I was in a meeting recently and say this cup …
… it wasn’t justthe highlight of the meeting, it restored my faith in humanity.
But that might be just me.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, Diversity, Emotion, Empathy, Happiness, Insight, Relationships, Social Divide
At Christmas, I went to the free Winter Wonderland show in London.
I say ‘free’, but it cost me more money than a West End Show,
But for all that, there was one thing that I saw that I truly loved.
This.
Yes, it is from a long time ago.
Yes, it is a pretty small thing.
But my god, how good is it?
The idea that the government paid for small versions of real cars to help kids with disabilities feel they are part of society – when everything around them tended to, and still does to be honest, say otherwise – is brilliant.
An act that lets minorities feel they belong.
Are seen and heard.
Can contribute and become more than they thought they could be.
And while this sort of behavior seems to be something consigned to history, they are happening.
I have written a post that comes out on Friday that does a similar thing.
Except it was done by Otis’ school rather than any government authority … and that pisses me off, because in my opinion, this is exactly the sort of thing the government is for.
To look after the people it represents.
Their health. Their wellbeing. Their education.
And before everyone starts calling me a hippy or a communist, it’s not just because that is their duty but because by doing this, they are literally making the country better. Richer.
Not just in terms of happier, smarter more confident people, but interns of invention … collaboration … industry.
A nation that is healthy and educated is a nation that builds, grows and attracts and yet it appears nowadays … governments are about control, power and self serving.
How the hell did we come to this?
Walked into Starbucks recently and saw this …
What.
The.
Fuck?
What next, a Baked Bean cappuccino?
A roast beef Americano?
I appreciate innovation is the foundation of progression, but this is bonkers.
On the positive, it suddenly makes their Spiced Pumpkin Latte sound almost like a real coffee.
Or as real as coffee can get at Starbucks.
Happy Monday.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Diversity, Emotion, Empathy, Equality, Friendship, Insight, Perspective, Planners, Prejudice, R/GA, Relationships, Social Divide, Wieden+Kennedy
While I wasn’t in America for long, 4 female, people of colour changed my life forever.
Given how old I am, that’s a pretty big statement and yet it is entirely true.
Mind you, it’s my age – or more specifically, the fact I’m at a level where I have some sort of influence in the industry – that is driving real change in terms of what I hold up as goals I want to hit in the time I have left in adland.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have a ridiculous level of enthusiasm and excitement for helping make great creative work … and I still want to help my team create one of the most interesting planning departments in the industry [based on what we create and how we did it] but I also want to make time for what I passionately believe will help the industry be better … of which one of those things is driving diversity in leadership.
Look, I know I don’t take too many things seriously, but this podcast interview with an HR organisation [I know, HR, but it is part of Niko’s brilliant Gap Jumpers group!!!] is one of the proudest things I’ve ever done.
Not for what I say, but because who helped me think this way.
Of which those 4 female, people of colour in America that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, are some of the most important ones.
Which is why I hope all the women I refer to in the podcast feel I honour the generosity, compassion, friendship and trust they showed towards me, because I am forever grateful to them for who they helped me become.
You can listen to it here.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Brand Suicide, Comment, Confidence, Context, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Crap Products In History, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Data, Differentiation, Experience, Focus Groups, Honesty, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Relevance, Resonance
One of the things that bothers me is how data [in marketing] has become law.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of data – or should I say, real data that has been amassed properly, read properly and used properly – but a lot of the stuff today is nothing more than small bits of information packaged to be big bits of information.
Worse, a lot of it has no texture whatsoever … designed to reinforce a position someone wants rather than to inform and enlighten on things you don’t know but would like to find out.
But even then, data is not infallible.
There, I said it.
Data is as good as the people who created it.
And yet day after day, I read about companies who treat their data like its god … even though you can see the flaws in their approach from 10,000 miles away.
From what they’re trying to discover.
To how they’re trying to discover it.
To what they want to do with it once they’ve got it.
No surprise then that so many then go on to report ‘lower than expected’ revenues.
I’m lucky that I work at a place with a progressive view of data, especially with the way we use our Ventures program.
But in addition to that, I work with an amazing data specialist.
She’s cheeky sod who is a bloody legend.
Not just for what she does but for what she pushes.
A believer in the role of culture not just habits.
But another part of her skill is that she knows what data does and what data doesn’t.
Data guides.
It heavily suggests.
It shines a light on important and essential behaviours.
It forces discussions about how best to approach situations.
But it rarely is undisputed, unquestionable, always certain, fact.
To be honest, I believe most people in the marketing field of data knows this but – as is the case with most things in marketing – we go around talking in certainties in an attempt to raise our professional standing when all it does is the opposite.
Hey, I get it, we see it being done in so many fields – from government to finance – but that still doesn’t mean it makes people believe what we’re saying, it just makes us complicit.
The reality is society is far smarter than we give them credit for. The only reason they let so much of this rubbish pass is because they literally don’t care what we say. They have seen so many facts that turned into fiction that they view what we do as literally a game … which is why, while data and strategy still play an important part in making creativity that helps brands move forward, the most powerful differentiator between ideas that culture sees and culture give a shit about is how interesting, intriguing and exciting it is.