Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Culture, Diversity, Effectiveness, Honesty, Inclusion, Politics, Relevance, Resonance, Respect
Recently I came across this photo.
I have to be honest, I absolutely love it.
Two extreme sides of society coming together.
Or that’s what I first thought because after a bit of consideration, I realised that maybe they’re not that different.
Because while the context, history and day-to-day realities they faced were very different, they shared a desire to break a system actively working against their recognition, individualism and progress.
Similar to when the LGBTQ+ community supported the miners strike in the UK in the 80’s … and then, later on, the miners came out in force to back the LGBTQ+ community in their fight for rights and a future.
Different Worlds brought together by a common objective/enemy and realising the power both bring to each other in their goal.
Now the reality is all the groups mentioned in this post continue to face challenges and oppression from the establishment. They continue to be dismissed and attacked by the powers-that-be.
But while you could argue that means this approach doesn’t work, I disagree.
Because even when the result doesn’t go the way you want – or at least, in the timeframe you want – knowing you are supported goes a long way.
It keeps you believing.
It keeps you fighting.
It keeps you hoping.
And the more people who see what you’re fighting for is simply a different context to things you are fighting for, the more the momentum of change can swing.
I get this may sound idealistic.
I get the World right now is pretty shite.
But in the last few years we have seen issues that were previously ignored by companies and governments, gain awareness, acceptance and advocacy.
From mental health, to the climate crisis to trans-rights to countless other issues … change is happening that not long ago was not even recognised as an issue worth talking about.
We could do with more of this.
Because when we recognise the issues being faced rather than get distracted by the individuals involved, we may just see we are far more alike than different.
And then the establishment can’t blindly and wilfully ignore change that threatens their control.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Cunning, Devious Strategy, Education, Otis
Despite using examples that probably featured perspectives that were the opposite of every MBA case study they had read, it all went pretty well.
I got a bunch of questions and even received some lovely notes from people in attendance.
But the reality is, I kind of ensured that the end would be remembered better than the beginning.
You see Otis saw me writing my talk and asked if he was in it.
So I added this as the last slide.
Which means regardless what went on before, the ending was always going to be perfect.
#Strategy
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Digital, ECommerce, Environment, Social Media
Social media.
Or for some, digital marketing.
Oh the terms and the tropes.
The guru’s and the chancers.
The rules and the frameworks.
The DTC brand successes and the DTC product commodification.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of social media marketing. I think – done in the right way – it can powerfully drive brand, business and fandom in ways many other forms of marketing can’t hope to reach.
There’s countless amazing examples out there, but underpinning all of them is the inconvenient truth that they’re based on an idea. It may not always be what the ad industry likes to call a ‘big idea’, but it’s an idea all the same.
Something that holds all it does together. Guides it. Shapes what it does. Gives it a reason to exist and add to culture rather than continually try to steal from it.
But the problem is these brands are still in the minority because the vast majority still practice what my beloved Martin Weigel refers to, “the continuous production of social landfill”.
There are countless reasons this occurring …
The belief it gives them ‘free’ advertising.
Their fear they may be left behind or left out.
The attempt to look and act relevant to the times.
But without doubt, the worst reason is ‘people really are interested in who we are and what we have to say’.
Oh my god, that’s the worst of all.
A deluded state that manifests itself into some of the worst behaviour and marketing you can get … liked and supported by those who either work for the company or want to.
So what we end up with is an ever-increasing production of sheer shit.
Pointless, mindless marketing filth that doesn’t so much scrape the barrel, but is the scrapings of the barrel.
Things like this …
What. Is. That?
Seriously, how deluded and desperate must you be to think this is the sort of content the World is waiting for.
Yes, I appreciate they have almost TWO MILLION followers but come on …
And they’ve even incorporated a way to ‘vote through emoji’ to allow their ‘fans’ to interact with the content.
To paraphrase a comment once made to me by a client … sometimes, the people who like your stuff are the people you don’t want liking your stuff.
Pity the poor social media people who have to manage this stuff.
I say pity, because surely they can’t think this is good?
Surely they are the human equivalent of a battery hen … held in a small room and told to keep finding ‘ideas’ to churn out as content.
Stuff that is the very embodiment of social media landfill.
An always on strategy that turns people off.
But my god, what if they think this stuff is good?
What if they believe people wait with baited breath for the latest piece of content they literally are churning out?
What if the client thinks it is driving ‘powerful user interaction metrics’?
I know Colgate Palmolive make many products.
Some of which have become brands that are very, very popular.
But maybe someone needs to tell them that just because people buy them, doesn’t mean people care about them … certainly outside of the environment they inhabit or in the detail Colgate finds fascinating.
Or to paraphrase another old client of mine:
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Childhood, Food, Immaturity
I admit I have terrible taste.
I don’t mean in fashion or music, I mean in food.
The food I like is the food foodie people, hate.
It’s so bad, that on the occasions I get to fly business class, I ask for an economy meal. That is unless it’s the Chicken Satay on Singapore Airlines, then I will definitely have that.
Pathetic?
Oh I know …
Which is why I’m about to hit peak ‘first world problems’ with this post.
A few weeks ago I found myself in Melbourne.
I’d just enjoyed an ENOURMOUS Chicken Kiev – or, as it should be known, a Chicken Kyiv – when they offered me the dessert menu.
Among all the poncey, fancy stuff was a trifle.
A TRIFLE.
Trifles for me were a childhood party staple.
Strawberry Jelly. Custard. Sponge Fingers. Cream.
When you served it, it would make a sound like a Wellington Boot being pulled out the mud. It was glorious, gratuitous splodge and I bloody loved it.
So of course I ordered it and waited with glee.
My first clue should have been the dish it was served in.
It was fancy as fuck.
It’s the one at the top of this page.
My second clue was that it looked like a complete trifle rather than the road accident the typical served trifle resembled.
But if that didn’t get me, the taste did.
Instead of being transported to my childhood, I was taken to a place I didn’t belong.
Refined tastes of ingredients that don’t ever belong in a trifle.
Lemon.
Coconut.
Rose water jelly.
And don’t even get me started on the custard.
More insipid than a Tory councillor at election time.
The whole experience was this blend of bland and sour … literally ruining trifles and my childhood for ever.
I’m sure people with a evolved palette would love it.
However for people from Nottingham … it was edible violence.
But then, I do love Angel Delight, butterscotch flavour and Viennetta.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Comment, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, New Zealand, Youth
The cost of living is insane everywhere.
Petrol.
Heating.
Food.
The prices are going up faster than we can blink.
And while there is definitely the suspicion some industries are using this as an excuse to elevate their profits – I’m looking at you fossil fuel and supermarket industries – the reality is for many people, life is becoming more about survival than living.
Here in NZ, the conversation often relates back to the price of food.
Part of the reason for that is because the dairy industry is so influential and economically important.
But right now, you can’t turn on a talkback radio show without hearing people complain about the price of cheese … milk … or vegetables.
Sure, it’s not as bad as it is in the UK at the moment – where supermarkets are putting ‘anti-theft’ devices on cheese, but it’s not far off.
Just recently I heard a 10 minute segment about the price of cauliflowers.
Apparently they’re $12 each in some places and one person interviewed said:
“There’s no cauliflower in the world worth $12”
It’s fair to say it’s a sentence I’ve never heard in my life.
But while the cauliflower conversation may raise a smile … what it indicates is nothing but.
More and more people will struggle.
Will be taken advantage of.
Will wonder if they can cope.
While I hold real concern for a number of groups, one I’m particularly concerned for is youth.
As I wrote yesterday – and all the photos in this post are from our book, Dream Small – many kids in NZ already feel oppressed by the lack of opportunity and the pressure of complicity they face … but now, their situation could be even more tested.
Less possibilities.
More expectations.
Even less consideration.
Even more demands and judgement.
Given NZ already has one of the worst youth suicide rates – per capita – in the world, what could this do to the mental health and wellbeing of the young?
What is this going to do to the dreams they have?
I get it’s hard.
I get there will be many more communities that will require help.
But for all the companies that go on about how proud they are to be from New Zealand, maybe this is the moment they prove it by what they do rather than what they say.
Last year I judged the Effies and read a bunch of entries from supermarkets.
They talked about how their ‘strategy’ had helped them overcome the huge barrier of covid.
All of them … every last one … claimed covid had been a barrier to growth rather than their fast track.
It was an insult to my intelligence.
I would love it if this year, I read submissions from NZ brands who talked about how they used this time to enable a generation. That they recognised the countries future was dependent on the young feeling they could bring their wild hopes, ideas and energy to the fore. That instead of being told to dream small, they were supported to dream big. So the country can evolve and develop so if situations like this happen again, then the nation will be in a better position because it will be stronger thanks to the brains and ideas the young have brought.
I don’t even really care how they do it.
More pay.
Government funded flights for their OE.
A youth venture fund that kids can call upon to help with their ideas.
Tax breaks for youth focused, foreign brands to come into the country.
Fighting against Tall Poppy – or any of the other issues that hold youth back through fear.
And while I know there are a few brands doing it – some of my clients for a start – I doubt I’ll be reading many papers that celebrate that shift, because too many of these ‘proud Kiwi brands’ are more focused on perpetuating and controlling the stereotype than liberating the people who are forced to live by it.