Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colleagues, Communication Strategy, Complicity, Context, Creativity, Culture, Singapore
Once upon a time – when we lived in Singapore – our oven stopped working.
We called a repair person and when they arrived, they noticed our kitchen sink and said:
“You have hot and cold taps, you are rich”.
Now while we knew we our place on Club Street was nice … it wasn’t overly special. It was pretty old and offered the same facilities we’d always had and that our friends and colleagues also had.
But it was that comment that snapped us out of our blinkered bubble … because while having a hot and cold kitchen tap is normal for so many, it wasn’t there and we’d been too arrogant and ignorant to realise it.
What’s worse is it was obvious as fuck if we had been a bit more self-aware.
But I tell you what, we were after that.
That wake up call was the foundation of my love of spending more time with people than behind desks. Living in the jungle, rather than hanging out in the zoo. And while it is not fool proof or all encompassing, it’s a damn sight better than relying on data that either removes the ‘humanness’ from the information or actively categorizes millions of people’s hopes, dreams, fears and ambitions into convenient, corporately-friendly, bite-sized chunks.
It’s why I laugh when I hear certain people talk about ‘culture’ … because frankly, many don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. Not just because they see – and dissect everything – through the lens of marketing, but because like I did in Singapore, they choose to think their bubble is everyone’s bu
It’s one of the reasons I love talking to fans of sports teams.
Let me tell you, nothing reinforces how much logic is personal rather than universal than a conversation with them.
And it’s both brilliant and important.
Because where certain individuals like to suggest fandom and loyalty is expressed through the semi-regular purchase of a particular product or the recognition of specific ‘brand assets’ … the reality is neither of those have much to do with how fandom or loyalty is truly embraced.
For those really into whatever they’re into, you discover their emotions, motivations, hopes and dreams are inherently linked to the work, actions, decisions and outcomes of whoever/whatever they believe in. Work, actions, decisions and outcomes that may not make sense to anyone else other than them.
And while some may question why you would bother caring about what they think if they’re outliers, as the old saying goes, ‘it’s better to mean everything to someone than try to be something for everyone’.
But it’s more than that.
Because those ‘outliers’ are beacons and magnets to the masses …
Helping them discover, develop and explore who they are and who they can become by opening new possibilities rather than reinforcing and reflecting what everyone knows and where everyone has already been.
It’s the approach that built NIKE … built Apple … built Liquid Death … built Metallica … built Gucci … built all the brands who have an authentic, energetic role and position in different subcultures. [Which. despite being the names most marketing departments point to in terms of aspiration, rarely get challenged because ultimately, most organisations are built to follow processes rather than potential]
And while I fully acknowledge you have to work hard to attain it, the basics aren’t difficult.
You just have to give a shit about what others are interested in and doing.
But sadly we live in a world of corporate convenience … where the economic benefits of process complexity, C-Suite complicity, and/or pundit popularity beats spending unfiltered time listening, learning and experimenting with the very people who create the subcultures around your category than you do yourselves.
Which is why the most important thing we can do for our work, clients and career is make sure we’re comfortable being uncomfortable, because the only thing that will keep us ahead of things like AI, is looking to the edges rather than aspiring for the comforts of the middle.