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.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Childhood, Confidence, Culture, Cunning, Dad, Daddyhood, Embarrassing Moments, Empathy, EvilGenius, Family, Fatherhood, Jill, Love, Nike, Otis, Parents, Resonance, Social Commentary
So I’ve been doing this advertising job thing for 30 years.
THIRTY.
And in that time, I've had the huge honour and privilege to work with amazing people around the world and do work that has achieved a certain level of fame and notoriety.
Because of that, I have been invited to speak at conferences all around the World … rubbing shoulders that frankly, I should have no right to.
The point of all this is that I've done quite a lot and achieved quite a lot.
Believe it or not, this is not a humble brag, in fact it's about to be a public humiliation.
You see a few weeks ago, while working from home, I was on video conference with a very senior member of NIKE's global team.
They were talking about some stuff, and realising I didn't have a notepad, I nipped downstairs to get a notepad.
When I came back, my client told me Otis had came in, done an impromptu naked bum dance at the screen, then ran out giggling.
To top it off, they said, “… and your son is still more professional than you”
Fortunately this client has known Otis since he was born so he found it funny – as would anyone really – and the meeting carried on as before.
Anyway, as I found this amusing, I put it on Twitter and LinkedIn as ‘the perils from working from home with a 5 year old’.
Within 3 days … THREE … it had achieved more views and shares than literally any conference, presentation, talk, blog post or tweet I’ve ever written.
In fact, it probably comes second to all of them combined.
ALL. OF. THEM.
Doesn’t matter if a talk of mine had been online for 10 years.
Beaten.
Didn’t matter if I’d written an occasionally topical blog post or tweet.
Beaten.
In 3 days, my sons naked bum dance had trounced all of them.
As of the time of writing, on LinkedIn alone, that single post has been read over 190,000 times, been shared 347 times, had over 3000 people approve it, had 100 comments and ignited over 220 different people – from big CEO/CMO’s to law firms – to ask to join my ‘network’.
Yes, my sons naked bum encouraged people to want to connect to me.
What sort of weird bastards are they?
[Of course I said yes, beggars can’t be choosers]
And while I can use this story at every birthday or celebration that Otis has for the next 30 years, nothing has highlighted how utterly futile my career has been than this.
Parents are said to always want their kids to go further than they have achieved.
Well he’s done it already.
At age 5.
Good job I love you with all my heart Otis.
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.