Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, AC/DC, Advertising, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Bands, Before Fame, Brand, Brand Suicide, Business, Career, Collaboration, Colleagues, Comment, Communication Strategy, Complicity, Consultants, Content, Context, Corporate Evil, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Delusion, Distinction, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Egovertising, Emotion, Empathy, Entertainment, EvilGenius, History, Honesty, Interviews, Leadership, Legend, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Meetings, Music, Perspective, Prejudice, Process, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Respect, Standards, Status, Stories, Stupid, Success, Teamwork, Trust, Truth
Once upon a time, a man – who lived and worked in Newcastle, England – got a phonecall.
When he picked up, he heard a woman with a German accent on the other end, who asked “Are you Brian Johnson?”
He replied in the affirmative, to which the mystery caller said,
“You need to come down to London for an audition next week”.
Now Brian was a singer. In fact he’d once had a hit record with his band Geordie – but now he had his own business fitting car windscreens so it was a pretty left-field call to receive. Still, he was intrigued to which he asked the caller, “Who are you and who is the audition for?
There was a pause before the German voice informed him they worked for a music company – who had to remain nameless, just like the band he was told he had to audition for.
Brian was getting a bit fed-up at this point so pointed out in his thick accent,
“I’m not going all the way down to London for an audition unless you tell me who it is”.
Immediately, they were told that was not possible.
“Can you give me a clue … even if it’s just the initials of the singer or band?”
There was another pause – as if the caller was weighing up which would get them in more trouble: giving them a clue or not having Brian come to the audition – before they said,
“OK … here are the initials of the band, but I can give you no more information whatsoever. The initials are A, C, D, C”
The rest is history.
Brian did go to London and he did audition to replace the recently deceased Bon Scott, as the singer of AC/DC.
He got the gig and the first song he wrote – in fact the first song he EVER wrote – was You Shook Me All Night Long.
Then he wrote his second ever song, Back In Black.
Then his third, Hell’s Bell’s.
And not only did all these songs appear on the first album he recorded with the band, it went on to be the best selling album of the bands career. In fact it get’s even better than that, because the album, Back In Black, sold so many copies it become the best selling album OF ALL TIME [at that time] and even now – 46 years later – still ranks the 2nd best ever seller, with 50 million albums sold.
All this because Brian – through luck and persistence – got a key piece of information that made the difference between him choosing to go down to London or telling some random German female caller to “Fuck Off”.
Now it’s fair to say AC/DC were a known quantity at the time. A relatively successful quantity at the time. But who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t done the audition.
We wouldn’t have those 3 songs for a start … 3 songs that are not just iconic for AC/DC fans, but iconic fullstops.
The point being, one of the most important things you can do, to increase the odds of success is be transparent.
Transparent on where you are.
Transparent on what is needed.
Transparent on who is involved.
Transparent on the facts, timing and money.
Transparent on roles, rules and responsibilities.
Transparent on what the definition of success is.
I say this because there is not enough transparency right now – if anything, we operate in a world of opaqueness, which not only fucks up the potential of what can be created together, but breeds distrust and unhelpfulness.
Sure, things can change.
Sure, not everything may be known at the time.
But the more you hold things back, the more you’re not just fucking others over, you’re fucking yourself.
The greatest demonstration of respect in any partnership is transparency … so if your ego, need for control or fear stops you from doing that, then it doesn’t matter what you claim or who you blame, you’re the problem.
That doesn’t mean everything will fail, but it does mean you’ll never create history.
Or said another way …
If that German woman who rang Brian Johnson way back in ’79 had refused to give him any information on the name of the band she wanted him to audition for – as were their orders – then AC/DC may be a band few people would remember and Brian Johnson would be the graveliest-voiced car windscreen repairer in the North of England.
Of course, there will be some who say if that had happened, we’d never know what we’d lost.
And they’d be right, but they’d also be something else: someone incapable of creating or achieving anything truly significant.
In fact it’s worse than that … they’d be someone incapable of even aspiring to something truly significant and would actively goes out of their way to stop others from achieving it, claiming they’re ‘just looking out for the business’ when really it’s about their fear, ego, power and/or control.
No wonder my dear and clever friend George calls them, ‘commercial assassins and happiness vampires’.
Don’t stop someone finding your Brian Johnson because you think transparency is weakness.
It’s not, it’s rocket fuel.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Art, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Bands, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Music, Technology
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a very successful musician.
It was a fascinating chat because – quite frankly – their career is fascinating. However, there were 3 things that made the conversation especially interesting to me ..
1. They’d achieved a highly successful career over decades.
2. They’d witnessed change in almost every are of what they do and how they do it.
3. They’d embraced these changes in ways that only made them more successful.
Now I appreciate the music industry is a fucking basket case, but as Paula and I discussed in our talk at Cannes last year for WARC, there are some artists – of which we’re very fortunate to work with a few of them – who have proven to be better at managing the long term value and relevance of their brand than 99% of companies, consultancies and agencies out there. Add to that, they are able to drive greater greater financial returns and true customer loyalty [contextually speaking] from their audience even though they have neither the budgets, marketing theory or media that we’re increasingly told are the only ways to be effective and efficient in today’s commercial landscape.
But I digress.
The reason why my conversation with this musician was especially interesting to me was because of their view on AI.
Put simply, while they recognized it would have a huge impact on how people did things, his view was that it was not as black and white as many like to portray – to which he used the drum machine to reinforce his point.
Back in the 1980’s, technology had evolved to a point where the ‘electronic drum machine’ was a reality.
Suddenly musicians – whether in bands or in their bedrooms – could create music with even greater freedom and control.
Better yet, drum machines always stayed in time, turned up on time, didn’t need loads of space for their equipment, could play at much quieter volumes and didn’t have opinions.
It was a revelation.
In fact it was more than that, it was in many ways, their first experience of ‘artificial intelligence’.
However …
While these machines helped explode the electronic music genre, it did not kill music.
Or drummers.
Sure, there was a period where this technology was ‘flavor of the month’ as artists of all genres experimented and explored what was possible with this new tech – including drummers – but it didn’t kill all drummers, it didn’t stop kids wanting to be a drummer, it didn’t stop new bands starting and it didn’t make every drum manufacturer go out of business.
Yes, some had to evolve.
Yes, some parts of the industry changed.
But it didn’t signify the end of days for drummers, drumming or music as a whole.
If anything, it elevated it, inviting and encouraging more people to come in.
To try.
Explore.
Create.
What’s also interesting is that it also helped some musicians appreciate the human drummer.
Their ability to create new patterns to music.
To play off the beat rather than perfectly to the bar.
Their unique skill in bringing different energy to songs.
Their contribution to the chemistry of the moment and the creation.
In the case of the musician in question, they absolutely use drum machines – both to demo music and when they perform – but they still also have a ‘human drummer’, for all the reasons I’ve just mentioned.
Or as they put it:
“Technology offers musical consistency. Humans offer musical interactivity.”
We are obsessed with looking at everything in binary terms.
One person wins.
One person must lose.
And while there are cases where that can and will happen – the drum machine is proof there’s a whole lot of other possibilities and outcomes that are available. The key is seeing the technology as something that liberates far more than just ‘commercial efficiency’ … and while companies may be unable to see anything but that, humans can.
Not just because our life depends on it. But because our life depends on being able to express who we are and how we feel.
And while AI may be able to execute at levels we could never previously imagine, it doesn’t have a point of view … it doesn’t see, let alone understand, the invisible energy that can lie between people and it doesn’t know how to feel.
So while the tech companies are telling us we need it, the reality is it needs us.
The best of us. And then maybe we’ll all remember life isn’t binary, it’s filled with possibility.
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Please note:
Believe it or not, it’s another holiday tomorrow, so you’re free from me for 3 whole days.
So here’s to you having a great weekend … maybe playing with AI on your terms, rather than using it as seemingly every influencer and Tiktoker is trying to push you into using it, for cheaper holidays, making your first million or signing up for their ‘course’ to learn how to become a business icon. Ahem.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Ambition, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Bands, Cannes, Comment, Communication Strategy, Community, Complicity, Content, Context, Corporate Evil, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Diversity, Effectiveness, Egovertising, Emotion, Empathy, Entertainment, Friendship, Influencers, Interviews, Management, Marketing, Music, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance
Following on from Wednesday’s post …
One of the great pleasures that walking has given me is listening to podcasts.
To be honest, prior to walking I never really enjoyed them.
Sure, part of that was because the podcasts available in the early days were – generally – fucking terrible, but more than that … I just have always enjoyed the act of reading.
Still do.
But the beauty of a podcast is it lets me take my mind off the pain/boredom of walking and instead, let’s me lose myself in the joy of the story. And because I have an addictive personality, it means I rarely stop walking until I’ve heard the end of whatever the hell I’m listening too. Podcasts have literally ensured I’ve walked hundreds of kilometers further than I would otherwise have walked.
However for me to really love a podcast, it needs to be about true stories.
Don’t really care what – or who – the subject is about, it just has to be real.
Interestingly, the companies/individuals who do them best – or at least in terms of what I find ‘best’ – are the ones who have always told stories. Who know the craft of it. Who appreciate the importance of space and pace. Who see is as an expression of who they are, rather than simply the business they’re in.
Which is why I have recently been enjoying Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pearce.
Rockonteurs is a music podcast, hosted by ex-Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp and session bassist, Guy Pratt. Each episode hears them listening to different icons from the music industry. Not just in terms of artists and performers … but producers, promoters, songwriters and managers.
Now obviously I love music and a lot of the people they interview are individuals from my era … but that’s not why I like it or why you should listen to it.
The thing that stands out most of all is that regardless of decade, genre, country-of-origin, level of success … there is a camaraderie, respect and overall interest in what each person has done and how they approached it that is severely lacking in our industry today.
Right now, in our industry, it feels like everyone is desperate to be seen as ‘the ultimate one’.
The person with all the answers.
The person with all the knowledge.
The person who defines how everything should be done.
There’s not much humbleness in our industry these days – and what there is, comes across as contrived-as-fuck.
That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be proud of what they believe or what they’ve done … but it does mean they shouldn’t speak with a condescending tone or a desire to belittle or destroy anyone who thinks differently to them.
But it’s happening all the time.
Sure, some of that is amplified by the Linkedin algorithm – not to mention the conference industry – that rewards this sort of bullshit … but everywhere you look you see and hear people making some pretty outrageous, self-serving, blinkered claims.
What makes it worse is that in many cases, the things they feel OK with publicly judging/criticising/labelling are things they’ve never actually made/done themselves … though my personal fave is when you hear them repackage well established approaches/rules/campaigns and then try to claim they have ‘invented’ something new.
Even more bizarre is how this behavior is as prevalent with ‘senior leaders’ as it is with people just starting out … who you can at least understand are trying to stand out from a crowd of sameness.
Just last year, I listened to a very, very well-known and successful leader tell a global audience they had identified ‘the secret to success’ … without once acknowledging everything they said was [1] literally information that was decades old, [2] it is how good agencies have always operated.
Now I appreciate they have millions of dollars of reasons why they have to speak with the authoritative tone of God, but that doesn’t make them right – regardless how smart they may be – but what makes it sad is they have no willingness or openness to acknowledge there are other ways, even if they prefer/believe in theirs most.
And maybe that’s why I really enjoy the Rockonteurs podcast … because there’s none of that.
OK, I appreciate all the guests who appear have achieved a certain level of success, so there’s less to prove. I also accept many of the guests are looking back on their career – rather than ahead – so there is less of a commercial demand being placed on them to ‘win people over’. And finally, I completely understand all the guests have a direct connection to one – or both – of the hosts, so they’re talking to a friendly audience.
[Though I have to say the hosts aren’t great – sometimes bordering on annoying – as they often interrupt their guests in a desperate bid to either show public association with them or remind them that they too were once famous. It’s a bit yuck to be honest.]
But that aside, for an industry that still overflows with fragile egos … the one thing that came through once I’d listened to a few of the interviews – especially the first season – was how united they all were in terms of what they value/d … even though most of them all had radically different styles, views and interpretations of what that is and how to get there.
Underpinning this was that regardless on the level of success each guest achieved, they had been successful.
Maybe in terms of popularity.
Maybe in terms of a single song/album/concert.
Maybe in terms of their influence in a particular genre/fan of music.
Maybe in terms of simply having a career, despite never having a breakthrough hit.
But they had pulled something off against the odds and for that, there was something to hear, something to learn and something to respect.
That doesn’t mean they are not competitive.
That doesn’t mean they like everything each other does/did.
But it does mean they appreciate how hard it takes to make something you feel proud of – even if you don’t like it or understand it – and maybe, just maybe, if our industry adopted this stance a bit more, we’d not only be a nicer place to work, we might end up being a place that makes a lot more interesting work.
Because as I’ve said before [or should I say, what Ferdinand Porsche said before]: It’s better to mean everything to someone than be anything to everyone.
Check out Rockonteurs wherever you get your podcast.
I promise, whatever music you’re into.
Whatever era you’re from or adore.
There’ll be something you’ll like. And learn.
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Please note:
There’s a public holiday here on Monday – I know, I know – so see you on Tuesday.
You lucky, lucky people – hahaha.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Bands, Brand, Cannes, Colleagues, Contribution, Creativity, Culture, Diversity, Emotion, Leadership, Legend, London, Management, Metallica, Music, Relevance, Resonance, Respect
There’s a lot talked about the ‘ad community’ but so much is lip-service.
Not all of course … but a lot.
Acts or statements designed to look like generosity while really being done to elevate an individual/organisations position, standing or commercial success from likeminded audiences.
But then, as much as I love the industry, I also hate so much of what we do.
Robbing the meaning of words to upsell what we do.
Like ‘brave’.
Or ‘revolutionary’.
Or – as I said – ‘community’.
It’s why this story of Metallica serves as a reminder of what community really means.
Looking broad, not narrow.
Allowing privilege to open doors, not close them.
Going out your way for those who share the same values as you, even if not the same tastes.
[Albeit, EDM is the metal of dance music]
It wasn’t easy, but that’s kind of the point of what community is … a commitment to the inconvenient so that others can succeed.
That’s quite different to getting pissed with each other at the Gutter Bar.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Bands, Bangkok Shakes, Career, Comment, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Emotion, Empathy, Music, Resonance, Words
Music has always played an incredible role in my life.
I get most people on the planet would think that way, but what’s interesting – at least to me – is that lyrics rarely impacted me compared to the melody and overall ‘feel’ of the song/music.
Maybe part of that is because 10 million years ago, I used to be a session guitarist so melody was literally how I earned an income, but I’m pretty sure I felt that way way before that. Hell, even now, while I can remember how to play songs I appeared on – or even wrote – I can’t for the life of me, remember any of the lyrics.
In fact it’s only in the past 5-10 years that I’ve really come to respect the power of the lyric. Of course I always knew they were important, but for me – I heard them more in terms of the melody they created rather than the story they told.
I say all this as a way to explain why I was so weirded out when someone sent me this:
To be honest, I can’t even remember writing it … but apparently I did because it has made its way into a book that will be coming from Berklee College of Music regarding composition and songwriting.
And as impressed as I am about that – which also includes being pretty chuffed/shocked at what I said – I can’t help but notice they only referenced me by name rather than by my experience … probably because ‘failed studio guitarist who is now the cat litter tray for actually successful musicians’ would probably undermine some of its appeal.
On the bright side, they didn’t include a photograph, which the image at the top of this post should explain why.