Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Crap Campaigns In History, Happiness, Jill, Love, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Relationships
So now my life is spent on the tube, I get to look an endless stream of terrible ads.
In the main, the vast majority are basically brochures shoved into a small space.
No thought about the audience.
No interest in capturing the imagination.
Just blatantly taking the piss by ramming down what they want to say regardless of who will be exposed to it.
While the example above for eHarmony.com is not one of the worst, it’s not great.
Putting aside the vast amount of copy on there, I don’t like the idea that their version of love is finding someone who is basically a duplicate of you.
Is that love?
Sure, having things in common is important, but isn’t it the differences that makes things magical?
I know for a fact that Jill has made me a better person simply because she is not me.
Her view of the World.
Her experiences.
Her hopes, dreams and ambitions.
The last person I can think I’d want to be with is another version of me.
OK, so they then end their ad by saying ‘meet that one person you never thought you’d meet’, but even though that gives a nod to your ideal partner having as many differences as commonalities, they’re still selling the idea that there’s only one person in the World right for you … which is not only bollocks, but emotionally manipulative.
But if that’s not bad enough, it’s the fact they say they ask 150 questions for each member.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY!
Look, I get love is complex, complicated and deeply personal but 150 questions?
Jesus …
I wouldn’t mind, but according to some, you can make anyone fall in love with you if you just ask them 36 questions.
I know there have been a bunch of relationships that have formed because of eHarmony, but I wonder how many of those occurred simply because 2 people were in the right mindset for a relationship rather than because of the answers of their 150 questions.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Fulfillment, Happiness
Don’t let Monday kill you. Let it make you feel alive and then go after what the hell you actually want to do …
I promise I’ll try to sound less like Oprah tomorrow.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Emotion, Entertainment, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Planners, Technology
When we moved to the US, we bought a new television.
We hadn’t had a new one for 9 years so when we got a ‘smart TV’, it was a revelation.
Sadly, when we were moving to the UK, we had to get rid of it because it wouldn’t work with the UK power grid.
Anyway, we went out and bought the new version of it – and while it is 65″ of OLED, 4K brilliance – the bit I love the most is that it has a feature that disguises itself as a painting.
I know it’s not the first television to do this, but it’s the first one I’ve had that does – and given it’s amazing picture quality – it’s ability to really give the impression it’s art, not tech is amazing.
It also reminds me of the brilliant work the brilliant Red Associates in NYC did for Samsung years ago.
Years ago, Samsung approached them for help on how to sell more televisions.
Rather than respond with solutions relating to branding or distribution, they came back with a more human focused response.
What they had discovered was that men love to show off their tech.
When they buy it – especially if it is for the home – they want to show it off … make it a focus of their World.
But women are different.
They don’t like things that change the focus and flow of the home.
They love technology but don’t want it to overshadow the people and the interactions that go on between the 4 walls. In essence, they want the technology to enhance the family dynamic, not overshadow it.
And so Red Associates told Samsung that they should be looking at changing the frames the TV’s were held in.
Less black and more shades that suit the colour palette of home decor.
Sure the screen would remain dark, but by changing the frame, it would blend in more with the home than stand out.
And you know what … it worked.
Samsung saw a dramatic increase in brand affinity with women.
Which meant when a family wanted to buy a new TV, Samsung increased their odds of being the one chosen because it understood that purchase decisions were based on more than just the tech, but the way it works when it’s off.
One of the things that makes me laugh is when financial institutions try and present themselves as caring about the World.
OK, so some genuinely do – but the big investment banks are highly questionable – and yet, despite countless proof their quest for profit trumps everything, they continue to spout this company line.
Well recently I saw one that reached new depths of tragic.
UBS.
Putting aside ‘Does Cancer Respect Wealth’ is a pretty cold and heartless way to ever communicate, this is not some statement declaring UBS is donating billions to find a cure – oh no – it’s an ad designed to do 2 things:
1. Stop anyone who is disgustingly wealthy feel guilty for being disgustingly wealthy.
2. Invite investment in companies trying to find a cure for cancer. Or said another way, it’s offering the chance to get seriously wealthy if one of the companies finds a cure.
They just can’t help themselves can they?
Look, I know money makes the World go round.
I know money can help solve things – as they so blatantly point out in their tweet, to make them sound like they’re the Red Cross.
But – and it’s a big but – the key is how you earn the cash and what you do with it and UBS don’t have a great track record in that. Sure, there are worse institutions out there, but I would rather they own what they’re trying to do rather than just badly spin it in an attempt to look like they care about humanity when the reality is they only care about humanity if they’re super rich and customers of theirs.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Authenticity, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Devious Strategy, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Unplanned
One of the things I love is building a planning team who is like a gang.
A bunch of intelligent misfits who all have unique ways of looking at the World but share a common philosophy in terms of what we want to do, change and impact.
I don’t care how people approach their challenges, I don’t mind if people aren’t the best of friends … but it’s important we have each others back and are open to offering opinion, advice and help if needed, even if individually, there is a healthy level of competition to do the best work of the team.
Of course, this is easier to achieve the longer you stay in a company as you can truly stamp your personality on the department but it’s not totally necessary … you just have to be clear in your beliefs, consistent in your actions and lead by example.
Now whether I’ve achieved any of this is something you’d ultimately have to ask the brilliant people who have worked with me at my previous agencies, but as I’ve started a new job at R/GA, I wanted to rally the team around a set of beliefs and language that can start unifying us more closely so I decided to make us all a set of stickers.
Yes, stickers.
I know … R/GA is an agency that wants to make the future … but apart from the fact we’re about creating stuff that comes from culture rather than ignores them, I have a new laptop that needs ‘customising’ so I thought stickers would be a perfect way to kill 2 birds with one stone.
With that in mind, each member of the team has received a set of the stickers above.
17 stickers that convey our philosophy on such matters as what we believe, how we work and what we want to do.
Some are obvious, some are maybe a bit more esoteric … but even if people absolutely hate them, at least I can say I’ve made something that truly has stuck – even if that is literal rather than philosophical – which, I’m sure you’ll agree, makes a pleasant change.