Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Communication Strategy, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Distinction, Technology, Wieden+Kennedy
Apple.
One of the best brands in the world.
From product to marketing … everything they do is considered, consistent and distinctive.
A brand voice forged over years, with a clear understanding of who they are.
But what’s interesting is what they used to be …
Or this …
Or worse of all, this …
I know they’re from a time where long copy wasn’t viewed with the same distain as a global pandemic but look at them?
And what’s with their obsession with mythical figures?
It’s ugly, it’s cluttered, it’s got no clear point of view and it’s talking around the product not at it.
And then, there’s a point in their advertising evolution that you feel they took a clear step towards where they are today with work like this …
And this …
Still a lot of copy. Arguably more.
But it just feels more contemporary …
From being product benefit focused to the choice of font to the voice … which talks to adults like an adult rather than the disinterested, casual, general audience tone they had used before.
It’s so strikingly different that you feel this was the moment Apple understood who they were and who they were for.
It’s also an obviously deliberate act … because there’s no way you would get here from the – let’s be honest – horrible historical figure focused campaigns they’d run before.
Which leads to the point of this post.
A while back I got to hear the wonderful Nils of Uncommon talk.
One of the things he said that particularly resonated with me was brands who say they need to ‘work up’ to the creativity you think they need.
In essence, it’s just their polite way of saying ‘no’ to the work you want them to do.
But the funny thing is that in the main, there’s no valid reason for them to say that, other than them being fearful of change or commitment.
There’s a lot of that at the moment.
Work in an endless loop … seemingly because the people who have the right to sign off on something are scared that the moment they do, they will be judged.
So what happens is the entire industry are caught in arrested development.
And what do agencies do?
Well, in a bid to get anything made, they agree to anything – justifying it as “being a bit better than what they did before” – so we end up with bland and boring campaigns that, bizarrely, keep everyone happy as the agency got to make something and the client doesn’t have to worry of offending anybody.
Said another way, everybody loses with this strategy.
Brand.
Advertising.
Customers.
Industry.
Which is why Nils challenges brands on what they need to do the work they could do.
It’s a test of their truth and ambition.
And he’s right to do that …
Because brands don’t get to where they want through time, but deliberate acts and choices.
Even then it won’t happen overnight … but continually and consistently playing to where you want to be is far smarter than playing to where you hope to be taken.
Because to paraphrase Dan Wieden said … you don’t become the brand you can be by discovering the power of advertising … you do it when you discover the power of your own voice.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Effectiveness, Gaming, Innovation, Internet, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Relevance, Resonance, Singapore
The photo above was taken by me in June 2006.
So sixteen years ago.
I found it recently in my flickr file.
I don’t know if I ever used it for a post.
I’m not sure where I took it – though I assume Singapore airport.
But I bet you I captured it because I found it weird to see someone playing games.
On their computer.
At the airport.
Remember, 2006 is way before the very first iPhone.
Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Google Earth had only just started.
Shakira was number 1 with ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ and the first Cars movie had just hit the cinema.
And while gaming was huge – and handheld systems had been around for years – the idea of someone playing on their computer – at an airport – was obviously strange enough for me to take a photo.
But would we think that now?
Well, maybe the idea of needing a big-ass laptop to do it may still be considered strange – for totally different reasons than it was in 2006 – but the idea of someone gaming at an airport at all times of day wouldn’t cause a blink of an eye.
And here’s the point.
We – as an industry – are quick to kill new.
We write off different without any hesitation.
Believing if it makes no sense to us, it can’t make sense to anyone. Like we’re the fucking gods of everything.
And yet history has repeatedly shown new needs time.
Time to grow. Time to find its place. Time to find its energy.
From Apple computers to the internet to electric cars to gaming culture.
And while sometimes it may burn out, it’s worth remembering what a Fast Company journalist once said about reviewing tech.
“The biggest mistake is reviewing new tech against established tech. It will never win that because it’s not trying to be that”.
Which is why when you see new habits, beliefs or trends emerge that make little sense to you, it may be worth remembering before you pass judgement that it’s not them who have got it wrong, it’s possibly you who has misunderstood.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity
A lot has been written about Steve Jobs.
Hell, I’ve done a lot of it myself … however generally, everything said about the man is always about his genius.
That makes sense, because he was one, but rarely do you hear the human side of Jobs.
Sure, there’s his university speeches and occasionally his corporate ones, but there’s not often anything that reveals a sense of humour.
Now I’ve been told there were occasions where he definitely had one, but all I ever found ‘on record’ was his view on working with the designer, Paul Rand – and that’s more respectful dig than laugh out loud.
And then someone sent me a letter he wrote in the early days of Apple.
A letter that reveals his real sense of humour.
Smart. Dry. Slightly self-depreciating. Self aware.
Or at least I hope it is, because the alternative isn’t funny but terrifying.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Comment, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Distinction, Innovation, Loyalty, Luxury, Management, Marketing, Packaging, Standards
I know lots of people are questioning Apple’s innovation … but apart from the fact the rumour is they’re going to be launching all manner of exciting new things – from Apple glasses to Apple cars – the reality is many organisations evolve into something different over time.
Part of this could be because of technology.
Part of this could be because of a new interest.
Part of this could be because they’ve just lost their hunger.
But whether it’s brands like SONY going from innovation to perfection or Queen going from rock stars to entertainers, evolution doesn’t necessarily have to mean a bad thing.
I say this because we recently bought a new Apple desktop.
Please note I said BOUGHT … no freebies here. [Damnit]
Anyway, when it came we were struck by a couple of things.
First of all, the packaging was even more beautiful.
Let’s be honest, in terms of iPhone etc, while nice … their packaging has become far more simplistic, but for the desktop, it was a celebration of cardboard engineering.
Everything was beautiful and precise … you felt the effort and time that went into it, ensuring from the moment you opened the box, you felt you were getting something truly special.
A celebration of purchase, so to speak.
The second moment was the cables.
Jill wanted a yellow desktop and while everything was as simple and elegant as ever, the cable just captured the classic Steve Jobs ‘paint behind the fence‘ philosophy.
Look at it …
Having a yellow outer makes sense, but the fact they made sure that extended to the inside of the cable is something that just smacks of attention to detail.
No one will see it once it has been plugged in.
It probably wouldn’t even be noticed if they hadn’t done it.
But by making the effort, it not only stood out … they reminded us that what we have just bought isn’t simply a computer, it’s something that has been crafted by people who care about what they do.
It helps justifies the cost.
It reassures the quality.
It defines the brand and brushes aside the competition.
For all the modern approaches of marketing spouted left, right and centre … it’s amazing how simple things done extraordinarily well supersede all the approaches, techniques and buzzwords.
And while this is all possible because the company behind it is united by an idea, an identity and a set of values that defines who they are in definitive terms, anyone who says the little things don’t matter doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Confidence, Management, Mercedes
The photo above is old.
I didn’t even take it. And yet, when I was sent it, I immediately felt nostalgic and sentimental.
Not because of the car – even though it’s a very nice car – but because of the person who owned it.
You see this was Steve Jobs car.
A Merc.
Sure, an AMG Merc … but still a Merc.
And the reason it has no number plate is because he apparently changed it for another AMG Merc every 3-6 months.
Whether he did that for security or not wanting to commit, I don’t know … but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t because he was financially flexing.
What’s interesting to me is that the extremely wealthy people I’ve met, don’t do that.
Sure they have nice things.
Sure they have things we could never get.
But it’s rarely for show … which is why I’ve found it so amusing to hear people – especially ‘trend spotters’ – go on about ‘quiet luxury’ as if it was a new thing.
Better yet, they only ‘discovered’ it because of Succession, so it’s not even something they had considered before then.
But seeing Jobs car just parked in a carpark ignited a feeling of conflict within me.
Given his influence and impact on the world, it seems banal to witness his car parked in an everyday carpark.
An outdoor carpark.
Parked perfectly within the lines!
A reminder he was human.
An incredibly brilliant and rich human … but a human all the same.
Where for all his achievements, there were moments his day was like so many of us.
Traffic.
Petrol.
Jams.
Parking.
Commute.
It’s also a reminder that for all his tempestuous, demanding, stubborn characteristics … Jobs was always about the work, not the ego.
Because that carpark is the old Apple carpark.
As the co-founder of the most influential technology company in the World, he could have demanded anything.
Helicopters.
Police escorts.
A chauffeur.
Or at least a car park space under some shade.
But no. Or at least I have been told he didn’t.
That he has been gone 12 years is incredible.
I suppose that’s the mark of someone that made a mark.
You don’t just miss them, you don’t recognise time.
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Update: This post has kind of lost its energy given someone has sent me this.
Bloody hell Steve … why????.