Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Authenticity, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Devious Strategy, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Unplanned
One of the things I love is building a planning team who is like a gang.
A bunch of intelligent misfits who all have unique ways of looking at the World but share a common philosophy in terms of what we want to do, change and impact.
I don’t care how people approach their challenges, I don’t mind if people aren’t the best of friends … but it’s important we have each others back and are open to offering opinion, advice and help if needed, even if individually, there is a healthy level of competition to do the best work of the team.
Of course, this is easier to achieve the longer you stay in a company as you can truly stamp your personality on the department but it’s not totally necessary … you just have to be clear in your beliefs, consistent in your actions and lead by example.
Now whether I’ve achieved any of this is something you’d ultimately have to ask the brilliant people who have worked with me at my previous agencies, but as I’ve started a new job at R/GA, I wanted to rally the team around a set of beliefs and language that can start unifying us more closely so I decided to make us all a set of stickers.
Yes, stickers.
I know … R/GA is an agency that wants to make the future … but apart from the fact we’re about creating stuff that comes from culture rather than ignores them, I have a new laptop that needs ‘customising’ so I thought stickers would be a perfect way to kill 2 birds with one stone.
With that in mind, each member of the team has received a set of the stickers above.
17 stickers that convey our philosophy on such matters as what we believe, how we work and what we want to do.
Some are obvious, some are maybe a bit more esoteric … but even if people absolutely hate them, at least I can say I’ve made something that truly has stuck – even if that is literal rather than philosophical – which, I’m sure you’ll agree, makes a pleasant change.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Culture, Marketing, Marketing Fail
I used to know this person who everyone liked.
Always smiling. Always laughing.
They were the life and soul of every party.
But then, when I spoke to people who actually worked with this person, the response was kind of different.
The common reply was something along the lines of:
“They’re nice as a person, but working with them ….”
And there would be this pause as words they didn’t want to say out loud, were said in their silence.
What they were trying to say was the problem they had working with this person was they wanted to be popular.
Sure, we all want that to a certain extent, but this person was obsessed with it … to the point they would always give whoever they were talking to, the answer that person wanted to hear.
Never saying the word “no”.
At least to people who they felt were – or could be – important or influential to them.
And while that is fine in general – or private – conversation, it causes huge problems when it comes to making great work because different promises get made to different people which means everyone is working to different goals and expectations.
Worse, it means when shit hit the fan – which it always will – this person will constantly blame someone else for the issues rather than take responsibility for what has happened.
Of course this shouldn’t be a surprise because their focus was never really been about the work – despite what they might say in public – it was just about their personal relationships.
Look I get it … no one likes conflict.
No one likes to tell someone no, especially if you like that person.
But when you let your ego be more important than the work, everyone loses.
As I wrote before, to get to great work you’ve got to accept it will leave scars.
That doesn’t mean the teams need to work in an atmosphere of toxicity or aggression – far from it, you generally feel the joy the teams have had making great work – but it does mean the tough conversations have to be had openly and early to not just ensure expectations and standards are agreed by everyone involved, but to give the teams the space, time and safety to make work that is fearless and infectious.
Popularity seekers scare the crap out of me.
Sure, they’re nice to have a cup of tea with, but to work with them is horrific.
Not because they lack talent, but they lack integrity and like all relationships, if you can’t trust the person by your side, you can’t have a relationship that can lead to exciting and new places.
But if more evidence was needed, I’d say this.
Tough conversations may not be nice, but not only do they increase the odds of getting to great work … they build stronger trust, respect and relationship between client and agency.
Not having tough conversations may be easier, but I don’t know of any great work that has ever come from it. And eventually, that leads to relationship breakdown … because if there’s one thing I know about this business, when things go good – everyone claims ownership – but when things go bad, most clients tend to point the gun at the agency.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Business, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Egovertising, Embarrassing Moments, Marketing, Marketing Fail
This headline came out in AdAge not that long ago.
For me, it says more about the state – and ego – of advertising than it does about the state of the environment.
Don’t get me wrong, a company who is doing something positive is a wonderful thing.
But when that company uses their action to promote themselves in an industry mag … well, that kind-of takes the shine off it.
Then again, when an agency is in the press more for what they’re doing – or plan to do – than what they’ve actually done or made, then you can’t help but feel their strategy is more to distract from the truth than to celebrate the good.
Or maybe that’s just me.
I am still a cynic after all.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Advertising [Planning] School On The Web, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, England, Experience, Family, Happiness, Home, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Love, Mum & Dad, My Fatherhood, Perspective, Planners, Planning, R/GA, Resonance, Technology
So it’s 2 months since we’ve been back in England and I have to say it’s been great.
Sure, the weather isn’t like LA.
Sure, finding a home and unpacking was a pain-in-the arse.
Sure, catching the tube is not like driving my beloved Audi to work.
Sure, I’m shocked at how bad the service is in restaurants and how many people smoke.
But all that aside, things are great.
There’s a bunch of reasons for that …
The first is my family are all together and well. Even Rosie, the moaning cat.
Seeing how brilliant Otis has adapted to his new environment [again] is inspiring, even though it has highlighted how much of an American twang he picked up in our time in the US.
To move home is a traumatic experience for anyone.
To move countries is often too much for people to even contemplate.
So to have moved home and country, 3 times when you’re only 3 years of age – and still be happy, positive and curious – is an incredible achievement and one that makes me even prouder of my wonderful little boy.
That said, we’re very mindful he is still trying to find where he belongs … find other kids he can form a connection with … so our job in these early months is to help him feel as settled and secure as we can, but so far, he’s handling it far better than we could ever hope, even though he did exactly the same when we landed in LA after Shanghai.
What a kid.
Another reason we’re enjoying things in England is that there’s an incredible familiarity to how things work.
Sure I’ve not lived here for 24 years and Jill is Australian … but we both have spent a huge amount of time here over the years so there’s a comfort in knowing how to make things happen. It’s allowed us to acclimatise to the new environment far quicker than we have in other nations while still feeling the buzz of excitement of being somewhere new.
Sure, there’s nervousness about some things we’ve never/rarely had to deal with before.
The school system and how insane that is here.
The inability to be confident a tradesman will turn up as promised.
The high price of public transport [which is still low, but comparatively high to say, China]
But all that is offset with the incredible culture that surrounds us, the friendliness of the people we’ve met and just being in a place where we can see ourselves for a good length of time.
Oh, and chips, mushy peas and gravy.
God, that’s magic right there.
But one other thing that has made things so great is work.
I’m really enjoying myself.
I have an incredible team full of smarts and opinions.
I have a huge array of colleagues full of creativity and provocation.
I have a bunch of clients full of fascinating challenges and ambitions.
I’m learning.
I’m being challenged.
I’m [hopefully] contributing.
There were a bunch of reasons why we moved countries – both personal and professional – and while no place will ever be perfect, I’m pretty shocked at how much I am enjoying being back in England given I never thought I’d ever move back.
I still wish I could nip up to Nottingham to see Mum and Dad.
I still wish Paul and Shelly lived down the street not 2 hours away.
But as much as I’ll always be a cynical bastard, I’m pretty happy right now and I’m sure that is as shocking to you as it is to me.
So on this bombshell of positivity, I wish you a good weekend and let you know that the APSOTW results will finally be out next week.
Ta-ra.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Comment, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Egovertising, Marketing Fail, Scam
I have written a lot about scam in the past.
How it is destroying the credibility of our industry.
How the main culprits are the agencies behind the bland wallpaper we see each day.
How these scam places are devaluing the agencies who make amazing work for real clients.
Recently John Hegarty suggested that agencies found doing scam should be banned from award shows like athletes are banned from competing.
I absolutely love this idea.
I don’t think it will stop it happening, but it will severely reduce it.
But I’d go one step further.
Years ago Andy told me the judges of the awards are complicit in scam happening.
He said that they were so focused on being associated with great work, they didn’t care if it was real work.
I think he has a point which is why rather than just banning the agencies who do it, I’d ban the judges who award it.
Of course, the judges could say they acted in good faith and assumed the people behind the competition had evaluated it’s appropriateness.
And that’s fair, but the award competitions need entries and the horrid reality is that scam has paid the bills for many of them for too long so to expect them to rigorous in their validity might be a bit too much to hope.
But here’s the thing, scam isn’t even hard to spot.
Part of the reason for it is – as I mentioned – because it comes from agencies who are more known for their blandom than their pragmatsism.
The other reason is that in their quest to be provocative, the agencies often overstep the mark because they know judges love this sort of thing.
Have a look at this …
It’s about as perfect an example of scam you can get.
A visually driven idea [because unless the copy is in English, it will stop judges liking it]
A clear point of view.
Embracing topical events to make their point.
On face value, it all makes perfect sense – but apart from the fact that idea is as old as the hills – the use of a Muslim woman highlights the desperate attempt of the agency and creative team to be ‘award worthy’.
Sure, all the pictures reflect people following some sort of ‘ideology’ … but a skinhead walking away from other skinheads in a riot and a soldier walking away from other soldiers on their way to unleash war on some nation is very different to a Muslim woman walking away from a group of other Muslim women who simply appear to be Muslim women.
Talk about making a massive and insulting comment to women of the Muslim faith.
The implication that they are all blindly following an ideology designed to cause destruction to others – as seems the theme given the other executions – is both wrong and frankly irresponsible.
But who cares about that when there’s an award to win.
But then, those who enter the dark world of scam don’t care about anything.
Including thinking if their ‘idea’ actually is consistent or makes sense.
Name them.
Ridicule them.
Ban them.