So by the time you read this, I’ll be in Boston.
Snowy Boston.
Snowy and bloody freezing Boston.
While I’m here for a meeting, the best bit is I’m going to see the absolutely wonderful Freddie Sarnblad.
I’ve not seen this man for 5 and a half years, and while he probably wishes it was a lot longer, seeing him is going to make Boston’s harsh weather seem like LA.
There’s some people you work with where you just connect on a deeper level.
Where close colleagues become real friends.
And that’s what he is to me, even if there has been years between our times together.
One of the best things about having lived in multiple countries is the fact you meet people you might otherwise never meet. And when you meet those folks in countries like Singapore – a place that is very transient for foreigners – it means you often meet up in totally different places than where you started.
I think that’s an amazing gift.
Something that lets you feel connected to the World in ways few ever truly get to realise, let alone appreciate.
Which is why these next couple of days are very precious for me, even if the weather looks like it’s straight out the movie, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’.
So because of all this, you get a couple of days off from reading my rubbish.
Enjoy it, because it will be back … unless Freddie still hasn’t forgiven me for this.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Crap Products In History, Marketing Fail
Yes I’m back.
I can’t say much about the papers I judged except that the posts I’ve written about past entries I’ve judged still seem insanely relevant.
So let’s get back to that blog post title.
What the hell am I talking about?
Well, it’s not another demonstration of my terrible maths skills, it’s actually about toilet paper manufacture Charmin, who claims 12 rolls of their loo paper is the equivalent of 54 other brands rolls.
What?
Look, I get they have a few more sheets than other brands, but the equivalent of 42 rolls?
Are they having a laugh?
Even when I look it up, I can only find this:
Ultra Charmin Ultra Soft Toilet Paper 12 Mega Rolls.Charmin Ultra Soft Mega Roll toilet paper is the softer* way to get clean, in a roll that lasts longer**. It has comfort cushions that are softer and 75% more absorbent*. You can use less*. Charmin Ultra Soft Mega Roll toilet paper is 2-ply and also septic-safe. We all go to the bathroom, those who go with Charmin Ultra Soft Mega Roll toilet paper really Enjoy the Go! (*vs. the leading bargain brand, **Charmin Double Roll)
Even this doesn’t explain it … and even if it did, I’d say they’re talking about their ‘double roll’ range which surely would mean it’s the equivalent of 24 rolls rather than 54.
To make matters even more confusing is that if you look the brand up on Amazon, it say’s 12 rolls is like 48, and while that is also obviously bollocks, at least the maths would make it sound sort-of plausible.
But whether it’s 48 or 54, the bit I don’t get – apart from how they are even claiming this – is that if each ‘mega roll’ is the equivalent of at least 4 other rolls combined, how the hell do they still fit on toilet roll dispenser?
I cannot tell you how much this is bothering me.
What am I missing???
Is this a future effectiveness award winner or an Enron contender?
Answers gratefully received.
So 3 years ago today was one of the worst days of my life because it’s the day I lost Mum.
I’ve written a lot about what happened and how it affected me, but 3 years down the line, I am more focused on the joyful memories we had together rather than the tragic last days.
Infact the shift in mindset is so great, that I was only reminded this day was approaching by friends writing to me to send their love and support for this most horrible of anniversaries.
Now don’t get me wrong, Mum is always on my mind.
Just last week I saw an elderly lady who – for a number of reasons – reminded me of Mum.
She looked kind and gentle. Her grey hair gently framing her face. And as she sat alone, waiting quietly for her takeaway order to arrive from the restaurant kitchen. I couldn’t stop stealing glances at her. Of course I knew it wasn’t Mum and yet there was something about her that made me feel like her energy was very similar.
Then I started crying.
Not loudly, not even obviously … but tears were running down my face and when she walked out the restaurant, I had to tell myself not to chase her out to the parking lot and tell her she reminded me of my wonderful Mum and could I have a hug.
Thank god for my brains objectivity or I could be writing this from jail.
But as I sit here, on the 3rd anniversary of her passing, I feel a different person.
Of course I miss her and would give anything to see her hold the precious grandson she never got to meet in person, but I’m in a much better place than I was and that is something I know Mum would be very happy about.
Of course part of this is because of time. Part of this is because Otis keeps us focused on the future and the joy of life. And part of this is because I now have a very different lifestyle to the one I had when all this happened, but that doesn’t take away the fact I now feel able to enjoy the life I had with my Mum rather than the last days.
And that is why, if she was here today, I would want to say this to her …
Mum, I love you.
I love you so much and I am so grateful for all you did for me and – in a weird way – continue to do for me.
I remember the days before your operation, we were talking about things that highlighted there may not be the outcome we all hoped would happen.
I tried to brush it off as I wanted us to stay positive but the fact I discovered how much organisation you had done in the weeks prior to your operation – in case the worst happened – showed this was something you had thought about a lot.
It breaks my heart you went through that.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like to sort through your papers incase something happened.
To put things aside for me to find.
To label things for me to be aware of.
To say a potential goodbye to the things you cared about.
And while I wish you didn’t feel you had to do it, I know it’s another demonstration of how much you loved me and it made a difference to how I dealt with those first few weeks of you passing.
But if you were around, there would be something else I’d want you to know.
One of the conversations we had was you saying how sorry you were for not having much to leave me.
I told you, you were wrong but now I can articulate that more clearly.
First of all, you left me a house.
Our house.
Our paid-for house.
That in itself is amazing and I’m so happy the family we chose to help in your name are enjoying it as much as we did.
But there’s more.
An incredible amount more.
You left me with a lifetime of wonderful memories.
Of love and support and values I live by.
You gave me recipes I feed my family with.
You gave me paintings [& some of your owls] that lets me always feel a connection between the life I had and the life I have.
You gave me the gift of playing a musical instrument by encouraging me to learn after thinking I showed ‘talent’ on the 2-string acoustic that was lying around the house.
You gave me the gift of growing up in a loving, caring, compassionate and supportive family that has become an amazing guide for how we want to bring Otis up.
[He’s an amazing little boy and calls you Nonna whenever he sees a photo of you or looks at the owl tattoo I had for you]
The reality is you gave me so much, but most of all, you gave me the best Mum I could ever wish for and for that I will be eternally grateful.
I’m so sorry you’re gone Mum but I’m so happy you were mine.
And always will be.
Hugs to you and Dad.
Love you.
Rx
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Awards, Brand Suicide, Comment, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Design, Insight, Packaging, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless
So the good news is this is the one and only post of the week.
I know … could today be any better?!
You see as you read this, I’m on a plane zooming my way to NYC.
I must admit I’m super excited about it.
Not just because I miss the rush of an intense city … nor because I will get to see friends who I miss very much … but because I’ll be doing two things that are going to be new to me.
One is I’ll be judging the final round of the North American Effies.
The other is that I’ve been invited to talk to design gods, Pentagram.
OK, so I’ve judged the Effies before and I’ve done more than my fair-share of talks, but what’s exciting to me about this is that it’s a totally new context.
The reality is American advertising is very different to the advertising I am used to, make and – to a certain degree – love.
It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just different.
More bombastic. More spell-everything-out. More leave-nothing-to-chance-or-interpretation.
It’s also much more rational and focused on driving immediate sales than creating a position in culture that builds sustainable brand value.
OK, not every brand is like that – and I also know many other markets are becoming more and more like this – but as someone who passionately believes in setting long-term directions, not to mention true culture driven ideas, it’s going to be interesting how I view the results versus some of my fellow judges.
As for the talk …
Well, we all know I can do that in my sleep, but I must admit I’m super excited to be doing it at Pentagram.
For those of you who don’t know, Pentagram are one of the undisputed gods of design.
Literally, one of the gods.
Given it’s not that long ago I was only using the IMPACT I must admit to being somewhat surprised they asked me to come talk to them about my perspective on design, but then I discovered it was less about me and more about the work I’m doing with a certain famous rock band which is why I felt the best way to handle the challenge is to only have 1 image and make that image truthful to what I am sure they’ll leave thinking about me.
Especially when they see my Birkenstocks.
So while I know it’s Monday and you’re probably not looking forward to the week ahead, I hope this post has helped offer you a glimmer of hope for the next 5 days. Unless – of course – you’re based in NYC, and then your week is even darker than you could ever have imagined.
See you next week …
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Chaos, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Experience, Immaturity, Insight, Jill, Management, Marketing, Otis, Parents, Wieden+Kennedy
I’m old.
In fact by adland rules, I’m a bloody dinosaur.
That’s not because I’m switched off to contemporary culture – quite the opposite – but because the industry is ageist to the core.
The reality is anyone at my age tends to face an interesting dilemma in terms of how they are perceived …
Be old but think young and the industry sees you as a try-hard.
Be old and act old and the industry sees you as past-it.
Both things are wrong of course and it’s one of the reasons I always loved Wieden because they valued creativity rather than devaluing age. Of course, you have to keep the flow of new, exciting, dangerous talent coming into the place … but in my experience, when people have an open mind, the young learn from the old and vice versa and the end result is something even more potent than it would have otherwise been.
But maybe that’s just me trying to post rationalise my value.
The thing is, as I get older, I don’t want to subscribe to the ‘life’ I am supposed to have.
That doesn’t mean I aspire to living a long-term midlife crisis any more than I want to spend my time gardening, drinking wine or playing golf … if people want to do that, that’s fine, but I want to indulge in the things that continue to fascinate, intrigue and challenge me.
I wrote about this once before, but the best and worst thing about growing older is that you are continually discovering things you want to explore – in fact, the more you explore, the more you discover additional things you want to explore – but underpinning all this is the unshakable knowledge the time you have to do it is more limited than ever and so there will be paths that will be unexplored.
That’s quite the mindfuck.
Years ago a man I met said, “you know you’re getting old when you can’t feasibly double your age”.
At the time I remember laughing but now I’m in that situation, it’s confronting.
I have so much I want to do. See. Try. Explore.
Then there’s the things like seeing my son forge his own path.
While spending more time with my beloved wife.
More memories. Less dreams.
The idea that time is getting shorter can really fuck you up.
And that’s why for me, it’s about trying to ensure my family life a life of fulfillment.
I don’t want to subscribe to irrelevance.
Sure, one day I might be regarded as that for companies, but this is not about them – but me.
My Mum always had a desire live at the speed of contemporary culture.
She didn’t want to feel she was left behind.
That didn’t mean she did things she didn’t want to do, but she also didn’t want to live in a bubble where her context for life was far removed from the realities of life so she was open to the new and actively explored it … not in the bullshit way advertising portrays it, but in her interest in culture, from comedians and artists to music and politics.
That’s an amazing lesson to be taught – one I wholly subscribe to – which is why I think the industry is missing the point when it labels people over 40 as over-the hill. For me, rather than judge individuals by their physical; age, they should judge them by what they bring … what they challenge … what they change … because it’s the one’s who refuse to be labelled who can make exciting things happen.