Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Confidence, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Loyalty, Management
If this situation has shown us anything, it’s who is comfortable with the uncomfortable and who is just making it up as they go along.
Populism has been, well – popular – these last few years. In the past it was [mainly] based on the act of having done something others liked.
Recently it has become about saying things others want to hear.
And while no one could foresee what we’re going through now, that new definition of populism has been seen for what it is.
Ego.
So I hope we get back to valuing those who have plans and proof behind their words, whether that’s planners or prime ministers.
Because anything is easy for the person who doesn’t have to do it, doesn’t understand how to do it or has never actually done it – from making great creativity or leading a country through crisis.
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Is that tweet real?
Good post but it means 95% of all agency execs, strategists, politicians and men on tinder are screwed.
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 6:39 amWhen I wrote screwed, I didn’t mean it in the way the men on tinder would like it.
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 6:40 amBilly?
Comment by George May 12, 2020 @ 7:10 amI almost feel sorry for Billy.
Comment by Pete May 12, 2020 @ 7:22 amI’ve just scrolled through his timeline. He did.
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 6:47 amHe can’t win. Delete it and he’s erasing history. Keep it and he will have it thrown back in his face. Like Trump, he deserves it. Also like Trump, he will deny it paints him in a negative view. The opposite. He was and remains “optimistic about the future.”
Comment by Pete May 12, 2020 @ 7:21 amgood job you saved yourself at the end because you were dangerously fucking close to sounding like a fox news robot.
Comment by andy@cynic May 12, 2020 @ 1:13 pmPoliticians aside, there are many agency strategists on social media telling other agency strategists how to make great work. So far so generous. But as far as I have seen, they have never actually made great work. Many have not even made much work. Either this is their way of looking for a new job or they are egotistical in a way the creative director greats of the 80s would be inspired by.
Comment by George May 12, 2020 @ 7:15 amThat’s not a nice way to talk about Rob.
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 7:19 amYes George. No Baz.
Comment by Pete May 12, 2020 @ 7:21 amCheeky, Baz. Rob has a portfolio you would still kill for, as would I. I am sure you know who I am talking about. Those who position themselves as modern strategists, yet the work they show are examples of what they would do rather than what they have done. It is very confusing to me.
Comment by George May 12, 2020 @ 7:29 amYou have never sounded so old as you do in this comment.
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 7:36 amTrue.
Comment by George May 12, 2020 @ 7:52 amAt least I’ve not made the same product over and over again and sold it as something new, Baz.
Presentations maybe, but not creativity.
Boom Tish. Ha.
Comment by Rob May 12, 2020 @ 8:27 amyou mean the portfolio that is full of great work by the fucking creatives who saved his fucking ass. that one?
Comment by andy@cynic May 12, 2020 @ 1:10 pmgood smackdown of baz though campbell. well done. for fucking once.
Comment by andy@cynic May 12, 2020 @ 1:11 pmIf it’s the same product over and over again. why do you ask me for them over and over again?
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 7:04 pmYes George. I’m in so much agreement.
In fact yesterday someone at Metallica’s management told me this gem:
“Sitting on the sofa and watching a lot of TV doesn’t mean you can claim to be an expert on television, but it does mean you can talk about how to be a fat, lazy bastard”.
Gold!!!
But it’s not just the people who haven’t made the work they claim they know how to make it, it’s the strategists who mistake executional strategy – ie: craft and effectiveness within their specific discipline – as strategy.
Don’t get me wrong, what they do is very important but it’s the tail wagging the dog and yet more and more people are doing/thinking this way. As I’ve said to some people recently – thinking strategically isn’t the same as creating strategy. I wrote about it here: https://tinyurl.com/wujkzxv
Comment by Rob May 12, 2020 @ 8:25 amI don’t want to know the context behind that quote, but it is excellent.
Comment by George May 12, 2020 @ 8:49 amI saw a McKinsey report that disputes this.
Comment by John May 12, 2020 @ 10:08 amWhere your post goes wrong Rob is Johnson and Trump’s mass audience comes from people who care the least about bigger issues like proof. So as long as they front the criticism out and try to make it sound like the “elite” are trying to stop them (despite being part of that group, or wanting to) they will always attract a large audience. Populism has shown to be more resilient than anyone with facts, likes.
Comment by Bazza May 12, 2020 @ 7:42 amA friend, who is a political analyst, told me the politician who can play to the rich and the stupid will always be president.
Comment by George May 12, 2020 @ 7:55 amWhat coronavirus has proven without doubt, is that in politics – though it extends beyond that – truth is nothing more than a concept.
It’s also shown that anyone can say they have a plan until they’re punched in the mouth (to paraphrase Mike Tyson) but when you don’t have a plan, everyone else feels the pain.
Comment by Rob May 12, 2020 @ 8:04 amtruth has always been a fucking concept, defined and decided by the fucking masses. discuss.
Comment by andy@cynic May 12, 2020 @ 1:14 pmI always knew you weren’t a Kantian.
Comment by John May 12, 2020 @ 2:15 pmi had to look that up. still dont understand it. youre in danger of being a planner dodgy. fucking stop it.
Comment by andy@cynic May 12, 2020 @ 2:53 pmI don’t know what it means eiither so thanks for pointing out the risk of potential infection by the virus. I shall practice planner distancing in future.
Comment by John May 12, 2020 @ 3:11 pmGood post. I shall try not to be too optimistic.
Comment by John May 12, 2020 @ 9:01 amThat’s what you get when we elect a showman. Even now policy is being written on the back of cigarette packets. Basically we are just winging this.
Comment by bereavedandbeingasingleparent May 12, 2020 @ 9:49 am