
“What’s that you ask?”
It’s a group of blind people being given access to the store before it opens so they can shop safely and comfortably.
It may seem a little thing to us, but it would be a huge thing for them.
As we saw with Asda doing a special open store for customers suffering with autism, the retail industry is miles ahead of most organisations in terms of customer understanding and service.
Not to mention being light years ahead of adland and their often embarrassing attempts to make a difference to culture. Though, to be fair, that’s because most of them are only doing it because they want to win an industry award [namely a Cannes Lion] than to actually make something that has any real benefit for society.
… my wonderful Mum and Dad got married.
I always felt for Mum when she had those 16 years without Dad, which is why – even though I’d do anything to still have them here – I’m glad they’re back together again. Or as back together as you can be.
Happy anniversary Mum and Dad.
Thank you for finding each other.
Love you.
Rx
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Culture, Cunning, Devious Strategy
… very much needed on a Monday morning.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Comment
* Because I know Mr Pedantic, also known as John Dodds, will say something to refute the claim made in the above picture … let me point out the statement applies to the moment the photograph was taken and does not include children conceived after this shot. I know that’s obvious, but as we all know, Mr Dodds and his addiction to pedanticness knows no bounds.
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PS: As April 1 falls on a weekend this year, there will be no April Fools post. Part of that is because everyone needs a rest from my ranting at the weekend – even me – part of it is because last years attempt was so tragic and part of it is because you probably think you get enough bad joke posts throughout the year already. You’re welcome …
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PPS: There is a national holiday on Monday/Tuesday so this blog won’t be back till Wednesday. Rumours this holiday is in honour of Wieden+Kennedy’s annual Founders Day are completely false … though given we’re celebrating it today [which is a day earlier than it should be] it does allow everyone some extra time to get over their hangover/tiredness.