Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audiences, Business, Childhood, Context, Culture, Food, Food For Thought, Happiness, Mum & Dad, My Childhood
Recently, I saw this article on Linkedin …
While I appreciate their point, it felt like another example of someone who only sees the world through their own perspective.
And while that’s common – which is why I normally ignore it – the slight diss towards strategists made me bite.
Hence I responded with this …
While I hope it didn’t come across too judgmental or condescending, I also hope my point is made …
Not just in terms of planners being the last people in marketing who are deliberately ignorant, but that one persons ‘reliably not shit’ is another persons ‘taste of the good life’.
As I said in the post, when I was growing up, we would only go out for dinner once – a max – twice a year.
Either to Trattoria Antonio – an Italian Restaurant on Trent Bridge.
Or the Berni Inn, which was called – for added attempt at sophistication – ‘The Chateau’.
Here’s a pic of the place that – sadly – is no longer there. Knocked down to be turned into another faceless shopping industrial estate.
In fact, it was The Chateau where I experienced a lot of my ‘firsts’ where certain foods are concerned …
Steak.
Broccoli.
Onion Rings.
Knickerbockerglory.
My god, I thought it was fancy-as-fuck and to a young kid from Nottingham, it was.
Hell, I still remember being confused by how they advertised their ‘2 courses for 5 quid’ promotion … because they made it sound like it was a bargain when for me/my folks, that was still pricey. Strangely though, I never associated it with lower quality food – such was my lack of exposure to what steak cost or was supposed to taste like, hahaha.
Maybe that’s why I still prefer eating the ‘cheaper-end’ of food rather than the fancy stuff I’ve since been exposed to and experienced … and why every marketer, planner, creative or suit needs to remember if you base audiences on who you want them to be or what your personal perspective and context is, then you may find you’re not just talking to yourself, but that might be the only person you’re talking to.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, AI, Attitude & Aptitude, Brands, Business, Conformity, Consultants, Context, Corporate Evil, Corporate Gaslighting, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Crap Products In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Empathy, Technology
I appreciate the commercial benefits of being associated with technology – especially technology that’s at the forefront of change – but I’m getting fed up of companies shoving the letters A and I ahead of everything they do in a desperate attempt to look cutting edge.
Do they realise they’re not fooling anyone – except, maybe themselves?
Have they forgotten what happened to WeWork when they persisted in their claims to be a tech company when even Stevie Wonder could see they were nothing more than an office space rental firm.
But it’s happening everywhere with everyone claiming everything they do is now ‘AI shaped/influenced/enabled.
AI project management systems
AI consultancy services.
AI home theatre systems.
AI photocopiers.
AI toilets.
AI. Ai. AI.
And even if I accept all these things now have some element of AI in their process and product, how come so much of them operate exactly as they did before?
All that advanced tech and everything still operates the same way as it always has.
That can’t be very good can it?
Surely that means the people behind it are either idiots, attempting to gaslight their customers or they have used AI to remove employees roles so they can squeeze out the last remnants of profit before they scraper and enjoy sitting on their millions.
While I’m at it …
Why is it the worst offenders of this sort of behavior tend to be the most conservative and traditional companies and industries?
[You can tell who they are as they tend to use images like the one at the top of this post because they think that proves they’re all about the ‘future’, haha]
On one hand I appreciate their desire to modernize, but the problem is – if the only thing that changes is the speed they can do things or the price they can do them for … then arguably, they’re proving they haven’t got the faintest idea what AI could do for them if they’re limiting its use to efficiency and productivity.
So to all brands jumping on the AI bandwagon …
Using Claude to speed up your manufacturing process doesn’t mean you’re an AI company.
Using ChatGPT to write articles about your products does not mean you make AI tech.
And positioning any form of automation as AI does not mean you’re a cutting-edge tech company.
Am I exaggerating?
Yes. But not nearly as much as you may imagine …
Every day I see ads and articles from companies claiming AI is at the centre of all they do.
Products.
Service.
Systems.
Manufacturing.
Marketing.
You name it, someone is saying it … which is why the best way to tell ‘who is trying’ versus ‘who is claiming’ is to embrace the same evaluation criteria as used to judge strategy, which is:
Can customers, employees and competitors notice a fundamental difference between how things were and how things now operate and behave?
If they can’t, it’s hype or self-serving commerciality. You’re welcome.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Brand, Brand Suicide, Cars, Context, Creativity, Culture, Design, Experience, Fashion, Ferrari, Italy, Luxury
I saw this billboard for Ferrari’s clothing and apparel lines … known as Ferrari Style.
And while the design of the billboard isn’t great …
[which is a bit weird for a company that has built part of its distinctiveness through design]
And while it’s a bit strange they are only showing their F1 cars …
[when their luxury status has been informed more by their day-to-day supercars]
At least it’s better than the Micro SD cards they produced years ago, which they sold under the guise of ‘really fast data transfer’.
Or the electric Luce they launched months ago.
And – to be fair – with their heritage, lifestyle and status, they do have a legitimate right to play in this area, but my question is who is going to buy it?
Will it be people who want EVERYONE to know they own a Ferrari?
Will it be people who want everyone to THINK they own a Ferrari?
Will it be people who simply want to LOOK part of the Ferrari lifestyle?
Full disclosure, I own one of their items … but while I really do like the design and the quality is superb, I was given it as a gift because there wouldn’t be a cat-in-hells-chance I’d own it if I had had to pay my own money for it.
I digress …
The point is, given Italy isn’t exactly short of highly respected, highly regarded, highly aspirational luxury fashion brands … who do you think is actually going to buy their products and, even more interestingly, why are they???
Now if only I had a comment section people could write their answers on?!
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Context, Corporate Gaslighting, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Nottingham, Standards, Stupid
Last week was a week of pissy posts, so I thought I’d write something a little less intense.
Recently I was in Nottingham and while on one of my walks, I passed this …
“What is it?” I hear you cry.
Well, it’s a notice about the busses.
Tied with a crappy piece of string to a branch of a nearby shrub because – I assume – the people who had to put it up thought it would take too much effort, cost or complexity to attach it to the actual bus stop.
You know, so passengers could maybe actually see it.
Now I appreciate Nottingham County Council is basically bankrupt so they can’t be spending money willy-nilly … but what the fuck is the point attaching a notice to a shrub that isn’t even next to the actual bus stop???
It all smacks of someone having to hit their KPI’s …
Where the focus is being able to say you did what was asked rather than did what was needed … even though you know what you did wasn’t in the spirit of the original request.
And while you could blame that on the clarity of the brief, it’s still an exercise in deliberate ignorance.
Or arrogance.
Or idiocy.
It reminds me of the toilets I wrote about in Singapore way back in 2006.
Another example of someone ‘executing’ rather than ‘accomplishing’ …
Also known as ‘modern business practice’ … where it increasingly feels like a job well done and well crafted is viewed as an unnecessary cost, when it can just be churned out without any consideration.
Or worse, when someone does that and then tries to hide their laziness behind ambiguous language or claims of cost efficiency.
Which is why I keep going back to the words a father of an old colleague of mine once said:
“If you haven’t got the time to do it right at the start, when will you have the time?”
When will companies realise that if they treat their customers like fools, they’ll value them accordingly?
The older I get, the more I believe the only thing we have are our standards … and while not everyone will appreciate them, you can be sure they will notice them when everyone else shows they don’t have any.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Cannes, Clients, Collaboration, Conformity, Consultants, Content, Context, Contribution, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Football, Professionalism, Rigor, World Cup
Once upon a time, newspapers were dismissed as ‘tomorrow’s chip shop’ packaging.
Many would consider themselves fortunate to be described in such a way today.
Most people either see them as outdated, irrelevant or simply the play thing of the rich and powerful.
And while many are increasingly relying on ‘click bait’ headlines to drive any sort of reach and impact – occasionally, you read something where you just want to clap at the brilliance of the writing.
During the World Cup, I saw such a piece – of which the image above, is part of it.
It revolves around the ex-USA footballer and pundit Alexi Lalas and as character assassination pieces go … this is top tier, pro-hitman standard by The Guardian.
They’re not wrong either …
Though I couldn’t help think it could also be a description of 73.6% of the tech/consultant/holding company attendees at Cannes.
The people who speak with unshakable, absolute certainty, despite having never actually done anything of note.
Nothing.
And yet, that doesn’t stop them judging, passing-comment or undermining whatever anyone else does. Or thinks.
Or worse …
Claiming their approach is revolutionary when it isn’t, especially when you see the drivel that comes out the other end.
A perfect example of how gusto and blind confidence is destroying our industry by people who evaluate success by profit, not work.
Of course money is important but as someone once told me, “anyone can make money, but its what others experience and remember because of it that reveals whether you’re full of shit or not”.
There’s a lot of shit out there right now.
In very senior positions.
So here’s hoping it’s not just The Guardian who pierce the flimsy steel bravado shell of these big talking peddlers in the future.
Not because hate is good … but we won’t create the conditions for good to thrive again unless we start calling out and fighting for what is right.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Happy bloody Monday, hahaha.