Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Campaign Magazine, Chris Jaques, Colenso, Communication Strategy, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Planning, R/GA, Wieden+Kennedy
I have always found it rather amusing that occasionally the industry press has shown an interest in what I’m doing – or done.
Even now, my first reaction is, “don’t you mean the other Rob Campbell, who started RKCR Y&R?”
And while occasionally the answer is, “yes, we do mean him” … I have approached any interaction with my tongue, generally in my cheek.
Hence I’ve said if I was a Star Wars character, I’d be Darth Vader.
I’ve felt fine writing sarcastic responses to discipline assassination.
And I showed no shame saying the word ‘wank’ in response to a new business win.
To be fair, Campaign Magazine – where a lot of this madness took part – played their part in the relationship by running pieces questioning if my wife was real and if I was having an affair with a reindeer.
I say all this because a friend sent me something he had just found in an old edition of Campaign in Asia …
Apart from the fact that I was at Y&R Asia 16 years ago, so I’m wondering why on earth anyone would keep a copy of Campaign that long … it did make me smile.
Yes, I used to use the word ‘toptastic’ a lot.
A. LOT.
And yes, I can absolutely see myself saying that, even though I LOVED Mediaworks and would do it again in a heartbeat.
But more than that – and I appreciate how egotistical this makes me sound – it was nice to see a bit of humour in an industry that is quickly going up its own arse.
Yes, what we do is important.
Yes, we need companies to recognise we care about their longterm wellbeing.
But for an industry that is supposed to understand how to connect commerce to culture … this overly serious, overly complex, overly monotone approach to all we do isn’t helping.
I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t take what we do seriously, but maybe if we stopped taking ourselves so seriously – so we can resonate with culture rather than patronise them – we may end up with better work and better results.
And by god, could we do with that.
Though I appreciate this may simply be my attempt to reframe my industry ridiculousness as professional, so should Otis ever see it, he won’t think his Dad was a total lunatic.
Maybe.
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National holiday on Monday, so see you Tuesday. That is if anyone reads this blog anymore – I have no idea. [Which is probably a very good thing, ha]
Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Creativity, Daily Fail, Fear
There’s a narrative that to be rich, you have to be smart.
Or very, very lucky.
Whether that viewpoint is true or not is probably more an individual take than a general view. But what isn’t talked about very often is how success can make you stupid.
The comedian Billy Connolly once said the world smells of fresh paint, because wherever the Queen walks [RIP] … 20 feet in front of her is someone painting the walls white.
Or said another way, wherever successful people go, ‘yes people’ follow.
Never did I see that more in action than when I lived in America.
OH MY GOD.
The ‘manage-up’ attitude was incredible to witness.
Basic thoughts were met with an ever increasing amount of fawning responses …
“That’s a brilliant idea”.
“Genius”.
“You’re so clever”.
And all this resulted in was leaders thinking they were Gods … walking on clouds thinking the world was looking up and worshiping them … pushing confidence in their own voice to greater and greater levels, so they spouted even more ridiculous viewpoints that they packaged-up as next-level Yoda statements for their entourage to fake swoon over.
I say this because I recently saw this …
WHAT THE HELL?
I mean, what does ‘the smartest praline in the World’ even mean?
Does it have Alexa inside them?
Or maybe the new iWatch Ultra?
Or did they get Einstein’s body, crush it up and placed fragments into each nut.
Seriously, what the hell are they going on about???
Well it gets worse.
No, really.
Because when you watch the ad, ‘the smartest praline in the world’ translates to the ability to be a sexpest on public transport … I kid you not.
The good news is this ad is apparently old … but it still perfectly demonstrates nothing can make you more egotistically stupid, than being successful.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Culture, Cunning, Revenge
I have an old job reference that states:
“Rob is driven by hate”.
Amazingly, they meant it as a compliment.
Despite my friend Michael believing I am incapable of such an emotion [but then he’s a beautifully misguided German] they’re right.
OK, maybe hate is too aggressive [damn you Michael!] … because when I encounter something – or someone – I don’t like, I use it to push me further rather than push them down.
This is not a new thing.
I wrote about it way back in 2011 … but even now, hate – or whatever we want to call it – has the affect of pushing me to learn, grow and try more stuff than I’ve done before because I want to do things better than whoever or whatever the focal point of my distain, achieved.
Does it always work? Nope.
Is it obvious to them I’m doing it? Hopefully not.
Can it sometimes be ignited by me being petty and pathetic? Yep.
But for all the potential unpleasant side of this characteristic, it gave me a work ethic that helped me achieve far more than any talent I have, could achieve – hahaha.
I say all this because a friend of mine sent me a photo of another persons version of creative revenge.
This.
It’s it utterly glorious?
Apparently, they did it because their partner said they wouldn’t hang up the washing.
OK, so they’re not using their hate to drive themselves forward … but they’re definitely using it to release the anger.
An act of personal vengeance that leaves no pain or blood on the intended victim while, at the same time, gives the aggressor a sense of satisfaction, peace and revenge.
That’s not easy to do.
But creativity found a way.
It always does.
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Culture, Death, England, Respect
So enough time has passed for me to post this.
Let me be very clear, the delay was not about respect, but just because I wanted to avoid being lumped in with all the other posts stating: ’10 Things You Can Learn About Brands From The Queen Passing’.
Despite being 96, the death of the Queen stopped the World.
As as I said at the time, I’m not even a royalist, but her passing affected me way more than I imagined.
And while brands all over the World expressed their sorrow – with some adopting a very as a broad interpretation of appropriate, it was impressive to see Apple drop their entire sales pitch – as they did with Steve Jobs passing.
What made this even more impactful was they had only just revealed their new iPhone, iWatch and AirPods the day before, so it was a big move on their part.
The picture at the top of this post was taken from a mate of mine, Ian McDonald.
It’s his compilation of the top 20 brands [according to Interbrand] homepages.
It’s interesting that for all those 20 brands claims of values and beliefs, only Apple and Google adapted to the news.
At least to that extent.
At least on that day.
And while there are a lot of issues and complexities relating to the Royal Family – as a concept, let alone as people – what Apple did was a class act.
Because in that moment, they – more than anyone else – showed they understood there are times where respect trumps self-interest.
Filed under: Babies, Cats, China, Dad, Daddyhood, Family, Fatherhood, Home, Jill, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis, Rosie, Singapore
Look at that photo.
Look at my kids.
Yes, I appreciate one is a cat, but she isn’t to me.
She’s my demanding, complaining, cranky daughter who – bizarrely – is also a grandmother.
But only in age.
While also being Otis’ ‘kitty sister’.
We had Rosie for 7 years before Otis came around. And when he did, everything changed.
I remember how Rosie couldn’t work out what was happening. Especially how Jill was behaving.
From ruling the roost, she was now playing second fiddle to this screaming object that seemed to be awake at all hours of the day.
Rosie’s way of dealing with it was to sulk.
She would openly shun Jill before blindly following her every move. Blatantly craving the love and focus she had enjoyed for 7 years while pretending she didn’t care.
I felt sorry for her.
I’d talk to her a lot and gave her extra hugs to ‘equalise’ the attention and adoration being given to Otis.
And while you may think this shift in hierarchy could make Rosie hate Otis, she never did.
I’m not saying she loved him, but she put up with him.
However Otis found Rosie fascinating.
He thought she was AMAZING.
But babies don’t know how to treat animals which is why we paid a bloody fortune to have an identical version of her made as a cuddly toy so he could learn how to be gentle with her.
While the identikit cat didn’t achieve the desired result – I would often find him swinging the toy version of Rosie over his head by the tail – he never did anything bad to the real thing.
He loves her. Adores her. Is thrilled every time she pays the slightest bit of notice to him … regardless how small or short.
And I love that.
I love how they have found their own relationship.
Not expecting anything from each other but accepting what each other wants to give.
It may have started as a forced relationship, but it’s definitely a family now.
My family.
I get some people will read this and think I’ve lost the plot.
And maybe I have.
But family is more than blood. It’s understanding.
The good. The bad. The quirks. The demanding.
And when you find the level where you’re able to float with all of that, then you’re doing pretty well. It’s not always easy, but its always worth it.
Which is why I love spending my my time with them – and their Mum – every weekend.
Oh and one last thing.
To Dave …
I’m thinking of you.
I wish I had something I could say that would shield you a little from the emotions you’re facing, but for what it’s worth – know I love you. And love them. Rx