Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Black Lives Matter, Communication Strategy, Context, Creativity, Culture, Diversity, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Planners, Planning
Adland goes on a lot about diversity and inclusion.
They write about it.
They talk about it.
They even have people who have job titles about it.
But is anything changing? Really, properly, truly changing?
Is the ad industry a more open place for people who come from different backgrounds?
Is the ad industry giving more positions of authority and power to people of colour?
Or women?
Is the ad industry paying the same base salaries to people from different backgrounds?
Don’t know … but I doubt it.
Now this is not an anti-adland rant, I love this industry and still believe it can do a lot. However it is an anti-superficial claim rant that, sadly, adland still seems to love doing.
I am sure there are people who can inundate me with facts about how things are improving.
Well there’s 2 answers to that.
1. It’s not hard when it’s from a low-base.
2. It’s not happening quick enough.
And one thing really highlighted this fact to me and it’s this …
Cocoa Girl is THE FIRST magazine in the UK specifically for little girls of colour.
The first!!!
Think about that for a second??
Prior to this, little girls of colour had NOTHING to represent them, reflect them or inspire them in a way where they could feel they are already good enough.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Cocoa Girl wasn’t created by a publisher or a research company or an ad agency that talks up their D&I policies in the media every second of the day … but a Mum, Serlina, and her 6 year old daughter, Faith.
It’s absolutely brilliant – they also do one for little boys of colour as well – but that is not the only reasons we should all support it and champion it.
You see apart from the fact Serlina and Faith have just shamed our whole industry in terms of spotting D&I issues and doing something about them … they’ve also reminded us WHY D&I is one of the only things that might be able to save our industry from disaster.
Too many people in adland still think their reality reflects everyone’s else’s reality.
Of course it’s bollocks … and yet we keep on doing the same thing over and over again.
Hiring the same people.
Putting the same types of people in power.
Acting like everything is fine when everything isn’t.
What Serlina and Faith have done with Cocoa Girl is show our blinkered blindness.
Our inability to see what is not in our bubbles.
The act of being deliberately blind and ignorant.
We – as an industry – should have done this.
We – as an industry – should have supported this.
We – as an industry – didn’t.
If you have any desire to make any difference, you then can start by signing up for a subscription to Cocoa Girl.
Then you can help get clients to sponsor the amazing Boys Smile project.
Then you can show this post to your colleagues and discuss how this is what really adding to culture means.
Thank you Serlina. Thank you Faith.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Black Lives Matter, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, Cynic, Diversity, Emotion, Empathy, Equality, Experience, Honesty, Insight, Perspective, Planners, Planning, R/GA, Relevance, Resonance, Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
My last day at R/GA was great.
That might sound weird, but it was.
Part of it was because I started the morning with the brilliant Brixton Finishing School listening to a bunch of students answering a brief I gave them with passion, mischief and possibility and part of it was because I got to spend significant time with my brilliant planning gang to say goodbye.
But there was another reason, which is that the first thing I did when my life at R/GA was over – literally within 30 minutes of being officially made unemployed – I was doing an interview with Faisal Ahmend about diversity and inclusion in adland.
And while it is an issue I am very, very passionate about …
And while I continue to feel the industry only gives a superficial response to it …
And while my headphones and wifi makes me sound like I’m Darth Vader speaking from a tin box with intermittent wifi …
…. even I’m slightly suprised how upbeat I sound on such a significant day in my career.
But then, as I said in the post that announced it, not only was I glad this happened to me rather than a person of colour, a woman or a youngster starting out in their career – who are often the first victims in these situations – the reality is the last time this happened to me, it led to the most exciting and creative time of my career and so I felt no reason to feel anything other than optimistic about the future.
Now I admit with hindsight, that may have been naive of me – especially with all the shit going on in the World with pandemics and political fighting, not to mention my old, old, old, old, age – however based on all that has happened to me since that I announced I’d been made redundant, my hunch has been proved to be right.
So far. Hahahaha
Normally I hate listening or reading things I say.
I spend the whole time slapping my head either muttering, “why did I say that?” … “why didn’t I say that?” … or “why am I jumping about and rambling like I’m a loon?”
However this one is a bit different.
Sure there’s things I wish I rephrased.
Sure there’s things that I might have got slightly wrong.
But at the end of the day, I say the one thing that I feel had to be said … the one thing to counter the excuse I continually hear why there is not more diversity in adland today.
When asked how do I find the people to add diversity to my team, I respond …
“You don’t have to ‘find them’, they’re everywhere … you just have to want them.”
You can listen to it here.
You can listen to far more intelligent and articulate people here.
And, as usual, I huge thank you to all the people who have – and continue to – help me on my journey to being a much, much better human. Especially Maya, Breanna, Chelsea, Lani, Hannah, Amar, Omar, Erika, David, Sue, Jorge, Karrelle, Jason, Tahaab, Charinee, Leon, Debi, Tina, Kate, PQ, Rodi, Jay, Akua, Yaya and Bayyina.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Black Lives Matter, Comment, Corporate Evil, Culture, Empathy, Equality, History, Honesty, Love, Loyalty, Perspective, Politics, Racism, Relevance, Resonance, Social Commentary, Social Divide
OK, let’s get the obvious out the way.
Even if 2020 is the most important year, it’s still been a shit year.
But the point being made is a good one.
To be honest, when I first read it, it felt very much like an ad for NIKE.
Taking what we think and forcing us to re-imagine it.
To feel the words rather than functionally jump to conclusions.
And while there may well be a lot of good that comes out of this.
There has been a lot of pain to lead up to this point and then get to this situation.
However as much as many of us probably wish to put all this behind us, it reminds me of something my Dad once told me.
My Dad changed careers quite a lot in his life.
And when I say ‘changed careers’, I mean it.
From the RAF to insurance to a photographer to law.
Fortunately for the family, my Mum was much more stable … hahaha.
But one day I asked my Dad why he did it … why he didn’t just change job, but dramatically and radically changed industry, even if it meant he had to retrain and re-qualify.
And he gave me the best answer I’ve ever heard.
It went like this:
“I love you and your Mum. If I’m going to spend so much time away from you every single day day, I owe it to you to be doing something I love because nothing would be more insulting than being away from the people I want to spend all my time with, doing something I hate”.
I have always taken that to heart.
Fulfilment over contentment.
It’s what has helped me make decisions that others thought were mad.
It’s behind the jobs I’ve taken, the countries I’ve lived in and the projects I’ve embarked on.
And while there were times it opened up challenges that made me question what I was doing, it always was worth it.
The best things always are.
And while I’ve experienced a fraction of the pain others have had to endure in 2020 – both in terms of the impact it has had on them and the duration it has lasted for them – this is the moment where we need to see change through … to get to the other side rather than try to go back to where we were.
Because on the other side of all this shit, is a chance.
A real, once-in-a-lifetime chance to make things right.
Not just in the US, but everywhere.
Where the systemic and systematic prejudice and racism that is embedded and integrated into our whole way of life is changed.
From education to higher government.
Where people of colour are given the equal rights that the rest of us have enjoyed our entire life.
And let’s be honest, if we do that, we still get the easy job.
There’s people out there who have fought for generations for this moment.
To be seen … heard … noticed … valued.
Which is why we have a moral duty to see this through … to keep fighting to the very end … because nothing would be more disrespectful to the people we say we stand with than walking away at the point we have the chance to make sustainable, effective change.
And if you need any other reason – which you shouldn’t, but just in case – there’s the fact that if we force equality – real, actionable, sustainable equality – into our everyday lives, the people of colour community will lift us all higher.
Take us somewhere better. For absolutely everyone.
Which is why we have to choose fulfilment over comfort.
We over me.
To make 2020 the most important year rather than the worst.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Black Lives Matter, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Diversity, Education, Empathy, Equality, Management, Relevance, Resonance
If you work in a company that claims to have D&I systems and processes in place, I’d like to try and explain why I believe that might not be enough.
And if you don’t have D&I practices in place, I’d like to try and highlight why you could be part of the problem even if you think you‘re open and none-racist.
If you find it useful, then please share it or steal it.
You see while I wrote it, it’s not my property – I learnt this from my life in China and specifically in America where the brilliant, amazing and wonderful Maya, Chelsea and Breanna [not to mention some spectacular people of colour] helped me see things I was previously – and arguably consciously – blind to.
And while this came from experiences in China and America, the reality is this situation happens everywhere so hopefully it will have some use wherever you are.
Now obviously I don’t have all the answers – and it means nothing if we don’t actually do something to change something – but thanks to conversations I’ve had with my friends, it is clear some of the problems people of colour face in our work environments are problems we create and cultivate even if we‘re trying to do the right thing.
OK, here we go:
When you walk into someone’s home or office for the first time, there’s always that feeling of needing to hold back.
To play to the hosts standards.
To ‘manage’ your authentic self.
Conscious they’re looking at your every move. Judging.
The clear but invisible line between you & them … reinforcing you’re in their space, not yours.
Uncomfortable isn’t it?
That feeling of your presence being squashed. Less valued. That the only way to be allowed to stay is to act like you’re them rather than you. The distinct feeling of being tolerated rather than welcomed.
This is what people of colour face and experience EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Entering white spaces with white expectations and white rules.
And even if you don’t think that’s what happens at your place, ask yourself – who owns the house you are inviting people into?
What colour is the CEO?
Who created the company?
How many people of colour are there?
What levels of authority do they have?
Diversity and inclusion isn’t about allowing people of colour to act like white people.
It’s about allowing people of colour to be themselves. Their authentic self. Not judged or devalued for who they are, but welcomed, respected and rewarded for who they are.
So instead of pointing at your D&I practices and thinking that is enough, ask yourself one question:
Are you asking people of colour to step into your house or are you going to let them equally own, create and build it?
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Black Lives Matter, China, Comment, Confidence, Content, Creativity, Culture, Diversity, Emotion, Empathy, Equality, Experience, Fatherhood, Food For Thought, History, Hope, LaLaLand, London, Minimum Wage, Perspective, Planners, Police, Presenting, Racism, Relevance, Resonance
So last week, I was invited to talk at GroupThink’s planning conference.
I like the people there and said yes.
Originally I was going to take people through an old presentation because I didn’t really have much time to write something specific for you. They were OK with it and so wrote it into their program.
Then the situation with George Floyd happened.
Following so shortly on the heels of other racist motivated murders, like Ahmaud Arbery – who was murdered in cold blood by a father and son while out jogging.
At this point, quite frankly, the idea of doing a presentation on strategy seemed so utterly pointless.
So 2 days before the day of the event, I wrote something new.
Something that was about why Black Lives Matters is the only thing that really matters to me right now.
How the ad industry HAS to change.
How the ad industry may talk a lot about diversity and inclusivity but its actions are racist.
I’m not saying that is their intention or that they even realise it, but it’s racist.
And I’ve been complicit in that.
Again, not intentionally, but still done it.
Anyone who is white has … because we’ve let our privilidge create a gap between our actions and our self awareness.
Finally, I talked about 6 things people could do TODAY to make a positive difference to any person of colour … whether that’s through education, responsibility, judgement or action.
Now I must admit I was scared to write this presentation.
Not because I was worried it would make people feel uncomfortable, but because I’m a white male who has had every privilege going and the last thing I wanted to do was come across as if I was claiming to be an expert on this matter or whitesplaining anything.
Which is why I didn’t write the presentation.
I co-wrote it.
In addition to capturing some of the lessons I learned from the brilliant people of colour I’ve worked with and known over the years [which is a lot given how long I spent in China and Asia], the main bulk of the presentation was put together – after seeking their permission – with the irrepressible, wonderful and take-no-shit-from-anyone-especially-me … Maya Thompson, Breanna Jones and Chelsea Curry.
I’ve written and talked about them a lot.
They changed my life.
Literally.
I genuinely believe I can never thank them enough, but one way I try is to take on the issues I should have taken on years ago but thought not being racist was enough.
It isn’t.
So here it is … it’s my usual picture rubbish, but hopefully the bits that are there will make sense to everyone.
The real presentation starts at page 28, the previous slides were linked to the talk I was going to give so I could lull people into a false sense of security so they would get comfortable before I talked openly, emotionally and plainly about an issue that should be the focus of every human right now, but isn’t for a whole host of unimportant or self-serving reasons.
Should anyone want to know more about the presentation, please get in touch.
But most importantly, please act.
Black. Lives. Matter.
Slides 1-5: Just introducing me and why I am happy to be invited to present.
Slides 6-10: How the standard of work being created is generally very poor and how we are all contributing to it in terms of the things we are talking about. Which isn’t the standard of the work and sounds more like us trying to be clients than people valuable to clients.
Slides 11-23: Insights matter because people matter and if you want to make work that is intriguing, interesting, provocative and fresh, you have to care about people, culture and subculture or you’ll get nowhere.
Slides 24-27: I talk about how I was going to talk about the wonderfully crazy project we’ve recently done in China and how understanding sub-culture made building something specifically designed to look like ‘future Mars’ was perfectly sensible but ….
Slide 28: I need to pause the topic of the talk because frankly, the events of the past week have really upset me – specifically the reaction of many agency leaders – and I want to talk about something that matters more to me.
Slides 29-31: Black Lives Matter. There’s many lives that matter, but right now – for me – Black Lives Matter is the only one that matters.
Slides 32-34: Lived around the World, eventually moved to America and then met 3 brilliant women who changed my life. Maya Thompson. Chelsea Curry. Breanna Jones.
Slides 34-39: This is how they fundamentally changed my life for the better by helping me see how blind, stupid and complicit I’d been and then [with some values my Mum taught me] the journey we went on – and still go on – together.
Slides 40-49: Announce this deck has actually all been co-written by Maya, Breanna and Chelsea. Three main reasons for this. I don’t have credibility, I don’t want to come across as whitesplaining and I want any advice I give to be genuinely valuable to people of colour, not a white persons interpretation of what is valuable.
Slide 50: How my industry is racist. Doesn’t want to be. But is. And I use a recent ‘challenge’ put out by Cannes as an example. For the record, they launched a competition on how to attract more diversity into the industry and gave a media budget of £100,000. That’s right they were committing an amount of money most agencies would spend for dinners during Cannes for a topic that they claim is hugely important to them. They don’t intend to be racist but they – like the whole industry – is acting in ways that are.
Slides 51-58: What we have to do to stop being a racist industry including letting go of everything we thought we knew and starting again.
[Please note slide 54: Lots of people say they’re ‘colour blind’. By which they mean they claim they treat everyone the same. The point of this slide is that while we should absolutely treat and value everyone the same, we should do this in a way that acknowledges individual backgrounds and beliefs. Not doing this can result in one of 3 things. [1] We treat everyone the same but based on our definition of what ‘same is’. Which is often white, which means we expect people of colour to adapt to us and our standards. [2] We generalise groups for our convenience, so we call [for example] everyone who is black, “black” … ignoring the vast range of backgrounds, beliefs and nuances they could have BECAUSE PEOPLE OF COLOUR DO NOT ALL COME FROM THE SAME PLACE!!! Or [3] because of being ‘colour blind’, you see everyone the same [which we don’t, let’s be clear on that] so you end up making the same work for everyone thinking it will be resonant with everyone. It isn’t. See how Rihanna highlighted this when she launched her Fenty cosmetics and simply added colours for African American skin, fucking up the big cosmetic companies who had ignored this for decades]
Slide 59-60: Highlighting when you start from scratch it can work, because my son Otis is living proof of it. He has lived in 3 countries and loves them all equally, while accepting and respecting their individual differences.
Slide 61: If you need a commercial reason for why Black Lives Matter [and if you do, you’re a prick] it’s because people of colour can make this industry great again because on top of all influential culture being born from black culture, people of colour understand nuance, values, struggles and humanity better than anyone as they have to deal with this shit every day.
Slide 62-63: Thank you to all the people of colour who helped co-write this presentation – especially Maya, Chelsea and Breanna – and justice for George Floyd.