Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Business, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Content, Context, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Fulfillment, Innovation, Insight, Management, Marketing, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance, Standards
Problems.
We love them.
The bigger and badder the better.
Of course you have to be sure you have the right problem.
And then you have to remember that as much as some people may want to claim it, business – and life, for that matter – can not be approached like one big engineering problem.
Well, it can, but the solutions are – at best – short term and – at worst – ignored for being utterly bland, boring and emotionless.
But that’s not what this post is about.
You see, in our quest to solve big problems, we like to show our solutions by overwhelming the client with our brilliance.
Brilliance of our considerations.
Brilliance of our proof points.
Brilliance of our brains.
I get it …
You not only want to lead the client through your thinking so they ‘get it’, but because you’re proud of what you’ve done.
But there’s 3 things wrong with this approach …
The first is – as my Dad used to say – if you’re desperate to show how intelligent you are, then you’re not that smart.
This has never been more true in the creative industry where the reality is the work should be doing the proving, not you.
And secondly, this ‘demonstration of intelligence’ approach more often than not, results in presentations that are hundreds of pages long.
Literally hundreds.
Slide after slide that takes people on an extremely long journey on how difficult the problem is you have to solve and how complex and detailed the path to your solution has been.
It is, at best, a strategy where the goal is to beat the recipient into submission.
And why am I saying all this?
Well recently, I caught up with someone who told me 3 things I absolutely love.
Three things that should change the way companies approach problems and communicate their solutions.
Now full disclosure …
The person who said this is not some random individual.
In fact I’ve known and worked with them for a long, long time.
But more than that, he is – and has been for 2 decades – at the top of his game.
The business leaders, business leader.
An individual with an incredible history of success through pragmatic decision making and investment in innovation.
I asked him if I could mention his name but he said he preferred if I didn’t. Not because he wants to be mysterious, but because he’s humble … which is another reason he doesn’t work in adland, ha.
That said, he has personally shaped the way I present …
Semi-structured, singular stories rather than a mass of slides.
Strong visuals rather than pages of information.
Clarity rather than confusion.
Spoken through the nuanced, authentic lens of culture rather than superficial generalisations of convenience.
Communicating as an informed outsider rather than a blinkered insider.
The language of people not corporates.
Provocative rather than comfortable.
Inspiring the possibilities of creativity rather than creating structures to stop it.
Now I appreciate not everyone appreciates my style – and that’s fine – however, it has led to a lot of success for me and now, I realise why.
You see what this individual said to me was this:
1. Make sure your presentation is focused on the opportunity not the problem.
2. Remember, solutions need to be simpler than the problem.
3. If you can’t sum your solution up in a sentence, you have either an ego problem or a problem with your solution.
That’s it.
Sounds obvious doesn’t it.
But how many of us are doing it?
How many of us are writing presentations that celebrate the complexity of the problem rather than the power of the opportunity?
How many of us are talk about our approach to executing the solution rather than what the solution actually is?
How many of us talk about solutions as a range of elements tasks rather than one overarching idea?
I would like to think I’ve been following those 3 steps for years, but even now – I read them and go through old approaches and see where I could have done things differently.
More concise.
Cleaner … at least in the articulation of the solution and how I got there.
One of the best bits of advice I ever got was ‘talk to a friend outside the industry about your idea. If they don’t get it, you might need to re think about it.’
This is not about dumbing down.
Or being simplistic and basic.
It’s about really thinking about what you’re doing and how you’re expressing it.
Because as Ronald Reagan said, “if you’re explaining, you’re losing”.
How was your Easter?
I tell you what, it’s the first holiday I’ve ever had that I didn’t notice.
It’s also the first holiday I ever had where I ate LESS food than I do during the week.
I tell you, this quarantine is like Christmas for snacking.
If the corona virus doesn’t get you … the obesity will.
Or maybe that’s just me.
So back to the post …
Moving back to London has been pretty awesome.
Sure I miss the madness of Shanghai and the warmth of LA … but it’s been pretty great.
Even the fact I’m an hours commute both ways hasn’t been too horrid.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a long time.
In fact it’s the longest commute I’ve ever had to do since I last lived in England.
In Shanghai I was a 10 minute walk to work.
And in LA, I got to drive [after 15 years of no car] and that was only 20 mins.
But while the tube – and sometimes bus – might have their moments where you absolutely hate it, there is a bunch of stuff to love.
Specifically the people watching.
I absolutely adore the variety of people I see on the tube.
All sat together, even though they would never acknowledge each other.
Rich and poor, side by side, equals … if only for the length of the tube ride.
I absolutely love it when I’m coming back home late from the office and suddenly the tube is filled with elegant elderly people who have obviously come back from the theatre.
Seeing these black ties and gowns mingling with the people coming back from the football is a sight to be seen.
And while the 2 groups don’t talk to each other, they talk to each other.
The tube has a different atmosphere.
It’s nice … positive with a hint of energy.
People who are happy – both for where they’ve just been and where they’re heading.
Recently I was going home and the 2 gentlemen in the pic at the top of this post get on at Sloane Square.
Suddenly they pulled out a ‘nice bottle of red’ … opened it … poured it into a couple of glasses [that they had with them] and enjoyed a little tipple while they chatted about their day on their way to a birthday dinner.
They were perfectly sober. They didn’t bother anyone. They just wanted to make their journey part of their evening experience … and it’s things like this where you forgive all of the tubes pains and just revel in its ability to give you a glimpse into the eccentric, [posh] Britishness that exists 50 feet under the streets.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Childhood, Content, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Daddyhood, Design, Fatherhood, Health, Home, Imagination, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis, Peace, R/GA
When Corona happened and we were all asked to stay at home, the first thing I thought about was the impact it would have on Otis.
It was bad enough he wouldn’t be seeing his friends for god knows how long, so the last thing I wanted was for him to start thinking the outside and people in general were dangerous.
All this led to an idea about creating a storybook to help kids understand the situation … help parents talk about it in a way that wouldn’t be scary and maybe let everyone ask questions or talk about things without freaking each other out.
A small team, predominantly Ed, James, Igor, David, Dre, Becs and Anna came up with the story, the design, the visuals and the animation – while all in individual quarantine – and 10 days later, From My Window was born.
To be honest the inspiration for all this came from the way Sesame Street handled the death of Mr Hooper – one of the human lead characters.
When he died the producers didn’t know what to do.
Do they recast the role? Do they explain his departure as the character moving away? Do they say he quit or just retired?
Instead the writers and producers decided to create an episode that taught their young audience about the difficult topic of death – not just because they felt that was the best way to respect the character, but because they assumed many kids in their audience may have experienced a loss of a loved one and this could help them better understand what it means and find some inner peace.
The episode was written by the shows head writer and aired on Thanksgiving, 1983. Even now it is regarded as having set the standard for dealing with difficult topics on children’s television and remains the highest rated episode in the shows history.
You can read more about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Hooper
While ‘From My Window’ obviously is not Sesame Street, we hope it can help kids maintain their love for the outside and help parents deal with a situation they never could have imagined would ever happen to them.
From My Window is available for parents to read with their kids [on a smart phone or tablet] at www.frommywindow.rga.com and includes a colouring-in book. The animated version – like the one below – is also available to enjoy here.
I have to say the animated one – below – is my favourite because all the voices are from kids of parents from R/GA London.
And yes, Otis is in it … he makes his debut at the end, when he takes the story on from the beautiful rainbow … which is appropriate because he drew the one at the top of this post.
I’ve got to be honest, I love we did this. I hope in its own small way, it helps. We know it won’t change the world but it may help your kid to keep looking out the window and see wonder and excitement.
No posts till Tuesday because of the Easter holidays. Enjoy the break. Stay safe.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, China, Chinese Culture, Comment, Confidence, Context, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Insight, Marketing, Nike, Planners, Relevance, Resonance, Wieden+Kennedy
Jordan.
Basketball. Baseball. Movies. CEO. Icon.
As careers go, that’s pretty impressive.
But what is even more impressive is his competitiveness.
When I was working on his brand, we heard so many stories about this.
His relentless quest to succeed.
His insane focus and drive.
Of course, a lot of these tales have now become folklore as they became the backbone to many of his – and his brands – most famous ads … with ‘Failure’ probably being one of the most well known of them all.
And while it would be easy to brush all this off as marketing hype, the reality is they all represent Jordan at his core – his ability to reframe better than almost anyone – because he can one see one thing … the power in competitiveness.
Note this is different to winning.
Winning may be the goal, but how you get there is by being competitive.
This means you never take anything for granted.
This means you practice with the same intensity as if you’re in a game.
This means you don’t give an inch, regardless who the competition are.
This means you commit to being your best before your feet even hit the court.
It’s this approach that led us – when I was at Wieden Shanghai – to making a film in China to help kids see competitiveness as a good thing.
You see in China, while everyone knows the sheer amount of people there means you have to be competitive to stand any chance of getting ahead, culturally it is not seen as a good thing to openly talk about your ambitions.
Not because it’s a communist country – though there is a bit of that – but because it’s a country that likes to talk about harmony.
The ability to be balanced and together.
This meant kids were conflicted between acting with grace while feeling the pressure to be get ahead and we saw this tension as the perfect opportunity for Jordan – a man and a brand, built on performance – to help kids see the beauty in being competitive.
Not at the expense of destroying others, but the commitment to always be your best … never resting, never being satisfied, never losing the hunger to win.
And while some may think that is pretty one dimensional … I prefer to see it as believing in your ability to make a difference.
That with hard work, you can be noticed.
You may not win everything.
Hell, you may not win anything.
And the only guarantee is you will face challenges and hardship.
But with commitment, you can – at the very least – make it difficult for the ones who think their victory is inevitable.
And that in itself, is often the best victory of them all.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Mischief, R/GA
For some weird reason, I like badges.
I should point out I don’t mean I like wearing them … but having them made for me.
And I don’t mean because I’m some sort of egotistical pervert – not typically, anyway – but because I’m a bit of a prick.
In some ways, it all started because of a sticker.
Or should I say 600 of them …
Remember when I left Wieden+Kennedy and hid them throughout the agency and venues where we used to hang out?
That moment of mischief – which is still being discovered – set off a bit of bomb in me and suddenly having customised shit made for my colleagues became a thing.
There was the stickers to the wonderfully talented Jorge – simply because I thought he looked like the handsome actor in the movie ‘Love Actually’.
Then there was the first badge.
For Zaid.
Which I had done because I was experiencing some sort of delusional tiredness at 4am – stuck in a horrible room in a snowed in hotel in Boston.
Then I made stickers for Otis – in his genuine Chinese fighter pilot helmet – before making some more badges for everyone at Deutsch when I left the US.
Of course, when I started at R/GA … I thought the best way to introduce myself to the team was by having a set of stickers made that communicate my philosophy on planning that they can vandalise their slick Apple Macs with.
And then I decided to up my game by having some pencils made.
Initially it was for my R/GA mob … just because I thought it was fun.
Then I decided to be an asshole and get Sam and Mike some individual pencils – all aimed at taking the piss out of Sam, mainly because he is a Spurs fan.
Which leads to this …
A few months ago, the wonderful Megan came to join the team as a connections planner – also known as a comms planner in the industry.
She’s smart, creative and horribly lovely.
Or so we thought.
Because over the weeks, we have seen a new side to Megan reveal itself.
A cheeky bastard, suffer no fools side.
I love it.
Recently we were in a meeting with an another agency and they presented their ‘model for working’.
It was absolute pants, so you can imagine my joy when Megan snorted loudly at it in front of everyone.
Or the guy from a consultancy who had literally repackaged Byron Sharp’s work as his own, but was using it completely out of context.
I turned to see what Megan thought of what he was saying and it was the best ‘disgust’ face I’ve seen in ages.
Hands behind head.
Face looking like it was being violated with the worst smell in the World.
It was quite frankly, wonderful – especially when she uttered the following words …
“So what you’re saying is basically the same as Byron Sharp isn’t it?”
Proud.
So proud I needed to commemorate the event with this …
That’s right, Megan’s own ‘what the fuck is this shit’ face … on a badge.
To be kept forever.
She is so grateful. She just is hiding it well.
Very, very well.