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So today, I start working from home due to the devastating spread of corona virus.
As someone who has lived through SARS, avian and swine flu, you’d think I would be fine with it … but the way the government and media have responded, I have to say has left me on edge.
It feels like 28 Days Later – as we hide, hoping the invisible virus won’t get us while looking suspiciously at anyone who is outside or has a casual sneeze.
Personally I don’t think the government are taking it seriously enough.
I also think a lot of people are being way too blase about it.
But what’s worse is that while many of us are going to be inconvenienced, the elderly, the homeless, the single parents, the temporary workers, the unemployed and the small business owners are going to face a horrific time and no one seems to be creating plans for how they can cope.
I’m addition, it’s showing the worst of society.
From that fat, lying, cheating bastard who is the President of America – to the rapid increase in gun purchase in the USA [seriously, WTF?] to the disgusting locust like behaviour going on in across supermarkets all over the World.
I tell you what, any of these people who ever negatively judged immigrants, refugees or boat people better not do that from now on.
Though what’s the betting they’ll claim their situation is different.
I guess they’re right.
Refugees, migrants and boat people are trying not to die. They’re just trying to continue living in comfort and wipe their arse with 3-ply.
But through it all there have been signs of humanity showing their best side.
Coming together.
Uniting.
Looking out for others.
From the wonderful singing that is happening on balconies across Italy to Waitrose making sure all small business suppliers are paid the next day to LVMH doing this …
Given there are some companies you’d expect to jump to societies help who are acting like absolute wankers, it’s even more amazing LVMH are acting so swiftly and generously.
When this all passes, some companies will discover profit before people ends up costing them profit and people.
It’s a strange time but we will get through it – but what will make it better is if we can find ways to help those who feel left behind.
I’m working on something and there’s options already in place for the elderly – like this – but if you have more ideas, please let me know.
Most of all, look after yourself.
So far, 2020 has a lot to improve on.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Business, Chaos, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Entertainment, Honesty, Imagination, Insight, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Relevance, Research, Resonance
I heard a great story recently about the iconic movie, Die Hard.
Apparently in early test groups, viewers were confused why the lead character was pitched as a hero when he “keeps hiding and calling for help”.
I must admit, I laughed out loud when I heard this … mainly because it was a viewpoint that I don’t think I would have ever come up with, even if I was working on it 24/7 for a year.
It also probably says more about where the minds of American men were back when the movie came out than anything else.
And while learning this has ensured I will never watch the movie in the same way again, it does highlight the best and worst of focus groups.
I must admit I’m not a fan of this approach.
To be fair, it’s less the methodology and more about how clients are using what they find/hear.
Treating it as undeniable fact … something that needs to be followed to the letter.
But the reality is focus groups are – at best – a guide, rather than a blueprint.
Factors like group dynamics, vacuum thinking and the focus on answers, not understanding all combine to ensure there are a number of major flaws with this approach, and yet some blindly believe this is pathway to success.
Fools.
To be fair, I feel this way about pretty much all research methodologies.
Not because I’m a prick, but because context and dynamics continually shape our viewpoints and behaviours, which is why I don’t like relying on one form of research but a combination of different kinds … as long as one is spent out in culture, talking … listening … learning from the way the core of subcultures live.
Not just in terms of the specific thing we are working on, but life in general.
The language.
The associations.
The labels they use.
The pressures, laughter, fears and concerns …
Clothes … music … games … hashtags … iconography …
Their thoughts about situations not just their reactions or behaviours …
What they’ve started doing rather than what they’ve always done … the ‘edge effect’ that Martin and I talked about in our Cannes talk on Chaos last year.
But that approach is still seen as the exception rather than the rule.
Interacting with real life is still viewed as a novelty rather than a reality.
Which is why, if you have to use research, I like the way Dreamworks does it.
They don’t care about what people think about their stories or characters … they don’t give a shit about the highs or lows or things they’d change, they ask just one simple question …
Were you entertained?
That’s it.
It’s the only thing that matters to them.
Simple. Focused. Clear.
Because while they want people to enjoy what they do, they don’t want people to decide what they do …
Sure, they listen to what is said.
Sure, they sometimes decide to make changes based on what is said.
But they never do what they don’t agree with because you can’t steer a ship to port when you have a thousand captains all telling you where to go.
There’s a lot of people who could learn from this.
And I don’t just mean clients …
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Chaos, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Innovation
Well I’m back.
The good news is it’s already the last day of the first full week back at work.
How good is that?
Well it’s probably too good, so let’s end it on a low.
I mean high.
I mean … oh who cares …
One of the things I’ve loved about British comedy is their ability to be utterly poignant.
I’ve written about this before but recently I was reminded of a scene in the last season of Blackadder that really got to me.
It’s from Blackadder Goes Forth … the series about WW1 … and it’s the final scene of the final show, as they are about to climb over the safety of their bunker to face certain death.
It’s not exactly the sort of scene you would expect in a comedy, and it’s not played for laughs, instead it captures the honor and bravery of the men and women who gave their lives for others wellbeing.
But as the scene ends, it crossfades to something else … something that both captures the tragedy of war, the futility of war and the sadness of war. It’s quite an amazing scene – especially given it’s quiet simplicity – and yet it works, which is even more remarkable given it was never in the script.
Originally the final scene was going to show the cast being gunned down and end – as previous seasons had – with their deaths, but a combination of factors meant the footage they took was so bad that it was almost unusable.
Without much time before the show had to be aired, they came up with an idea that didn’t require a rewrite or even new footage and yet it became one of the most famous and powerful conclusions to any show in British history.
As I have said before, sometimes the most powerful moments of creativity are born from adversity but when you know what you want to communicate, the reward can be something quite magical. Different … but maybe even more magical.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Cannes, Chaos, Content, Context, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Experience, Honesty, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Martin Weigel, Professionalism, Relevance, Resonance, Unexpected Relevance
I love chaos.
Always have.
In fact, my approach to work can be summed up in 3 words.
Culture. Chaos. Creativity.
And yet, I do appreciate the importance of some sort of process … some sort of systematic thinking in terms of approach … because ultimately we are in the commercial creativity business, so we need some guide rails to ensure we’re heading in the right direction, even if I am removing any specific destination.
Where things go wrong is when people care more about the process than what the process is supposed to create.
Where systematic thinking goes from direction to dictation.
That’s when things go wrong.
That’s when potential and ambition are killed in the quest for control.
But here’s the thing …
For all the processes talked about.
For all the proprietary tools hyped.
The system agencies tend to end up adopting – even when they’re hidden inside a beautifully constructed, clearly planned out, client facing framework – is this.
This is not a criticism.
To get to somewhere new … somewhere interesting and intriguing … you have to take a leap of faith at some point, even in the most well-organised, well thought-out of processes.
Some people don’t like admitting that.
Some people don’t want the pragmatism of creativity to overshadow the ego of their process.
Some people don’t even want to accept creativity rarely follows a straight line through the entire process.
And yet it is creativities ability to solve problems in lateral ways that makes it so valuable and powerful, which is why for me, those who are comfortable with uncomfortable are the ones who create the most enduring ideas for brands, business and culture.
And the ones who aren’t?
Well they tend to be the ones who use words like operationalize or optimise or codify or, the old classic, ‘proprietary tools and processes’ a lot … the ones who want to feel in control, despite the fact what they’re actually saying is they want to replicate creativity rather than ignite it.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s always some element of process in any development of creativity – whatever form that manifests – but there’s also messiness and chaos and to remove that, not make room for that or go around that is either a lie or an act against the incredibly infectious possibilities of creativity.
As Martin and I said at Cannes, chaos creates what order can’t.
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Before I write today’s post, I want you to listen to something …
Yep, that’s the White Stripes with their now classic, ‘Seven Nation Army’.
I say classic, because it is.
It was recorded in 2002 as a bit of fun and yet now it is deeply entrenched in culture.
Sung at concerts.
Sporting events.
Pubs.
It’s the modern equivalent of Smoke In The Water … the go-to song for any guitarist starting out. [And the nightmare for any guitar shop employee]
But the thing about it that I never realised is that it’s a song without a chorus.
Nothing.
Nada.
It’s deliberate, because one day Jack White liked the idea of – in his own words – “creating a compelling song without a chorus”.
And he did.
A song that will no doubt outlive him because – like Queen’s We Will Rock You – is a simple, repetitive riff that allows audiences to not just join in, but be an integral and active participant in the music.
When you look at the ad industry, while we have evolved from talking AT audiences, our version of audience involvement is still largely based getting them to be an extension for what we’re doing rather than be an integral part of it.
Now of course, I get an audience doing stuff for a band they love is very different to getting people who are mildly interested in a brand, to do something for us … but the main point here is we are not pushing any boundaries right now.
Oh of course there’s agencies constantly pronouncing they have just executed a ‘world first’, but apart from the fact it’s often just a slight variation of something that has previously been around, it’s almost always done to benefit the agencies and clients ego and no one else.
But where is the bolder stuff?
The writing a compelling song without a chorus stuff?
If adland was about writing music, you can bet EVERYTHING would have a chorus.
It would also probably be a pop-song, 3 minutes long [MAX], as simplistic as they can make it and designed to be so palatable as to not offend a soul.
It would be this song …
Hell, even Matt Beaumont thought so in his brilliant book, E.
OK, I’m being a bit mean because its not like there aren’t some agencies doing amazing pieces of work using the ‘traditional’ model not to mention those who are genuinely trying to push the boundaries of what creativity can be – and do – for clients, like this brilliant Planned Parenthood campaign we did at R/GA recently … but in the main, the focus is not about breaking new ground it’s about treading carefully over the old.
Look, I get it … this stuff costs a lot of money.
There’s a bunch riding on it.
But where this ‘minimum risk’ approach fails is when brands talk about wanting to make a big impact in culture … something that powerfully differentiates themselves from the competition … an idea that change attitudes and behaviour … because the most effective way to increase the odds of this happening is to literally do something that runs counter to traditional norms.
An airport lounge that is modelled on a Rock Stars house.
An electric car with an insane button.
A ravioli where the pasta disappears.
An ad that talks about failure.
Now I know what you’re thinking, most companies will never do that.
And you’re right.
But what I find amusing is that we all know doing the same as everyone else produces, in the main, even less chance of breakthrough success than walking into the unknown or unexpected.
The harsh reality is that while many companies talk about breakthrough … innovation … provocation … what they really mean is – at best – being a degree or two better than their competition or – at worst – simply playing catch-up
Or as Lee said, they confuse innovation with modernisation.
And while I know there is a lot of talent in our biz – talent who use creativity to create incredible ways to either deal with old problems or create new normals – we are in danger of letting ourselves just become executioners of clients transactional requirements, and if that happens, we lose any chance of regaining/retaining our seat at the boardroom table. Because in my experience what the best C-Suite want aren’t companies who simply execute their requirements, but those who see the World differently to them, so they can help them get to places in ways they never imagined possible.
In other words, creative people with commercial appreciation rather than commercial people with creative appreciation.
Now the problem is we live in times where the money men value consistency more highly than boldness … which is ironic given they them place them under immense pressure to keep finding new ways to grow, transform and unlock new revenue streams.
An oxymoron if you will.
Which, for me, highlights 3 things.
1. Independence is power.
2. As Martin and I talked about at Cannes last year, chaos can achieve what order can’t.
3. The only things worth doing are the ones that can break your heart.