Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Creativity, Culture, Perspective, Planners, Standards
A few weeks ago – after being away on a business trip – I found the above note on my laptop.
I have no idea who wrote it and – to be honest – I’m not sure if it was meant as a reminder of what I should be doing or a report on what I do … but either way, it’s a pretty good standard to live up to.
Many years ago, a magazine asked what my job was. I replied …
“To ensure no one gets complacent, whether that’s the team, the agency or the client”.
I used to think what that meant was to ‘keep pushing, prodding and provoking so we would stay focused on making the biggest difference in the most interesting way rather than settle for good and easy’, but now I know a better interpretation is this.
Be great.
Fuck shit up.
And do it again tomorrow.
We all win if we all want higher standards.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Confidence, Craft, Culture, Insight, Planners
OK, full disclosure, I don’t really like Tom Hanks.
Sure, I’ve enjoyed some of his movies but for some reason – maybe due to overexpose of his movies in my early 20’s – I think he has a face I want to smack.
But recently I read an article on him that changed my opinion of him.
To be honest, this ‘change my opinion’ thing is getting annoying.
First is was my ultra-nemesis, Morrissey – though he seems to behaving like a twat again.
Then it was Johnny Marr.
And now Tom Hanks.
Who next … Todd Sampson? That would literally make me want to kill myself.
Good job I know that will never, ever, ever happen.
But back to Hanks.
In the article, Hanks covered a huge range of subjects … the roles he’s taken, his approach to parenthood, the mistakes he’s made – it was all very interesting, vulnerable and honest – but the bit that caught my eye was this:
“I learned a long time ago that you don’t have to like the people you work with. If someone wants to be a dick, it’s OK, but if their dickishness means everybody else doesn’t get to work at their best level – if you being a dick means you’re going to encroach upon my process – there’ll be a slug fest in the parking lot. There will be words exchanged I’ve worked with men and women where I’m like, ‘Are we going to have to go through this again?’ And, well, yes, because that’s what’s called for. On rare occasions, people are insane – but those are really rare.”
The reason I like this is because one of the biggest issues many face in agencies is working with others.
OK, in the majority of cases, as Mr Hanks states, it’s all good – but occasionally you find someone who is especially difficult – not because they are pushing for the best work, but because they think they are the only one’s capable of doing the best work and don’t value anyone else’s contribution or process to get there.
In other words, they’ve become the office egotistical dick.
We’ve all seen them.
Prancing about like they’re gods-gift.
At best they’ve done something genuinely good in their time. At worst, they’ve only done something good in their mind.
What I like about Hanks advice is that it ultimately helps you work out when you should or shouldn’t act.
In other words, if the person isn’t affecting your standards negatively, then let it pass.
Life is too short and ultimately, your engagement with them is not going to achieve anything.
However if their actions are impeding the work you do to the standards you hold, then it’s time to strike.
I should point out that when I say ‘strike’, I don’t mean it literally, but the key point is that the moment you feel your process/standards are being limited because of this other persons actions or behavior, you need to speak up.
To them.
Directly.
I wish I had known this earlier in my career.
When I think of all the energy and time I wasted taking on issues that were just annoying rather than damaging, I want to kick myself. But the good news is that working in advertising means I’ll be able to use this advice properly in the very near future.
And it’s important.
Not just because you should never let someone negatively impact your standards and process, but because – as fellow actor Michael Keaton pointed out – even if you’re just an employee, you’re still in charge of the direction of your career.
So thank you Mr Hanks. Damnit.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Marketing, Marketing Fail
When the internet first started, you often found your inbox full of ‘newsletters’ from companies who had sent you stuff simply because you once showed an interest in what they were doing.These newsletters invariably talked about what the company wanted you to be interested in, rather than what you were interested in – which is why they would often end up in the trash, without even opening them.
To be honest, I thought the worst of those days were over, but then last week I received this …
Now, as I am sure most of you know, I don’t drink alcohol.
Nothing.
In fact, not a sip of alcohol has passed my lips since NINETEEN EIGHTY FIVE!
That’s 32 years … longer than some of you have been alive … so putting aside the fact I never showed an interest in this company, the opening 2 sentences of their ‘personalized email’ has 2 major mistakes:
1. It’s not perfect for me.
2. Which is why it’s hard to get hold of me.
So while I like my colleagues and I especially like them when they’re drunk so I have more embarrassing shit to have on them, I wouldn’t buy this for myself – or them – which suggests that the ‘newsletter tsunami’ that I thought had died a long time ago, is not only alive and well … but has evolved to pure business scam, which is hardly likely to make me trust them, even if they had something I wanted.
I can only imagine they were drunk when they put me on their newsletter list.
That or they’re fucking idiots.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Culture, Customer Service, Din Tai Fung
Way back in 2014, I wrote a post about my favourite restaurant in Shanghai – Din Tai Fung – and how their ‘comments card’ only had a satisfaction scale that went up to good.
In the post I mused why the company might be so stingy with levels of praise customers could bestow on their excellent staff and suggested it was to ensure the company was always in a position of control.
I loved Din Tai Fung.
In fact it was one of the big reasons I was sad to leave China, so you can imagine my happiness when I discovered they had opened a branch 8 miles from where I live.
Din Tai Fung – the American Edition – is very different to the classic Taiwanese offer I enjoyed over 7 glorious years in the Middle Kingdom.
For a start it is trying to look much trendier.
No Taiwanese/Chinese celebrity cartoons on the walls, instead all earthy tones and oversized lampshades.
Then the choice of food is very different and it doesn’t seem to have as much attention to detail.
The dumplings texture is not as delicate, the soy sauce isn’t as high quality, the ginger looks half dead and the chili sauce is almost sweet.
Then, just as you think they can’t screw things up any more, they serve cocktails. COCKTAILS.
And all for a price that is at least double that of China.
But as much as I can just about cope with that [as it still makes me feel happy] I can’t cope with this …
Yes, I’m talking about their comment card.
Sure, I know that gives the impression they want to improve – but when you read it, you notice a couple of things.
1. The scale of satisfaction is much, much broader.
2. The range of questions is much more general.
In the Asia version of the comments card, there is a huge emphasis on the quality of the food.
The texture. The flavours. The noodle quality.
Each food type is open for critique whereas the US version is simply summed up as ‘food quality’.
Now I get why the US would do that … it’s more concise and doesn’t ask the customer to judge a bunch of criteria … but the Asian version highlights something else.
Food enjoyment is much more than just taste and presentation.
Consciously or not, people constantly and continually are evaluating their experience, so if you want to show you actually care about their perspective – actually care about improving things – then you have to offer them options in the way they will be considering their food.
And they’re right.
I am absolutely the opposite of a foodie snob, but 7 years in China taught me the difference between good dumpling texture and bad.
To simply ask me ‘food quality’ as a blanket question for the overall experience is simplistic to the extreme.
Which is why the US Din Tai Fung will continue to serve me dumplings that are not as delicate as they should be, offer me soy sauce that isn’t as high quality as it should be, ginger that is not as vibrant and fresh as it should be and chili sauce that is far too sweet to complement the food they are serving.
America used to be the blueprint for service.
Asia – or should I say, some elements of Asia – are miles ahead.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Devious Strategy, Insight, Marketing, Relevance, Tourism
I’ve written a lot about the state of tourism advertising.
To be honest, there’s very few categories that do it worse.
A mass of generic vignettes that shows every possible activity you can do with a bad line stuck at the end that generally tends to be some over-promising superlative placed before the name of country the ad is about.
There have been a few exceptions.
The original ‘100% Pure’ New Zealand campaign is one, but there’s not been many more.
Which is why I loved this poster that appeared in Helsinki …
OK, so they are preaching to the converted – given anyone who saw it happened to be there anyway – but it’s just a great way to make someone feel special and welcomed.
I love it.
I love it for so many reasons.
I love how they celebrate their visitors while also acknowledging they’re bloody nutcase.
I can imagine a tourist seeing that, agreeing it was a mental thing to do and then walking away smiling … feeling better about their decision and themselves.
That’s pretty impressive. Especially for a poster.
Which all goes to show that brands that are self aware can connect to culture better than brands that are bland egomaniacs.