Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Creativity, Culture, Customer Service, Dad, Family, Mum, Mum & Dad
So how was your first week?
I don’t mean being back at work, I mean reading this blog.
Depressing wasn’t it.
Well I want to leave you with a little bit of positivity.
As many of you know, my Mum helped develop the calculator that is pictured above.
It’s one of the reasons why I’ve continued to use the one she gave me for the past 35+ years.
That – and the fact I’m crap at maths – so ended up using it more to type 55378008 than work out any trigonometry challenge.
Or basic addition.
Anyway, to my mates, it’s as identifiable towards me as my Birkenstocks – even though when I was at school, they took the piss claiming it was as big as one of the BBC Micro Computers we used in class.
Sadly, when we were moving to London from LA, the stupid movers broke it.
Not just interns of it not working, but in terms of cracking the actual case.
I was very sad, because – like the Braun Bedside Clock – it was something that was a real connection to my parents, so I wrote to Texas Instruments on the off-chance they could fix it.
Unfortunately they said any attempt to repair it could cause more damage so instead they’re sending me a mint condition, new-old one as a tribute to my Mum.
I cannot tell you how happy and thankful I was to hear this news.
I cannot tell you how much I love the people at Texas Instruments.
A company that makes office tech showing more heart than companies that claim to be in the people business.
They didn’t have to do that.
They could have just ignored my email altogether.
But they didn’t, they listened and they tried to help.
We could all learn from this. Especially companies who claim to be in the people business.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Confidence, Creativity, Egovertising, Insight, Marketing, Relevance, Resonance
Y&R is over.
Of course, the powers-that-be say they’re merging, but really they’re over.
This is sad for me.
Not just because I spent 4 years of my life with them and did some stuff I’m proud of with people I still respect hugely … from SONY to VB to Schweppes [the ad is here as it’s gone from the post] … but because there was a time where they really took a stand, both in terms of what they stood for and what they did.
Recently I found an ad they did for themselves …
Yes, you can argue it’s a bit dodgy, but apart from the novelty of seeing an agency practicing what it preaches [accepting an agencies work should be the best ad it does for itself] it’s interesting to see them celebrating how technology [read: data] and emotion [read: creativity] sit side-by-side in their company.
Sure, it doesn’t say what the computers at Y&R actually do.
They hint it finds valuable ‘audience stuff’, but for all I know, they might have actually been used to just type and/or design their ads on … but it’s the first thing I can remember where an agency proactively talked about the coming together/tension between data and creativity.
Of course it’s nowhere near as good or provocative as their 1965, Backbone ad [again, for themselves], but it is nice to see an agency have a point of view, which – ironically – is the very thing they stopped doing which contributed to them ending up as the back end of VML.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Corporate Evil, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Culture, Customer Service
I have long-written how Asian hotel hospitality – albeit in the better end of the hotel ranking system – absolutely trash their US counterparts in almost all aspects of comfort and service.
The same can be said for a whole host of things, including airports, infrastructure and educational standards … however recently, on a trip to the US, I saw something that basically summed up the whole madness of American standards, at least in terms of hotels.
To demonstrate the point, come with me on a terrible z-grade bit of storytelling …
We are in the boardroom of the Sheraton Suites Hotel chain.
The team are meeting on room design …
“Where should we put the full length mirror” asks one of staff members.
“There’s so much wall space – we’re in America, greatest land in the World – it could literally go anywhere” replied a duty manager.
This debate goes back and forth for a while before they determine they won’t be able to get to the answer by themselves.
So after opening a P/O number and conducting some internal questionnaires, they spend a further 6 days at a ‘mirror brainstorm summit’ offsite before deciding they needed external help.
Enter McKinseyBainBoston&Sons … management consultants that now can turn their hand to anything if the invoice has a minimum of six 0’s attached to it.
Off they go and do a full brand audit and interview process.
This takes 9 months.
Finally, after spending millions of dollars in expenses and time, the consultants come back and present their answer to the Sheraton Suites board.
Obviously they love it, McKinseyBainBoston&Sons are the pinnacle at whatever they do.
A grand party is set to announce the answer.
The whole company comes together.
There is lift music, average food and fake smiles before finally the time has come.
With great fanfare the envelope with the answer is opened.
“Place the mirror directly opposite the loo so guests can see themselves when they’re having a shit”
Everyone claps wildly.
Except anyone who stays there.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Customer Service, Family, Friendship, Happiness, Paul
I’ve written about my best mate and his new venture, Frothy Coffee.
Well a few weeks ago I went to Nottingham to see him and I have to say, it made me so happy.
Not just because he’s doing really well or even how he’s doing it – though some of his ideas would put big agencies to shame [offering dog biscuits and water so dogs get used to stopping at his stall so their owners end up buying a drink] -but how he is between customers.
The way he cleans.
The way he tidies.
The way he looks around to make sure everything is right.
The way he prepares for what might be coming up.
The way he makes warm, welcoming comments to people passing by.
He loves it.
Every single thing shows he absolutely loves it.
And you know what?
That feeling is infectious.
You want to have a coffee at his place.
You want to have a chat and even a sit down.
He pulls people in and suddenly strangers start chatting.
The love and pride he has in his job translates to something special … something as warm and welcoming as his drinks.
Everyone should feel this way, but not everyone does.
Many dream of starting their own thing, but few do it.
And to them I say they should go and see the Frothy Coffee man, because when you see the pride and joy Paul has doing his own thing, you’ll realize that no amount of fear can stop you wanting to feel that fulfilled.
I’m so happy and proud of you Paul.
[And you Shelly … the best YTS assistant I’ve ever seen]
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Audio Visual, Before Fame, Childhood, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Daddyhood, Emotion, Empathy, Family, Freddie, Happiness, Jill, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis, Paul
Happy 2019!
I hope you had a fantastic time with loved ones.
I also hope 2019 is a very special year for you all, for all the right reasons.
While I’ve been back at work for 3 days already – which were spent in bloody Miami – I have to say I had a wonderful time, even if I didn’t get as many gadgets as I hoped I would.
That said, I’m not making any plans for the year ahead.
I’ve seen too many best intentions get ruined before the end of the first week of a new year to fall into that trap.
But it’s fair to say I do have some hopes for 2019.
Some are professional, but most are mainly personal.
More than that, they’re personal because it involves people I love rather than for myself.
I know … I know … who the hell am I?
The reality is I’m doing OK.
That doesn’t mean I don’t still have a huge drive to go further, but right now, my hopes are for others for the year ahead.
Of course the main people I’m focused on is Jill and Otis.
In September Otis will start ‘proper school’ and we just hope he gets into one that follows the values his Mum and I believe in. We never realized finding a school for him would be so hard … but when you don’t want to go private, don’t want religious associations and don’t want the focus to be so academic his creativity is impacted, I guess it was never going to be easy.
So we have our fingers crossed and will deal with whatever happens.
Which is why I am also focused on Jill.
As much as Otis has impacted my life in so many wonderful ways, it’s Jill who will experience the biggest change once he goes to school.
It’s Jill who has stayed with him throughout his formative years.
It’s Jill who has spent the days with him every week, playing and educating and just generally looking after him.
Their bond is a beautiful thing to witness and I know she feels being a mother has been the most fulfilling thing she has done in her life.
So now what does she do when she leads him to the next stage of his life?
Of course there will still be loads they do together, but I want to give her the backing to find something that fulfills her, whatever that may be.
I know it won’t be the same as helping raise our bundle of energetic joy 24/7, but I am excited to see what she will do.
She is extremely talented, creative and compassionate – and while I know she doesn’t want to start her amazing cake company again – we have discussed some things that she is excited by and I’ll be backing her all the way for whatever she chooses.
I say this because I recently saw the photo at the top of this post.
It’s a photo of Queen drummer, Roger Taylor, looking at the Freddie Mercury statue he has at the bottom of his garden.
The statue that was on top of the London theatre when their musical, We Will Rock You, was performing.
I have to say, I found the photo very poignant.
Apart from the fact it’s wonderful he wanted to keep the statue of his old friend – I can’t imagine what it must be like to see it every day.
Does he look at it and think about all the amazing things they did together?
Does he look at it and mourn the loss of someone he loved like a brother?
Does he look at it and feel the sadness of memories he will never experience again?
Growing old has many benefits – including not giving a damn what others think of you – but it can also act as a bitter pill when the things around you … the things you brought into this world … start taking on a life of their own.
At these points you can either sit back and focus on the change or lean in and explore the possibilities.
For the past 30 years of my professional life, I’ve been fortunate to always embrace leaning in to the possibilities – possibilities that has seen me live around the World and meet an endless stream of wonderful, creative individuals.
While I have no intention of stopping that approach to living, I do want to make sure that in 2019, Jill gets the drivers seat because apart from her generosity in letting me do so much of the steering, the reality is she was the one who helped us navigate to where we currently are so I know by handing over the driving to her, she will go to somewhere wonderful and fulfilling and no one I know deserves it more.
She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.
So happy 2019 to all … I’m excited to see where we all end up in the next 12 months, even if my blog posts will continue to bring the excitement of possibility down to a slow, painful crawl.