Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Customer Service, Devious Strategy, Differentiation, Emotion, England, Experience, Food, Food For Thought, Football, HHCL, Insight, London, Relevance, Resonance
… is know your audience.
The second rule is let them know you know them.
For all the millions spent at agencies and consultancies, this food vendor at the recent Chelsea v Everton match. shows they get it more than most.
Now you may think, ‘who would shop at a place that publicly identifies them as a chubby’?
And I get it …
In these highly visual times, no one wants to associate with anything deemed socially negative.
But apart from the fact there are some people who take great pride in their unhealthiness, the reality is there’s something incredibly lovely about that name.
If you’re hungry.
If you need something to eat.
If you want something that’s going to make you full.
What better place is there than a food cart with the name Chubby’s.
Chubby’s suggests big portions. Lots of flavour [read: fat] Value for money.
But it’s more than that.
This is a food cart at a football match.
Food and football is never supposed to be fancy.
It’s supposed to be piping hot and insanely substantial …
This means even the most healthy minded individual can justify buying from there.
“It’s just this once” … they’ll say.
“It’s part of the footballing experience” they’ll claim.
And then, to make themselves feel less greedy, they’ll do what was the basis of one of my favourite ever campaigns – a bloody radio ad no less – they’ll go and order a Diet Tango to wash it all down with.
The weak and delusional fools.
[Cue evil laugh]
So while I doubt any naming consultancy would ever come up with such a choice of name for a football food establishment, I would say the owner of this cart is a better marketer than most of the agencies and consultancies put together.
And his hot dogs were a delight.
That is not a euphemism.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Culture, Football, Nottingham, Nottingham Forest, Shanghai, Sport, Wieden+Kennedy
A long time ago, I was sat in Wieden+Kennedy Portland, watching the Women’s World Cup with the NIKE team.
It was fun – we were all enjoying the match – when LTA [a legend at Wieden] said to me and the person I was sat next to, who I didn’t know …
“I’m surprised you’re sat next to each other”.
When I asked why, he said …
“Because of the teams you support”.
And that was the moment I discovered my sofa mate, Patrick, was a fucking Derby County supporter.
Worse still.
He was actually from Derby.
We both had the look of utter disgust on our faces.
Derby.
For fucks sake.
Anyway, despite his absolute shortcomings in football team, we got on and managed to show our maturity by rising above it.
I never saw Patrick again.
I was based in Shanghai and then he left Wieden.
That said, we stayed in touch via social media – especially when Forest were playing Derby – so a few weeks ago, when Patrick suggested we catch up and talk about what we think will happen in the league now COVID-19 is messing with everything, I was thrilled.
And while it had been a long time since I’d seen him and I continued to like him as a person, the fact is when you talk to a Derby County fan – even one based in the US – there are certain protocols to observe, which this photo from our zoom chat captures perfectly …
My favourite bit was how he responded to someone who asked how a conversation with a Forest and Derby fan had gone down ..,
MORTAL enemies!
But, given the testing time we’re in I’m willing to put that aside, for now.
That being said, Rob wasn’t even TRYING to make friends …
Another example of Forest getting one over the sheep.
Great chatting with you Patrick – while I doubt you’ll ever want to do it again, I hope we do.
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.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Design, Emotion, Experience, Imagination, Luxury, Marketing, Premium
So last week, the disgustingly talented Nils Leonard posted this on his instagram.
I have to say, I love it.
Sure, it’s for Mothers Day that affords more creative licence in terms of how a brand expresses themselves, but given Chanel has only celebrated elegance and perfection for years, it’s a huge leap.
Apparently it was drawn by a Chanel employees daughter on a ‘bring your kids to work’ day.
I can’t imagine how much money this saved them in terms of ad agency costs.
Though of course, this is less about being cheapskates and more the changing face of luxury.
For too long the category has been a closed shop.
It dictated terms, rejected new entrants and ruled by an iron fist.
Cold. Clinical. Aloof. Exclusive.
But the shift has been happening.
The rules of luxury are changing.
And while the establishment may look down at brands like Supreme as nothing more than expensive hype, the reality is the new generation of luxury buyers feel differently.
They don’t want to be part of the old rules, they want luxury to reflect them and how they live.
Personal. Emotional. Ridiculous and audacious. Human. Fun. A new definition of perfection.
And with brands like Mr Ji and Gucci both embracing this change and driving it … it will be interesting to see how many other luxury brands start stretching the boundaries of who they are and who they associate with moving forward.
Though I accept there’s a good chance they’ll just do what they’ve always done – especially with designers – and just try and buy the brands/people who are making waves.
Then assimilate them into their system.
Wow, look at me talking about fashion. And luxury. Who Am I?
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Comment, Culture, Empathy, Human Goodness, Love, Loyalty, Marketing, Marketing Fail
A couple of days ago I wrote about how the reset button on society has been pressed.
How companies and people are actually working together to make sure humanity is being moved forward rather than being left to fend for itself.
Sadly, not everyone is acting in this way.
In fact, some are openly displaying they prefer profits over people.
That blows my mind both in terms of arrogance and stupidity.
Arrogance … because they literally think they’re better or more important than everyone around them.
Stupidity … because this thing will be over one day and people don’t forget.
While this is old news, there is a site that has been started who has the aim of making sure of that … didtheyhelp.com.
It’s a site that details if companies or celebs helped during this crisis.
We are at a point where society will support those who support them and not let shit behaviour be passed off as “it’s just business” anymore.
It may have cost the ultimate price, but we may end up coming out of this in a better place than we started.
I hope so.
Tomorrow is a bank holiday in the UK, so hope you have a happy and safe long weekend.