Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Empathy, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Planners, Relevance, Strategy
So the good news for you all is this is the last post for 2 weeks.
Yep, you’ve guessed it – I’m on a holiday, I mean a work trip.
Or should I say trips. Plural.
First to Europe. Then Australia. Then LA … I know, I know, I’m a prick.
Now given I pre-write my posts [for example today is the 25th Jan] I appreciate I could still cover this period, but let’s be honest – after 18 years, I’m running out of things to say so we could both do with the break from each other.
What that means is this is the last post until March 4.
MARCH!!!
How the fuck have we got there so soon? Oh, I suppose we haven’t yet have we … but anyway, March 4 is a Monday, so you get to have multiple weekends before I ruin your week again.
You’re welcome.
So now what do I do after writing that long-winded introduction?
Fuck knows.
But recently I saw a couple of things that I thought were particularly good and both revolve about intelligence in marketing rather than the egotistical commodification of it.
As I’ve written a few times before, I’m a bit fed up of the ‘hustle culture of commentary’ that our industry has got itself into. Where everyone seems to speak like they’re gods and gurus who have invented or reinvented the World.
That doesn’t mean they’re idiots – many say stuff that is genuinely interesting – but so much of it has an air of self-interest. Hijacking topicality for self-capitalisation.
Though the ones who claim they’ve got the answers to everything make me laugh – especially when they do nothing with it other than pedestal spouting. I mean, how stupid is that if they think it’s going to change the world. But maybe its because somewhere along the way, they’ve realised what they’re claiming is not ‘new’, just new to them and all they’re doing is reinforcing how little they know about their industries history or life outside their bubble.
That’s not wrong, we all do that to a degree, but it tends to lead to people changing their ways rather than doubling-down on their ego.
But even those people aren’t as annoying as the ones who claim some sort of ownership over something someone has actually done, because they spouted something vaguely associated with the topic on Twitter/X about 6 years earlier.
As I said a while back, it will only be a matter of time before someone makes a paper plane and claims they’ve invented flight.
Look, I’m all for thinking out loud – hell, I’ve been doing it on here for almost 2 decades – but when it’s conveyed with the confidence of a mediocre white man [copyright Chelsea] then that’s where the problems start. At least for me.
There are some brilliant people out there … genuinely brilliant. People who do stuff or try stuff with what they think and say. And a lot of them aren’t even on social media. But unfortunately there seems to be a lot more who are camped out on social platforms … churning out an endless stream of strategic myths, obviousness or bullshit … using a tone that suggests they’re innovators and anyone who dare challenge them, is a luddite.
It’s kind of the Trump strategy and sadly, like Trump, it works with many.
Which makes me wonder, ‘what if I’m wrong?’.
And you know what … I could be. And I’m open to be.
But popularity is not a sign of originality … or accuracy … or smarts … and I think those things are pretty important too.
That said, if we’re going down this imitation intelligence path, at least make people think rather than try to demand how they should think. And recently I saw two things that did just that.
The first was this:
Now I appreciate a strategist supporting a message of not getting lost in planning may sound a bit weird … but apart from everything else, it makes a welcome change from the overly complex schtick we seem to be celebrating and advocating for right now.
Of course thinking things through is important. But one thing we don’t seem to talk about a lot is the importance of knowing when to stop. So you can put things into motion rather than putting them into an endless loop of consideration.
I got given a piece of advice once I’ve held on to for a long time.
“Be rigorous as hell until you find something exciting …
… then stop and protect it at all costs.”
Now I appreciate the person who told me this was very successful so could afford to say that, but their point was that it was this approach that had got their position. In essence, they advocated for planning to show them the way not obscure it.
I like this view.
When I was starting out, strategy was valued when it was powerful simple … delivering a path to the bigger, better places with sharpness, potency and focus.
But now it seems we’re not like that.
The general narrative appears to be ‘we live in different times with different considerations’ and so we need a completely different approach to the work we do.
And while they’re not wrong about a lot of that … we’re forgetting what strategy is for so now we’re at this weird place where it appears the value is in the complexity rather than the potent, fierce, simplicity.
Please note I say simplicity, not simplistic – which is another thing some people do in an attempt to look like Einstein, when all they’ve done is reduce Liquid Death’s success to “a can that looks different to all other water cans”.
But I digress …
The reality is strategy that is all about complexity is harder to execute, easier for people to hide and more focused on what is done rather than why we’re doing it in the first place.
And that’s why I liked the clip above … because it was a reminder we need to protect what we want to do rather than only care about where the process will lead us.
Which is why I also liked this:
Sure, I get it’s a retrospective, observational view … but it’s interesting and simple.
And funny.
Plus if it was true, it would be a piece of fucking amazing reframing strategy.
Not that people would say that or see that.
Or at least not as simply as the originator articulated.
Which reminds me of the image we used in our Cannes Strategy Is Constipated, Imagination Is The Laxative talk with the image of all the different strategic frameworks that say the same thing in ever more complicated ways.
My Dad once said that people who want to show how smart they are, aren’t that smart.
That their need to demonstrate their brain is a demonstration of their insecurity.
I wonder what he’s say if he was alive today and saw how a lot of my industry was behaving.
Because I think he’d have a different view.
That their talk is not about insecurity, but distraction.
It’s why I loathe when I hear people say ‘we’ve done all the work so you don’t have to’.
Oh my fucking god.
But I appreciate this post is getting so long that I’ll be back by the time you’ve finished reading it. That is if anyone did read this, so I’ll just leave you with this …
There is no ‘secret’ to being good.
Even the most talented people work hard at developing it.
In a world promoting hustle, we need to give more value to graft.
I get that’s not a popular thing to say, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
So stay open to different views but be cautious of definitive claims.
Especially from people who can’t point to what they’ve done beyond how many people follow them. Because you just might find they value speed over substance and you don’t want their ego to be at the expense of your growth.
Huge apologies for the epic rant, a bit like old time – ha.
See you in March.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Corporate Evil, Culture, Effectiveness, Linkedin, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Professionalism
Did you have a good Valentine’s Day?
Did you get loads of cards … flowers … money?
Nah, neither did I and frankly, I’m still in shock at how positive I was about it so let’s get back to normal with a rant.
About Linkedin.
Specifically people on Linkedin who seem to think they can do whatever the fuck they want.
I’ve come to the realisation that Linkedin is full of people who used to write posts in early Facebook days that said, ‘like this post if you want to end World hunger’.
I say that because the modern equivalent is when someone stupidly accepts an invitation and within a second, they’re in your ‘inbox’ flogging their advice and/or services and expecting you to want to desperately book a meeting with them to hand over your cash.
Except their emails tend to have a couple of fatal flaws.
They often have absolutely nothing to do with what you do.
Or they have everything to do with what you do, but they don’t realise that.
And they are written with such an attempt at casual professionalism, you know the same email has been received by 10,000 people that day.
Recently I got one within minutes – LITERALLY MINUTES – of absent-mindedly accepting a request.
It said this:
God, I have so many issues with this.
Even the first paragraph pisses me off.
Yes … I do mind them asking me that question. Any question.
I especially mind that they don’t give a fuck because they just launched into it anyway.
And then there’s a matter of that question.
That patronising, overly-simplistic, bullshit question that’s expressed with the sort of casual confidence of an arrogant junior planner who spouts all over Linkedin that they know the answers to why every brand is/isn’t successful, despite having never worked on them, their competitor or their category and yet they still don’t find that a hinderance to talking like they’re the CEO of the brand and their ‘newsletter’ [which claims to be read by people working at major brands, despite the fact it’s likely the intern] holds the secrets to untold fortune so you really should sign up for it NOW.
Breeeeeeeeathe.
And then after that question is their follow up ‘facts’.
And I haven’t even started on the fact what they’re saying is literally my job and frankly, its more insulting than the time I met Phoebe Philo of Celine fame wearing a T-shirt with my cats face on it. Despite her being a bloody awesome and beautiful cat.
I cannot tell you how much I hate this shit.
How over I am of all this bollocks.
Because while I’m all for people having a go, at least put in a bit of effort.
By all means fail gloriously but don’t do it because you’re lazy as fuck.
Jesus, I’m more professional than these fuckers.
Me.
And I went to a meeting with Phil Knight wearing a pair of Birkenstocks.
And as laughable as that, it’s still not as funny as getting an unsolicited email from someone proudly proclaiming they can help me get ‘a deeper understanding of my customers’ while inadvertently demonstrating how they have absolutely zero fucking understanding of the person they’ve just peddled their bullshit too.
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Culture, Family, Jill, Love, Valentine's Day
So today is Valentine’s Day.
Also known as the florist industries ‘profit day’.
Now I’ve written a lot about Valentine’s Day over the years and it’s never been that positive. Namely because I think it has far more to do with fear than love. Hell, I even asked Jill to marry me a few days before Valentine’s Day because I didn’t want to be a victim of the marketing.
However I am conscious that my opinion is not everyone’s opinion and frankly, with all the shit going on in the World, Valentine’s Day is at least more positive than a bunch of things going on out there – despite the undertones of fear – so with that, I thought I’d link to 3 posts that I think embody the true meaning of love.
At least to me.
And what is even more scary is I’m not being sarcastic.
So with that, let me introduce you to some love stories that I connect to.
First the beautiful romance of Martin and Mercedes, then the story of Arthur Thomas and how love can last beyond a lifetime. And finally, Dan Aykroyd and his acknowledgement that even when love rips you apart, you can want the other person to be happy and hope they know how you will be forever grateful for what you had and what they made you feel.
Just for the record, I was going to link to a post about my parents and my love for Jill – but the former felt a bit too indulgent and the latter would mean upsetting Jill as she hates being mentioned on here [for obvious reasons] so I just hope she knows she is my bloody everything and I’d be lost without her.
I appreciate this is strangely positive for me, so let’s just double down on it by saying that whatever your situation, I hope today is one filled with good things, even if that’s positive memories of past love.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Except to the florist and card industry – those money-grabbing, exploitative fucks.
Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Empathy, Experience, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation
Recently I got an email from a headhunter. It said this:
I am XXX and I work as a Recruitment Partner for XXX. I hope you don’t mind the outreach.
I found your profile on LinkedIn and it looks like you’ve had some great experience in your career which is what compelled me to email you. I’m currently looking for a person with similar experience and skills as yours to fill in a fortune 500 company in NZ.
If you are interested in the opportunity please forward me your updated CV. If you’d like to know further details about the position kindly send me your contact number and I’d be happy to make a call at a time convenient for you.
Vague, non-descriptive, asking for my resume despite saying that the experience listed on Linkedin had ‘compelled’ them to write to me.
Now while I’ve blanked out their name and the company they work for, the fact is the email they wrote to me, did not match the email of the company he said he was from.
So even if this is real, it’s hardly a good way to show I should put my faith in them.
And I shouldn’t, because frankly – a vast amount of headhunters are simple sales people hiding behind a job title.
They don’t give a fuck about you.
To them, you’re just a commodity they can make some money off.
It’s a numbers game, where as long as you have some key words in your resume or social media profile, then you ‘qualify’.
And what’s worse is these people tend to focus on the individuals who either know no better or are in a situation where they are in desperate need. Knowing all they have to do is make you consider leaving and they’ve got you in their clutches to mess with.
Now don’t get me wrong, there’s some brilliant headhunters out there … informed, interested, connected and with genuine knowledge of the industry you’re in and a true desire to find a mutual fit, where everyone benefits.
But they tend to deal with more senior people, and while I totally understand why, it still leaves this gap at the lower end of the market where people are on their own.
Of course there are some recruiters out there who do care about that level.
I was incredibly fortunate with Lesley Cheng in Australia, who took me under her wing even though I was worth sod-all to her.
She even rang some ECD’s and HOP she knew at home, telling them they should meet me … and they did, because they trusted her, despite the fact I didn’t even qualify to be called a junior.
Which got me thinking – and I have no idea if anyone would even be interested in something like this – but I’d love to set up an ‘advice night’.
Where some senior advertising people and some really good headhunters come together and once-a-month, someone is chosen where they come and get advice or answers to the questions/challenges they’re facing.
Of course these people would have to be quite young to the industry because anyone they’re the one’s often left to their own devices … but also eager to learn and grow or be seen and heard.
I have no idea how this would physically happen.
I have no idea if anyone would want this to happen.
And I have no idea if anyone would like to help me make it happen.
Plus I appreciate it sounds a bit like a creative portfolio night … except this would be for people beyond just the creative department. But if you think it’s a good idea, let me know and I’ll see what I can do … because quite frankly, the way a lot of the recruitment industry works, at least in advertising, isn’t helping people – or companies – it’s designed to just help fill the bank account of the recruiter.
I daren’t imagine how many people and businesses who have been burned or had their potential shafted because they fell foul to trusting someone who said they could help but all they did was send standard, random emails out to all and sundry until someone bit.
So if you think it could work – or you’re up for getting involved – let me know here. Ta.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Auckland, Brand Suicide, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Crap Products In History, Creativity, Dad, Experience, Imagination, New Zealand, Packaging, Perfume, Relevance, Unexpected Relevance
Over the years I’ve written a lot about scent companies – both for men and women, both good and bad. Or should I say, terrible.
And while it has been more focused on preposterous nature of their advertising – I mean, who can forget the car crash that was Gerard Butler’s ‘Man Of Tomorrow’ bollocks for Hugo Boss – I’ve covered everything from when Mont Blanc decided to go from ink to stink when Moschino thought the perfect bottle design to convey the sophistication of their scent was a detergent bottle to the absolute insanity of this.
DO NOT CLICK THAT LAST ONE IF YOU ARE AT WORK. INSTEAD GET A – ERRRRRM TASTE – OF WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT BY CLICKING HERE OR IF YOU ARE FEELING A BIT BRAVER, THEN YOU CAN CLICK HERE. BUT YOU PROBABLY STILL DON’T WANT TO DO THAT IF YOU’RE AT WORK.
Now, to be honest, nothing in the universe will ever beat that last example … but recently I did see something that wanted to give it a run for its money. Not in terms of smut, but stupid.
Now I admit, I’m not the biggest fan of the Friday 13th movies – or horror for that matter – but even if I was, I don’t know if I’d like to smell of it.
Though what the smell of it still is unknown.
Is it of corpses?
Is it of blood?
Is it of the desperation of whoever was behind this to try and make a quick buck.
On one hand, I am kinda-in-awe they did it because let’s be honest – the business case for it must be pretty niche. Plus they went all out on the packaging because it comes in a box designed to look like a VHS video tape.
However, if I can find this product in New Zealand – a place on the other side of the planet with only 5 million living here – then the peeps behind this product must have spent pretty big on it, which begs the question, WHO THE FUCK DID THEY THINK IS GOING TO BUY IT?
Well, according to the literature, it’s potential serial killers who think murder is fun. I quote:
Warner Bros Horror Friday The 13th Eau de Toilette is a fun and fearless scent that allows you to discover the safe deeper inner you. Comes boxed in a VHS to bring you back memories as well as scents. Perfect for any special occasion.
And they have the audacity to say it’s ‘perfect for any special occasion’.
Maybe it is if your special occasion is the homocidal murder of people at a kids camp, but for any other occasion, I’m not so sure.
Which reminds me of something my Dad once said to me.
“If you think people on the streets are crazy, try looking at people in the boardroom”