Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, China, Colleagues, Comment, Wieden+Kennedy
Of all the places I’ve worked, the people I’ve stayed the most in touch with are those who were at Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t stayed in touch with colleagues at other places I’ve worked – or at other places I will work – but that period of time produced more lasting relationships in my life than arguably all the others put together.
I think part of that was because back then, China – and, to a lesser extent, still is – a place of bonkers wonderfulness.
Anything was possible there. The good, the bad and things you never could imagine in a million years.
And because of the endless possibilities, you experienced things you would likely never experience in any other place or at any other time of your life.
Now it is fair to say, some people who moved there from another country didn’t like that and some did.
Without doubt, China can be extremely challenging, frustrating and demanding.
But for me, I didn’t just like it, I loved it. In fact, I’d go one step further – it’s the place I have loved [and love] the most of all the places I’ve loved.
Because while I faced all the hard, weird, makes-no-fucking-sense stuff that everyone who loves there experiences, it was always outweighed by the good, wonderful and incredible stuff that was waiting to be discovered. Or created.
And I got to do – and experience – a lot of that … helped by the fact I was at Wieden.
Some of it was because of the people who worked there.
Some of it was because of the clients we attracted there.
Some of it was because of the period of time I was there.
But the result was a period of my life where not only did I get to experience and do things I will never get to do again – good, bad, crazy and stupid – but it created a bond with the people I went through it with, that lasts to this day.
It’s kind of why I like pitches.
Not simply because you get to present a future that’s thrilling and exciting. Not simply because you get to see the possibilities of what creativity can really do. Not simply because I love trying to outsmart the competition – not just in what we create, but how we demonstrate it. But also because I love the bond that is born from trying to do something special within a limited timeframe.
Does that make me sick?
Maybe.
But pitches give all your emotions a workout …
Excitement.
Confusion.
Contemplation.
Inappropriateness.
Euphoria.
Stupidity.
Togetherness.
Isolation.
Anger.
Pressure.
Relief.
Pride.
Worry.
Happiness. Hopefully.
And when you add that in China, we were doing it in a nation that was evolving at an unprecedented rate, it meant every pitch was bursting with challenges and opportunities that filled the air with the most incredible and infectious excitement, pressure and hilarity.
That doesn’t mean I don’t still experience that, but it does mean it’s more the exception than the rule … so just like members of the military or emergency services must feel about their colleagues, my time in China showed me that sometimes your colleagues aren’t simply people you sit in the same office with, they’re who you rely on to live, survive and – hopefully – thrive.
As I said last week, while I am old as fuck, I am also immune from maturity.
Well, I say that [or more specifically Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein say that] but the reality is I am wearing much more sensible clothes these days.
Proper trousers.
Proper sweaters.
Hell, I’m even wearing closed shoes … OK, sneakers.
But thankfully, despite that and the fact I am only 4 years from fucking sixty, stupid things still make me laugh which is why I utterly loved hearing some people call a pain au chocolat, a ‘chocolate sausage roll’.
How perfect is that???
I will never be able to look at one the same way ever again.
So I wanted to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to society for all of your fucked up thoughts and ideas … you keep a very old man feeling very young. At least mentally.
Like a 5 year old, hahaha.
So today it’s my birthday.
I’m 56.
FIFTYFUCKINGSIX.
I’ve never felt my age, but right now, I can’t even comprehend how old I am.
Just 4 years off 60.
Or said another way, 4 years from being the same age as Dad when he died.
For years that number haunted me … and it will probably be very emotional for me, when I turn that age … but right now, I feel closer to 40 than 60.
Part of it is my attitude … or as Peter Mensch say’s, my “immunity from maturity”, hahaha.
But another part – and I appreciate how superficial this is – is how I look.
Don’t worry, I don’t think I’m Brad Pitt or anything – I’m more like ‘Arm Pit’ – but recently I was watching something with Otis when a 50 year old man was interviewed and I caught Otis staring at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“Nothing. I just can’t work out how he looks so much older than you, when you’re older than him”.
He said it with an air of confusion, consideration and happiness.
Which made me happy.
Not necessarily because I look – at least to him – younger than some 50 year old on the television, but because it means I’m healthier so I’m more likely to be around him him longer than I once may have been.
And while even that may not be as long as I hope or wish … to me, that’s the greatest gift I could ever receive. Albeit this weekend, I’ll be watching the start of the World Cup and eating like ‘old Rob’, hahaha.
Have a great weekend, I know I will be.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, America, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Comment, Consultants, Effectiveness
I was talking to someone recently about town planning – don’t ask – and mentioned a story I’d heard about a Chinese architect.
Apparently a local Shanghai government council had reached out to him asking to help design a new area of their district. As part of their briefing, they’d said they wanted it to look and feel like parts of New York. This architect went on to explain that it wasn’t possible because what had really impacted how NYC was designed, was time.
I would link to the article because I wrote a post about it years ago, but can I find it? Can I hell.
Anyway, this got me thinking about creativity and how – with the pressure to PROVE our work is effective in the shortest amount of time possible or face the risk of the client firing us – we may be stopping our ideas from ever fulfilling their full potential.
Or the clients are.
Now I appreciate we live in competitive times.
I also appreciate there needs to see signs of positive impact and/or change along the way, rather than just have blind faith.
But we also need to acknowledge that some ideas take time to find their time. Or audience.
History is littered with examples of this but they didn’t happen because someone forced it, it’s because there needed to be the conditions for it.
The point being, that I am fed up of the narrative that ad agencies don’t care about effectiveness. Almost as fed up as I am that consultancies like McKinsey, Bain and Deloittes are the masters of it. Putting aside their whole business model is founded on telling companies what to do rather than take any responsibility for fixing any of it – we need the clients to be part of the solution. To commit in terms of attitude, conditions and time.
The quest for quick wins is increasingly resulting in us getting exactly that. A quick win … not a long, lasting and sustainable win.
Because we’re so focused on speed, we fail to value the need and impact of time.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Distinction, Effectiveness, Emotion, Empathy, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Respect
As it’s Monday, let me start this post with some good news.
This is the last week of posts for a while as I’m flying off to Europe on Friday.
Not for a holiday.
Not for Colenso.
But for a stream of meetings in LA, London, Amsterdam, Milan and Berlin.
All in 8 days. Darrrrrling.
God, what an asshole humble brag. That isn’t even humble.
Which is why I am not asking you to feel sorry for me because [1] I’m not stupid and [2] 8 days or not, it’s a fucking dream gig. However – if it makes you feel any better – while all of these trips are at the invitation of a range of different VIP’s, I’m only going because they want me to be their cat litter tray rather than be a valued guest.
Did that make you feel less loathing towards me?
What about making the darkness of Monday morning feel a bit brighter?
No? OK … better move quickly on.
So not too long ago, I wrote a post about the brilliant Trevor Beattie and his brilliant analysis of the modern Specsavers creative work.
Specifically, the strategic shift from ‘what it was’ to ‘what it is’.
And while he didn’t say the current work doesn’t live up to the standards of the original work, his central point highlights – at least to me – why I don’t think it does, exemplified by this piece of work that I saw near our office recently.
I should point out this gives me no joy to say whatsoever, because:
1. Specsavers played a significant role in saving my sight by recognizing my disease early and then writing a referral letter for me to urgently see a specialist.
2. Specsavers has continually proved the commercial and creative power of s great idea.
3. The shift Trevor highlighted, may – for reasons I don’t quite understand – be deliberate.
But whatever is behind it … going from the comedic potential of not seeing properly to laughing at the incurably stupid … has potentially resulted in moving the brand from friend to foe.
Or worse, bully.
Now whether they meant this to happen or not is anyone’s guess.
I’m assuming not.
Which reinforces the need to always understand the nuance of an idea – because if you don’t do that, you don’t just undermine years of craft, care and rigor, you undermine the very value you are being paid to elevate.
See my recent post about the billboard for the movie, Devil Wears Prada 2.
There’s too much complexity in our business. But solving it with simplistic interpretation doesn’t help anyone either.
Which suggests every creative, strategist, suit and marketer may need to go to Specsavers to see how to do their job properly.
With craft.
With rigor.
With care.
With an ability to actually – ironically – see it.
And with an understanding of the nuance behind the idea so your work – whaever role you play – is always building the brand up rather than tearing it down.