Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Differentiation, Distinction
I recently came across the above ‘guidelines’ for the cartoon RoadRunner and Cayote.
Admittedly they read more like a list of rules than guidelines, but there’s two things that really struck me:
1. How well they knew their characters.
2. How they only needed 9 ‘guidelines’ to truly encapsulate the characters of the cartoon.
Now you could say that I shouldn’t be surprised.
It’s a cartoon.
They draw it every day.
But I deal with companies all the time who have been making stuff and couldn’t articulate the key characteristics that ensures their product is distinct to them.
Many could talk about the process in which they make it, but few would be able to highlight the context needed to ensure their is a consistency in the ‘experience’ for the audience.
Which reminds me of a story I’ve told many times before.
The time we interviewed chefs for Tabasco Sauce and one said,
“The more confident the chef, the less ingredients they need.”
I guess that can be paraphrased for anything … even cartoons.
Which reminds me of another story I’ve written before.
The one where Ronald Reagan articulates how you know if you’ve done a good job in expressing your perspective or point of view.
“If you’re explaining, you’re losing”.
Planners … creatives … brands should take note of both.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Devious Strategy, Finance, Money, Relevance, Resonance, Respect
The picture above is a well known internet image that reflects the value of using professionals.
It’s right.
But where it’s not entirely accurate is that in the real world, what’s happening more and more is that rather than ending up with an image of a horse drawn by a blind, drunk, 5 year old … clients are getting a beautifully image because the professional has been forced to lower his price to get the work.
It’s shit.
What’s worse is that many of these highly talented, exceptionally trained professionals have been made to forget their own value.
It doesn’t happen immediately, it’s often a slow, drawn out process – but the end point is the same, they treat their craft as a commodity. Not because it is, but because they’ve been made to think that way.
When I started working with Metallica, their management asked for my rates and costs.
I gave it to them.
They told me I was a fool and I needed to triple it.
Let me be clear, I thought it was a fair cost – I wasn’t knowingly lowballing myself – and yet here I was being told it wasn’t just low, it was THREE TIMES LOW.
I said I couldn’t do that, it was in-line with market rates and I felt it was fair … to which they asked me a question that changed the way I value what I do.
“Do you think your work and your experience is better than the market?
I knew if I said no, they’d ask why they were working with me, so of course I said yes.
I have to admit, I felt a bit weird saying it, but there were 3 reasons that pushed me to do it.
1. I really wanted to work with them.
2. It was obvious they thought I was worth that amount.
3. Without being arrogant, my experience is pretty huge.
Now the reality is my fee was still a fraction of what many people in the industry charge, but for them to do that when they could have just accepted my fee and said nothing – especially as they knew I wanted to work with them – is something I will forever be grateful for.
It also means I work harder for them, to both repay their faith and keep justifying my rate.
Clever sods.
Since this moment, my relationship with charging for what I do has literally done a full 180.
It’s why I was able to take on a procurement department when they tried to position me as ‘just another supplier’.
It’s why I enjoyed doing it.
It’s also why I was happy to do it in such a mischievous way.
For people who worked with me before – especially at cynic – this shift is amazing.
I was always George’s worst nightmare.
Agreeing to any price if the opportunity excited me.
It’s why I was banned from my own company when dealing with clients about money.
It’s why I still apologise to George for what I did.
Because I was not just undervaluing my talent, but everyone else’s too.
I know it’s hard, but the only way we will educate clients to pay what creative talent deserves – which, let’s not forget, it still a fraction of what they happily pay consultants who don’t ever do the work they recommend – is to give them the standard their budget actually should pay for.
For example the horse at the top of this page.
Because craft is not an expense but an investment.
An investment that doesn’t just lead to better work, but work that lets your client achieve more from it. Whether that’s charging a price premium or simple making more people more interested in what they do.
As Harrison Ford said, the most important thing we can learn is the value of value.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Culture, Love, New Zealand
I recently wrote a post about the situation with youth culture in NZ. How such a brilliant country that does so much right is failing its youth at an epic level.
Not all is its fault.
It is a small country, far from other nations with an incredibly small population so for many brands – especially more youth culture focused – it is a market that offers little profit potential or industry influence so it is a very low priority to go there.
Hell, if IKEA or Amazon aren’t here, you can be sure Supreme etc won’t be.
So what this means is what is in NZ is – in many ways – the very same things that have always been in NZ … resulting in a belief among youth, there’s not much here that is specifically for them, reinforced by the internet allowing them to see what is happening in other countries, which all contributes to a feeling of isolation, a lack of opportunity and pressure to conform.
While this is not the only reason for the terrible statistic of being the number 1 country in the World [per capita] for youth to die by suicide, it is one of them … and when I wrote about this a while back, the beautiful and generous Nils from Uncommon sent me the brilliant poem above by Philip Larkin, which pretty much sums up the issue NZ needs to deal with.
Because whether for protection or control, wires make your World smaller, which eventually will make a smaller World for everyone.
Today is Brian May of Queen’s birthday.
He will be 74.
SEVENTY FOUR.
Given he recently had a heart attack, it’s amazing he’s alive.
But what’s even more amazing is that he is still touring … still playing massive venues all around the World and still has a career in contemporary culture.
I love Brian May.
Specifically his guitar playing.
In many ways, he was the inspiration for me picking up a guitar in the first place. He’s also the reason I desperately wanted a Gordon Smith guitar one Christmas because it sort-of resembled his Red Special.
When I was in my teens, I was sort-of obsessed with Mr May.
His songs.
His softly spoken voice.
His curly hair and curly guitar lead.
Even the way he held his guitar, let alone played it.
He was my favourite member of Queen – not just because he was the guitarist, but because he was the only one in the band that kept writing rock songs – and while the years have helped me pull back from full stalker status, I still felt a ridiculous thrill when I finally bought a copy of his own handmade guitar.
He is one of the few guitarists out there who truly has a distinctive sound.
And in his youth, he was also one of the most inventive guitar players that ever lived.
He remains ridiculously humble … which is why one of my favourite videos of him is from 1991 – 6 months before Freddie died – where he finds himself in a very small club in New York with the infamous Les Paul [inventor of the guitar that shares his name] playing the blues.
Here he is – one of the world’s most successful, well known and highly regarded guitarists – slightly overwhelmed to be playing with Les and his band.
It’s nice thing to witness, especially knowing that at the time, he was not only facing the challenges of seeing his friend and band mate die, he was entering a bout of depression that he said made him contemplate taking his own life.
Mr May is one of those souls who appears to be quite vulnerable. Having read so much about him, it seems his childhood – while happy – was also one where he was expected to conform to the expectations of the times. Or more specifically, to the times his parents grew up in. His father in particular had very strong views of how his son should behave and was apparently mortified when he heard he had given up the chance to have a career in science to become a rock star.
Fortunately, in the end, he got it.
Apparently it took seeing Queen perform at Madison Square Gardens – after being flown on Concorde – but he got it. Bizarrely, I would imagine that was better for Brian than the fact he was playing Madison Square Gardens in the first place.
So happy birthday Mr May. I hope you have a special day.
You will forever be a special person in my life.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Culture, Mum & Dad, Prejudice, Racism, Relevance, Resonance
It’s easy to think some people can have whatever they want.
That they have the money to buy whatever they choose.
Or the business empire to create whatever they desire.
And while it’s no doubt easier to have things when you’ve got things … the reality is everyone – rich or poor – needs someone at some point in their life.
My Dad always said if you know people, you’re rich … and while mortgages can’t be paid in Linkedin contacts, I do understand what he meant.
When I look at my career, I realise so many of the opportunities I have enjoyed have come because of people I worked with or met along the way.
That doesn’t mean I had things handed to me on a plate – or no more than any other white, male has had that as an advantage – it just means because of the breadth of people I know, I’ve been able to do things that others may never have had the chance to experience.
While I think I’m pretty good at what I do, I am under no illusion I’m special – and yet I’ve been able to do so much that were beyond my expectations, whether that’s living around the World or working with Metallica – which highlights how much of life is down to luck.
In my case, while I didn’t go to a private school or a fancy university [or any university for that matter] I was born a white male … which means I was already hugely advantaged with ‘luck’ where life was concerned.
While this could easily become a rant about how fucking unfair this is – especially if you’re a Person of Colour or a female or gay or someone who does not identify themselves by male/female identity – I’m going to be writing about that next week, so I’ll end this week with the point this post was originally meant to have.
Recently I came across a letter from the writer John Steinbeck to Marilyn Monroe.
While it reinforces my point about the value of knowing people, the reason I’m writing about it is because it’s just beautifully written and shows a side of celebrity rarely seen.
Somewhere along the line, we seem to think all celebs know each other. Hanging out in each other’s pools and houses. Well, while it may be true now [it’s not] it certainly wasn’t true then – as this lovely letter to start your weekend by, clearly shows.
Have a great one.