Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Awards, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Content, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Egovertising, Emotion, Empathy, Freddie, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, London, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Packaging, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Pretentious Rubbish, Queen, Research, Resonance
Today I’m judging the Effies.
Oh awards …
I’ve written so, so much about them in the past.
Like here. And here. And here. And here.
I must admit, I am intrigued to see what they are going to be like in the UK.
Will they be a celebration of insightful efficiency or will they be like I experienced too many times in Asia, a stream of consciousness that just rumbles along till they think they have explained how they got to their idea and how they have proved it worked.
I guess we shall see later today.
I really, really hope they are good.
Not just because the Effies have always had a standard they’ve lived up to, but because it will give me faith the industry still has fight in it to do things right.
In my time in the UK, I’ve read a bunch of planning documents/portfolios/resumes that have been more about packaging.
Repeating a client brief in a way that has been ‘sexed up’.
Superficial.
Executional.
Literal.
There are a bunch of reasons for this.
Part of it is the lack of training agencies give their strategiests.
[Hence why we started the School of Strategic Arts]
Part of it is the huge amount of freelance planners out there who are doing exactly what they are asked because they are fighting for their livelihood.
And part of it is because of the client/agency remuneration deals which means planners are giving too little time to explore the best outcome to the problem they face.
Planning has a valuable role to play in effectiveness.
Planning has a valuable role to play in creativity.
But it needs to be allowed to do it to make it happen … so here’s hoping we see the best of what it can do today, because the Effies is not just important for the people who win, but for what the industry needs to get back to being.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Childhood, Comment, Confidence, Daddyhood, Jill, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis, Parents, Paul, School
It seems literally a few months ago, since I wrote this post announcing Otis had come into the World, but this week, my little man starts school.
I’m not talking kindergarten – that he did in China, America and London – I mean proper school.
Reading … Writing … Arithmetic …
A journey that, in many ways, shapes and defines the future he is going to have.
I can’t believe it …
How did that happen so fast?
I’ve written it before, but seeing your kid grow up is both a blessing and a curse.
It’s a curse because they’re moments in their development where you just want them to stay exactly as they are.
When they are totally reliant on your love.
When they start using sounds to express how they’re feeling.
When you see them experience proper food for the first time.
When they start crawling and edge their way towards you.
Those first few words.
The first conversation.
The first steps.
At every stage, you want that moment to last forever but let it go because as they enter a new phase, there are even more new wonderful things you encounter.
It’s a fast moving train you both want to stop and to keep going exactly as it is.
And this week, the train finds another gear as Otis enters formal education.
I’ve written a lot about my views on this and how I am vehemently opposed to private education.
I don’t believe it should be a profit centre.
I do believe governments should be funding it because ultimately, it’s the foundation for the countries strength and health.
And while I know the school Otis starts tomorrow won’t be the school he finishes in – as we have bought our family home in a totally different area – I do know we intend to let him finally have a place he can feel settled in … a place where he can truly belong … because his Mum and I would like nothing more than him to meet friends that will be there throughout his life.
Like his Dad had with Paul, who are the kids in the picture at the top of this post.
So all that leaves me to say is this …
Enjoy your new adventure Otis.
Your Mum and Dad are so proud for the little boy you are.
And so excited for who you will become.
Love you.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Confidence, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Equality, Friendship, Honesty, Imagination, Innocence, Love, Loyalty, Parents, Perspective, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance
Many years ago I wrote a post called pivotal people.
It was about those individuals who have an incredible impact on how your life turns out.
I’m not talking about family or friends.
I’m not even talking about relationships that last years.
I’m talking about interactions – whether for 10 minutes or a decade – that changes the course of how you live.
I’ve been lucky enough to have had quite a few of these people come into my life – most recently Maya, Bree and Chelsea – and it is important to me they all know the impact they have had – and continue to have – on who I am and what I do.
A long time ago, I decided the best way to show this was to write to them all and say thank you.
Weeks passed without a word from anyone so I emailed one of the recipients to check they had received the letter.
He responded saying he had and wanted to know if I was dying.
Yep … my heartfelt gratitude was met with the general consensus that I must have a terminal illness.
Thankfully I nipped that misconception in the bud, and while the people I wrote to still didn’t really know how to react [to the words in my letter, not the fact I wasn’t dying] the reality is I wasn’t looking for any sort of response or gratitude, I just wanted them to know.
Why?
Because in my experience, the people who go out of their way to help you in this way, do it because they see something in you that maybe you don’t even see.
They want to see you grow because they give a shit about your wellbeing.
But better yet, they do it for no self-serving reason, they just believe in you and who you can be.
It is – in my opinion – one of the most beautiful acts someone can do for another person and yet, in many cases, the people helping don’t even realize the impact they’ve had on you.
I’m writing this because I recently read an interview with the footballer Ian Wright.
He was asked ‘what did he owe his parents’ and he said he owed them nothing as he had done everything for them. He said the person he owed the most was his old school teacher, Mr Pigden.
Looking into it, I learned a story of love, belief and standards.
A story that celebrates teaching in its most powerful form.
Not for grades. But for preparing someone for a fuller life.
You can read the article here, but watch the video, it’s incredibly moving.
You don’t have to be a teacher to be Mr Pigden to someone.
I hope you have recognized yours and act in the same way to someone else.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Confidence, Culture, Daddyhood, Empathy, Goodbye America, Goodbye China, Jill, London, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis
A few weeks ago, Otis – my son – graduated from preschool.
I’ve got to be honest, I don’t quite get the preschool graduation thing.
Yes it’s a sort-of school, but it’s basically long playtime where you get to piss about with your mates – which is a bit like working in adland, but with less alcohol. Hopefully.
Anyway, whatever it is, Otis graduated which means the next stage is him embarking on his journey of real education.
I can’t believe it.
It seems only 5 minutes ago he was born.
But there he was … graduating for the first time in his life.
I don’t mind telling you I look at my little boy with such pride and love.
He has gone through a lot …
Living in 3 radically different countries – exemplified by the above photo shows him born in Shanghai, starting preschool in LA and finishing it all in London – saying goodbye to people of huge significance in his life, having to start things over again and again, watching his Dad crumble after seeing his beloved mum die, going through an operation … and yet through it all, he has approached life with a sense of optimism, mischief, happiness and curiosity that would put many older people to shame.
Part of this is because he’s just a loving and compassionate kid. Part of this is because he has family who bloody adore him. But part of this is the insane kindness and generosity that people around the world have shown him simply because they have watched him grow through my billions of social media pics.
The reality is Otis has brought more to my life than I could ever have imagined.
Not just in terms of love and happiness … but also in terms of lessons for life.
He has made everything unquestionably richer for both his amazing Mum and me and so as I tried not to cry as I watched him get his significant – but utterly pointless – certificate, I felt insanely proud of him.
Not for what he has achieved, but for who he is.
Congratulations Otis, you’re an epic little boy.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Childhood, Comment, Confidence, Culture, Honesty, Imagination, Innocence, Perspective
So I’m 49.
By any stretch of the imagination, that’s pretty old.
Sure, I still might have the dress sense of a 15 year old and the immaturity of a 12 year old, but the reality is I’m still 49.
Which leads me to the point of this post.
Recently I read this quote from Confucius:
“We have 2 lives and the second one begins when we realize we only have one”.
That’s one of the best insights I’ve ever read.
It’s brilliant … not just because it’s undeniably true, but when you have just gone through this, it hits you in the chest like a freight train.
While I will never probably act my age, I am now more aware of my situation than I’ve ever been.
That I am more than likely past the half way point of my life.
As well as in the final phases of my career.
Given I have a young child, a wonderful family and a mortgage to pay – that can be quite intimidating. And yet it is also liberating.
It means I don’t let little things at work get in the way of what I need to do to feel I’m being useful to the creative work. It means I ensure my team – who ultimately deliver my success – always feel supported and encouraged. It means I practice tough love with my clients because ultimately, the best demonstration of how much I care about their success is by being honest with them about their situation. And it means I won’t let the family I love with all I’ve got, feel I’m not present and invested in their lives.
In many ways, I’d like to think this is how I’ve always been … but when you realize you truly have one life, it’s amazing in how it focuses the mind.
Separates distraction from action.
Keeps you hungry rather lazy.
Growing old has a lot of negatives … A LOT of negatives … but the great irony is that while many think it means people are past their sell-by date, it tends to be a period where you are more productive than you’ve ever been, albeit in different ways.
Of course being young is amazing.
Sharp.
Open.
Fearless.
Bringing an energy and viewpoint others may never have or never see.
Being young is a wonderful gift that ironically, you only truly appreciate when you are no longer young … but it’s not all doom and gloom because the moment you realize you only have one life, that’s when you actually start living.