Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Anniversary, Attitude & Aptitude, Birthday, Comment, Love, My Childhood, Nottingham
This week has been a week of – of me – serious posts.
So maybe it’s because I can’t keep that up for 5 days straight …
Or because Colenso won ‘Agency Of The Year’ last night in NZ …
Or that today would have been my Mum and Dad’s 61st wedding anniversary …
Or – also today – it is my friend, Heleen’s, birthday …
… but I thought I’d end the post on something else entirely.
When I was growing up in Nottingham, there was a busker affectionately known as ‘Xylophone Man’.
Part of the reason for this name was because he actually played a xylophone. The other part was he played it absolutely terribly. But with unbelievable enthusiasm.
If truth be known, all he did was run his mallet the entire length of the notes and then – at the end – he would flamboyantly raise his hand in the air as if he had just performed a concerto to a stadium of adoring fans. He’d do this over and over again … sometimes up the xylophone, sometimes down … but always with his big, toothless smile on his face.
I’d see him every Saturday in town [AKA, Nottingham City Centre], outside C&A … always playing, always happy, rain or shine.
But what is amazing is he was adored by all.
Rich, humble, famous, infamous, families, teens, drunks …
No one gave him any trouble because everyone was captivated by the enthusiasm and happiness he had for what he did and the sound he made.
His name was Frank, and when he died in 2004, the city got together to honor him … not just paying for his funeral, but also contributing to a plaque to commemorate who he was, what he did and where he did it.
Because what he gave us was far more than some xylophone ‘tunes’.
He gave the people of the city a common connection …
A way for us to step out of our lives and into our community …
A moment to bond, to smile, to laugh, to clap, to cheer. Both at the beauty of life and the absurdity of it.
And I think that’s what Frank liked the most. Being seen for who he was rather than being ignored because of who he wasn’t.
There’s a million different sort of Frank’s in this world.
Some may be in your office.
Some may even be part of your family.
But basically, they’re individuals who are happy with who they are and don’t aspire to be anything more than that.
And the funny thing is, while a lot of society often regard these people as lacking drive, value or ambition, I am increasingly of the opinion they’re the one’s who have got life worked out the best.
Because they appreciate what they have.
They enjoy and value what they do.
And they never waste their time, energy or emotions chasing things that only matter to those who spend too most of their life hiding who they are.
Writing this post, I found an old interview with Frank – and I have to say, he sounds exactly the same way as he played.
Eccentric.
Endearing.
Amusing.
The Frank’s of this world matter.
They remind us of what’s important.
They connect us to where we’re from.
The help define who we are.
At a time where we are surrounded – and as a byproduct, encouraged – to engage in ‘professional bravado’, the Frank’s of this World have, arguably, never been so important.
To remind us experience, trumps popularity.
That fulfillment, beats job titles.
And substance, smokes speed.
And while many may discount or ignore them the Frank’s of this world, it’s worth remembering he got a city commemorating him, whereas most of us are lucky if an ex-collegaue occasionally emails us.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Collaboration, Colleagues, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Empathy, Equality, Fake Attitude, Fear, Harmony, Honesty, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Music, Relationships, Reputation, Resonance, Respect, Trust
Following on from yesterday’s post, this is about the value of transparency.
Years ago, I wrote a post about a [then] new Police interrogation technique, which basically centered around empathetic transparency.
In essence, rather than use traditional tactics such as intimidation or ‘half-truths’ to obtain the information they wanted, they found transparency – without judgment – achieved much more positive results.
So, for example if someone asked if their actions were going to result in jail time, rather than give them the impression they will be OK if they hand over the information they want, they simply respond with the following:
“It is highly likely you will, but I will ensure the authorities are made aware of how you have helped us in this investigation”.
And then they actually ensure the authorities are made aware of how that person has helped in the investigation.
OK, it’s obviously more nuanced and complex than that … but the heart of this approach is the acknowledgement that people react more positively to truth than harmony.
And yet, despite this, harmony prevails in our lives.
+ We’ll keep your resume on file.
+ We’ll work with you in the future.
+ We like being pushed and challenged.
+ We will issue the payment this week.
+ We will introduce you to other companies.
There’s so many of these ‘daily’ statements of harmony going on in every office and company around the World … and while most are doing it because they want to avoid disappointing or hurting the other party, the problem is when it’s not true, it ends up creating bigger issues because people find out and then resentment cultivates and trust gets destroyed.
It’s why one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned came from the wonderful LTA of Wieden+Kennedy.
He said, “transparency is one of the greatest gifts you can ever give a client”.
That doesn’t mean you are a rude or selfish prick.
Nor does it mean you can act like a sledgehammer.
But it does mean you respect the other person enough to tell them the realities of the situation rather than the fantasy of it.
Not because you want to upset them or hurt them, but because you want to empower them …
To know where they stand.
To enable them to choose what to do next.
To own their situation rather than be owned by it.
And while you may all think this is just basic common-sense, in this age of toxic positivity it’s a pretty radical approach to commercial relationships.
But then, a lot of what we call relationships, aren’t these days are they?
More marriages of financial or outsourcing convenience.
Which may explain – as I wrote a few months ago – why one of my clients is so successful.
Because while relationships are at the heart of his business, not only does he understand they need to be mutually beneficial to encourage longevity, they need to be more than just convenience to be worthy of that label.
Put simply, relationships are built, not bought.
And the foundations of the best ones are always truth over harmony.
Filed under: Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Business, Collaboration, Comment, Community, Confidence, Consultants, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Mediocrity, Money, Respect, Revenge, Standards, Strategy
One of the toughest things about doing your own thing is payment.
Not asking for it, getting it.
One of the worst situations I ever had was a company – who I obviously no longer work with – who took seven months to pay.
SEVEN.
Not because they were having a hard time.
Not because they lost my invoice information.
But because they thought they could.
And you know what, they could … because in the big scheme of things, I was a mosquito in terms of their ‘suppliers’ and so I was ignored as a priority.
Again.
And again.
And again.
But you know what else mosquitos can be?
Annoying little fuckers and I used that experience to learn from my mistakes, resulting in an updated set of T&C’s that now contain clauses that state – the longer the delay in their payment, based on pre-agreed terms – the more implications they will be subjected to.
It starts off with a relatively small % increase, based on what is owed, added to the bill.
Then there is an increase in the % of a more significant amount.
And then finally, they grant me approval of being able to publicly shame them as well as charge them – up to $1000 – for the costs of ‘advertising’.
Have I ever had to use it?
Well, I have in terms of increasing the amount owed due to late payment, but never anything more than that …
In fact, when dealing with companies with a procurement department, that is the ‘clause’ they generally always demand is removed to which I always respond in the same way:
“Are you intending on delaying my payment for work undertaken?”
Have I lost work because of this approach?
Yep … I have, but not only do I not want to work with people who knowingly withhold payment, I also am of the attitude that chasing up monies is also ‘loss of work’.
I get it’s economically tough out there.
I also appreciate I’m speaking from a position of privilege and good fortune.
And while I’ve not had too many problems regarding getting paid from the people/companies I’ve worked with in the past, I know many do.
In fact, what they tell me is it’s the companies who talk about their values and commitment to best practice who are the worst to pay on time.
Which is why if you’re a sole trader or a freelancer – or are thinking about it – you need to get comfortable with respecting your own value.
You should not feel lucky to be paid for the work you have done.
And while it’s fair to say companies are in a position of power in a lot of relationships, your approach and attitude can help even up the score.
Not by being an asshole, but by being clear in what you will and won’t accept.
Including the small print in your T&C’s.
Anyone going out on their own is doing something special. But those who do it ‘hoping’ it will work out are being complicit in their own troubles.
So to try and stop you making the same mistakes I’ve made – as well as learn the good lessons I’ve been fortunate enough to receive – here are some posts that may/may not be of some use.
Good luck. It’s tough, but my god it is rewarding.
Harrison Ford and the value of value.
Michael Keaton thinking like a small business.
How Metallica’s management appreciate value.
Relationships build business.
Procurement departments are just playing a game called ‘negotiation’.
Know what you’re in the business of actually delivering.
Don’t want something so much you do the wrong things to get the business you want.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Brands, Cliches, Communication Strategy, Complicity, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity
I recently saw this wonderful clip of Hans Zimmer talking about the soundtrack to the movie Interstellar.
I don’t just like it because of the story he tells, but how he talks about the music representing the ‘heart of the story’.
For all the ad industry bangs on – or has banged on – about storytelling, it seem to have forgotten what that actually means.
Far too often we talk about it in terms of a format rather than craft.
Tickboxes rather than nuance.
Disctation rather than imagination.
It shouldn’t be a surprise because this is the way the whole industry is going …
Immediacy.
Blatant.
Simplistic.
Overt.
Complicity.
Egotistical.
Now of course I appreciate a movie allows more space and time to tell a story than an ad, but storytelling seems to have become a lost art in our industry – regarded as superficial, rather than powerful.
Of course part of this is because we – as an industry – have sold creativity so far down the river, we like to pretend we’re ‘serious business people’ and so spout ecosystems, processes and practices while forgetting the commercially valuable and powerful skills we actually offer which is solving problems in creative ways that can capture the imagination of society in ways that pull people to us rather than rely on bombarding them with rational messages over and over and over again.
While our industry has never had the monopoly on storytelling, it seems crazy we have been so happy to walk away from it, even if so much of it has been driven by clients and procurement departments who have decided the only thing people need to know for them to make a fortune is the repetition of a logo and a single ‘brand asset colour’ … even though ironically there’s arguably less differentiation and aspiration in categories than at any point in the past 30 years.
Don’t get me wrong, there a lot of value in marketing practice, but what is being adopted these days is less practice and more pretending.
Going through the motions of over-simplistic dot-to-dot thinking that not only leaves everyone ending up in similar places, but encourages the relinquishing of responsibility from the very people who are paid to be responsible for where and how a brand grows.
So while I’d be skeptical of anyone who claims storytelling is the most important ingredient in brand building, I’d be even more worried about those who don’t value it, understand it or appreciate what you need to be good at it.
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Colenso, Comment, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, New Zealand, OnStrategy, Planners, Planning
Back in 2017, I spoke to the man with the golden honey voice … also known as Fergus, the founder and host of the rather brilliant OnStrategy.
Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to him and his podcasts on a regular basis.
Learning from them … sometimes, vehemently disagreeing with them … occasionally, being proud-as-punch of them … when it features the clever ramblings of people in my team, or people in my life. [There’s too many of them to put links for them, haha]
In an industry of talkers – he’s one of the good and real guys;, despite the fact he is literally, errrrm, ‘a talker’ – haha.
Anyway, next month I finally get to meet the man, the myth, the legend as he is coming to Auckland to host a panel held at Colenso.
I can’t wait.
Not just because his voice is ‘sonic crack’ for me, but because he always encourages strategy to be talked through the lens of the work, rather than the pseudo intellectualism that too many people seem to like/spout.
I love that.
We need more of that.
Not just because the entire marketing industry is in danger of losing itself in a heap of marketing practice theory, but because strategy without creativity – and change – is nothing more than empty masturbation, whatever the hell that means, haha.
Stupidly Fergus has asked me to be a part of it – no doubt because we offered to host him at our ‘house’ and he’s likely too polite to tell me to fuck off because of that – but I am thrilled he is coming, both for letting NZ show the world how good we can be as well as forcing NZ strategy and marketing to realise being happy with where we’re at is not where we need to be.
Or could be.
So if you’re in NZ, come and hear Fergus and 3 clever buggers [as well as me] … talk about stuff. Or come along to try and steal some of Colenso’s stuff.
Tickets are available here.
And if you’re not, enjoy listening to whatever comes out of the evening in the next few weeks.