I shouldn’t be shocked.
She was 96.
And yet I am.
I was awake the moment it was announced and seeing that headline knocked me for six.
The end of an era.
The last time a Queen will rule the nation in my lifetime.
And while I’m not really a royalist, I do appreciate all she did and how she did it.
It certainly couldn’t have been easy … and that’s before all the scandals.
RIPYM.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless
For 16+ years, I would wake up and generally find a world of insults, banter and builds on whatever post I’d set to be published while I slept.
I have to be honest, I liked it.
A lot.
Part of this was because of the childishness … part of this was because of the way it pushed my thinking and part of it was because it was nice to feel part of some twisted social club.
And then, a few months ago, I decided to stop it.
It was the right thing to do and this post written by the brilliant Armando, reinforces that.
And while I still wake up to insults, banter and builds – albeit on individual emails, rather than on group blog comments – they’re not the same as when there was a group pile on.
I know … how picky can I get???
Now this doesn’t mean I’m going to open up the comments – at least not yet – but it does highlight how great it is to be surrounded by people you like and respect.
Yes, I guess I’m saying I liked and respected many of the people who commented on here. Which is probably as much as a surprise to you as it is to me.
The thing is, I’ve generally been very lucky in my career and ended up with lots of people I’ve felt that way about. People who added to the culture and the creativity rather than sucked the life out of it for their own gain/god complex.
But there have also been times that’s not been the case.
There was one person in particular who was beyond toxic.
They were manipulative, destructive, undermining and bullying. They thought they were always right and yet produced the same thing over and over again – trying to squeeze claims of uber-intelligence out of micro thinking. So many people were hurt by their behaviour but because they made money for the agency, they weren’t just tolerated but revered.
What makes it worse is they knew they were burning people and yet rather than feel any sense of shame or embarrassment for it, they felt invincible. They’d publicly label the people they’d forced out as weak or inferior and yet the company he worked for – one who talks a lot about humanity – just turned a blind eye.
As so many do.
Which is why when you find people on your frequency, it’s something special.
Of course it can also be dangerous because it’s not a big leap to ending up thinking you’re special and everyone else is wrong … but with the right combination, you can enjoy working together while pushing each other to be better.
And it’s here that the specialness really reveals itself.
Because whether through banter or arguments, it never becomes personal. You all know the opinions expressed are only at making the work better. And it’s that feeling – that ability to be truly honest to each other without hurting each other – is something truly special.
You may not realise it at the time.
You may only realise it once it’s gone.
But it’s the difference between work being hard and work being exciting.
Not all the time, but a lot of the time.
And even if someone does fuck up and crosses the line, the energy in the environment allows you to call it out and everyone deals with it, with grace and objectivity.
Because the respect for each other trumps any need to win by destroying each other.
I’ve had it a few times.
I had it on this blog.
And maybe I just realised that.
So thank you.
Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Confidence, Content, Context, Corporate Evil, Cunning, Home
We’ve all been there.
Being promised the world.
Amazing service.
The involvement of the most senior members of the team.
Promises matched by effort.
So you agree and then …
Damp squid.
A cavalcade of unimpressive under-delivery.
From feeling important to feeling an irritant.
Now sometimes that is met with a ‘corrective’ intervention. A chance to get everyone back on track. Though they’re rarely as explosive as the time the account director at Saatchi & Saatchi called in the executives of their newly won Black & Decker business and told them:
“Your account has been in this agency for only a few weeks and it’s already a joke account here. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because you’re acting like a bunch of cunts.”
For the record, that’s apparently a word-for-word articulation of the conversation as captured in the wonderful Chutzpah & Chutzpah. While one of the clients supposedly fell off the end of the armless sofa they were sitting on, apparently the showdown did the trick and Black & Decker went on to become a very successful, award-winning client for them.
Now ad folk and estate agents often run a tight race for who is the least trustworthy …
To be honest, I’ve not met many who were like that, however in terms of false promises and social manipulation, this has to be one of the very best/worst I’ve seen.
Here’s the estate agent pitch …
Sounds good, doesn’t it.
You’re interested. In fact, screw the interest … you’ll just buy it.
It sounds exactly what you want and you know you have to be quick these days.
And the estate agent is so kind and helpful.
Running around getting you all the information you need for the bank.
Brilliant.
Everything is going so well.
As ‘moving in’ day approaches, your excitement rises.
The removal people carefully pack up your house into their lorry and you all drive towards your well presented, detached bungalow near the local golf course.
Then you pull in and you see this.
What. The. Absolute. Fuck.
OK, at least they didn’t say ‘close to ammenities’ in their ad but still …
That motherfucker estate agent.
Also known as a pitch vs reality moment.
[For the record, that house did sell … and for hundreds of thousands of quid. Cancer included]
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colenso, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Innovation, New Zealand, Pollution, Purpose, Relevance, Resonance
I don’t normally write about work I’m involved in, but today I’m going to make an exception because it’s slightly bonkers.
One of our clients is a company called FFI.
They make a product called Green Hydrogen.
Put simply, it’s the only energy source that can maintain the World’s energy requirements without killing the planet because it is carbon neutral.
Nada. Zilch. Nothing.
And while the fossil fuel companies will claim they have similar products – like blue or grey hydrogen – they don’t, because the reality is green hydrogen is called ‘green’ for a reason and that reason is its main ingredient is nature and so it’s impact is also good for nature.
I know … sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?
In fact, when we were pitching for it, I wrote a slide that said “this sounds the sort of wizardry you’d expect from Harry Potter”.
And it is. Except it’s real, not magic … even though it feels like it should be.
Anyway, without going into too much detail, one of the things we want to do is ensure youth culture know about it … know there’s something that can actually given them and their planet a future despite the fossil fuel companies trying to burn it all for their own profit.
I know … it may sound weird to do that … but there’s very good reasons for it, especially when we have a generation who have seen the power they have with their united voice and focus.
From legitimising non-binary attitudes to undermining presidential campaigns to shorting hedge funds to forcing national demonstrations against the NRA to name a few.
But the question was how can we do this?
How can a major, corporate company connect to culture in a way where it’s not try hard and still allows the science to be celebrated?
The answer …
Work with a scientist who lives and breathes in their world.
Which is why we are working with the brilliant Rick Sanchez, from Rick and Morty, to help spread the word, educate the world and push for change.
And while this won’t happen overnight … I’m very excited to see how our brilliantly bonkers partnership will help move us there. After all, there’s plenty of examples that show if you want to change established attitudes and behaviour – then there are occasion where doing something ridiculous is the most sensible thing you can do.
It all starts from here …
Today would be Freddie Mercury’s 76th birthday.
How bizarre.
Except it shouldn’t be because Brian May and Roger Taylor are similar ages and they’re still playing.
Though recently I saw a photo of Brian May coming off stage from their last concert of this current tour and he was in tears … and you sense there’s a chance that’s it. That he knows, even though it hasn’t been said.
I can’t imagine what that must feel like.
I mean, the idea of me no longer being able to do whatever it is I do freaks me out, so to be a global rockstar who knows they can’t keep performing as they have been – even though the fanbase is there – must be a whole other level of confrontation.
But if they are bowing out, doing it on a high is the only way to go and they would be doing it if they announce it now.
Which also means I’m extra thrilled I was able to see them in London.
With my best friend Paul.
Which, for me, would be the perfect sign-off.
But the thing that’s interesting is that when you think of Freddie, you don’t think of the old man version of him. You don’t see the ‘grand damme’ looking anything other than he was in 1986 … fit, flamboyant and fantastic.
Yellow jacket.
Big moustache.
Prancing around the stage like a highly-sexed panther.
Yes, I know he died 31 years ago and that was the last ‘high profile’ image of him. But given 50% of the band are still touring, the idea we still see Freddie in his prime – rather than comparing him to his band mates – is interesting.
That said, that 1986 image is not my favourite version of him.
Queen had ‘evolved’ from rock stars to entertainers by then and I have to be honest and say I prefer when they are in full blitzkrieg rock n’ roll stars.
Which is why I wish Freddie a happy birthday and leave you with a concert they did in 1981.
Even if you hate the band you will be unable to dismiss the power of their performance. This is them at their peak … literally years before they created musical immortality with Live Aid.
Don’t get me wrong, I will always love them, but I miss this version of them most.
Happy birthday Fred.