Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Confidence, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Music
There’s a lot of talk about confidence.
People who have it.
People who think they have it.
People who don’t have it… but think they do.
The reality is confidence ends up being defined in two parts … the person who thinks they have it and the person judging them if they do.
And while there is always that risk that someone could come over as arrogant, there is something glorious when you watch someone with it in full swing.
Someone who you know has sweated for their craft and skill.
Who has the control and power to achieve at a level few will ever reach.
An individual who never phones it in, even if they could and still be exceptional.
I recently saw a video of the singer Beverley Knight perform the Stones classic, Satisfaction.
It is breathtaking.
Truly breathtaking.
The first time I watched it, I actually cried – it’s that powerful and joyous at the same time.
And while Jeff Goldblum is losing his mind as he watches her – which is beautiful to watch – you know she knows exactly what she’s doing … exactly how she’s impressing and exactly where and when she is showing off.
But it’s not an ego-play … this is simply someone who cares about giving their all. That believes they have a responsibility to themselves to never phone it in. Who wants to show just how good she is … and that is exactly how it comes over.
She’s fierce, audacious and talented as hell … backed by a band who create a platform for her that is more like a catwalk of sonic celebration.
Confidence can be misused.
Confidence can be delusional.
But when it’s real, justified and powerful … you just have to sit back and enjoy it, because it’s something special indeed.
Watch this.
More inspirational news …
I go on my first business trip in 2 years so there’s no more blog posts THIS WHOLE WEEK.
It’s a weird feeling knowing I’m getting back on a plane for work. I used to fly over hundred times a year for pretty much the last 20 years, and yet this 2 year gap has left me feeling very comfortable at home. Maybe that’s more because it represented ‘safety’ in a COVID world but the idea of starting again has really conflicted me. Not for you though … you get 4 days of peace … so have fun and see you next Monday.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Confidence, Context, Craft, Culture, Football, Wieden+Kennedy
I recently read an article about footballers who continue to ply their trade in the Premiership despite being in their mid 30’s.
The key takeout was that talent might be able to get you to 17 … but it’s character and commitment that gets you to 35.
It was an interesting view, because there’s a lot of parallels with the ad industry.
Let’s be honest, this industry doesn’t like older people.
We’re expensive.
We’re not willing to work the insane hours it likes us to work.
We’re not as connected to society as our younger colleagues.
We’re all a bit cynical about the claims and promises.
Of course, there is a counter-argument, that these are exactly the sort of attributes the ad industry needs more of.
Experience.
Balance.
Understanding.
Pragmatism.
But what bothers me most is the blanket belief that if you’re not in senior management by a certain age, you have nothing to add. That your value is only in managing the business rather than adding to the creativity.
I wrote about how shortsighted this view was ages ago … reinforced by how much I loved Wieden looked for the creativity in the person rather than the age.
Which leads to my point about footballers.
One of the biggest problems when you’re older is people expect you to know it all.
Of course, some people think they do, but there’s this undercurrant that you should.
So any ‘failure’ is seen as a sign of no longer being appropriate.
Any ‘disagreement’ is viewed as a sign you are not a ‘team player’.
And ‘curiorsity’ gets labelled as trying ‘too hard’.
And yet these say far more about the person judging than the person doing it.
Because in my experience, a failure means a willingness to keep pushing boundaries.
Disagreements don’t mean you’re not a team player, you’re someone who wants the team to be better.
And curiosity is a demonstration you want to play an active role in culture rather than just let it pass you by.
Not to mention the declaration of desire.
Because anyone who chooses to keep pushing their standards and knowledge when they could be choosing an easier path is showing just how much they still want it. Especially when the odds are even greater of them ever achieving it, compared to those younger than them.
For me, these are the advertising equivilent of the footballers character and commitment.
Or said another way …
It’s someone who can keep pace with the needs of the team, while adding to the standards and success of it.
Keeping pace is not simply about speed, but relevance, ambition and creativity.
Of course age doesn’t shouldn’t have anything to do with this – I have met just as many younger people without it as much as I have older – but character and commitment does.
And while there is nothing wrong if you don’t subscribe to this, if companies only measure ‘talent’ by age … they’re not just stupid, they’re showing that they don’t actually care about creativity, just the cliche of it.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, China, Chinese Culture, Context, Crap Products In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Distinction, London, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Membership, Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
One of the things I hated when I lived in China was hearing people slag off the country for all manner of things.
While some of the accusations were true, the reality was China was not the only country that participated in such behaviour but people chose to ignore that.
Not that I’m defending what was going on, because even though I rarely saw any of it – in fact I saw more in the US and UK when I lived there – I knew it was going on.
However there were some claims that showed people didn’t know what the fuck they were going on about.
The amount of people who would come to Shanghai from America and say, “let’s do ideas that force the government to deal with the pollution crisis”.
They’d say it like they were the very first people to identify China had a problem with pollution – which is possibly the greatest sign of arrogance you could have. So we would tell them.
China knows there is a pollution problem.
They are actively fighting it.
They’ve been the biggest investor in green tech for decades.
Proportionally, they still pump out less pollution into the air than America.
In fact, up until the last few years, they pumped out less pollution than America full stop.
America had been doing that for decades.
And there’s parts of London with a higher pollution index than most parts of China.
Then they’d stop acting like they’re a superhero and start understanding their perspective had been driven by media bias not cultural understanding.
But there were some things that were accusations. The lack of respect for copyright being one.
Of course, it’s not just in China this happens, but it definitely happens there. A lot.
Even now, I still think Uncle Martian is peak-plagiarism … mainly because they didn’t just make replicas and sell them as originals, they created a whole new brand based on the intellectual property of brands including Jordan and Under Armour.
I say that because I recently saw another version of this.
Maybe not quite as bad as Uncle Martian, but pretty terrible al the same.
But not from China … so you can keep your prejudiced thoughts to yourself.
It’s that brand at the top of this post that looks awfully like this …
I am an enormous fan of Liquid Death.
I love what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
Not only are they the true embodiment of a cult brand – with some amazing cult behaviours, such as their $100,000 country club membership … or buy a slab of Liquid Death – they have made drinking water in public cool for men.
That’s something no other beverage brand has pulled off.
So while I am sure they would think someone ripping them off is a sign they’re doing something right, it’s also a sign some lazy, parasitic pricks are ripping them off.
Though as George once said when we once pitched an idea to a client who said, “but what if we just asked another agency to do your idea for cheaper?”
If you choose to go with someone copying someone else’s idea rather than the people who actually came up and created the idea, then you deserve all the disappointment and confusion you get. Including the lawsuit.
Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Confidence, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Insight, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Relevance, Resonance
A few weeks ago someone sent me this picture …
Yes, it’s funny, but it’s also right.
At least to a certain audience group.
Which seems to be a thing we’re increasingly forgetting.
Quite a lot of the time, it feels like we experience some sort of group deliberate ignorance. Preferring to suggest ideas will appeal to everyone because we live in a world where the slightest whiff of ‘niche’ is immediately dismissed by clients.
It’s why we have target audiences that are 25-54.
It’s why we have ads that are about people rather than for people.
It’s why we pretend entire generations THINK AND ACT EXACTLY THE SAME.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Especially when think about the huge amounts of money being spent on research to ‘know our audience better’.
Great brands sacrifice.
They want to mean everything to someone rather than be something for everyone.
Which is why they know who they are. Know who they matter to. And know what to focus on.
That doesn’t mean they are limiting their success … they’re growing it.
Valuing who they are as much as what they earn and building scale from leading change rather than blindly chasing popularity.
It’s the foundation of why they charge more, sell more and are desired more. Especially compared to the product amoebas who spend their millions communicating to anyone about absolutely nothing..
So while people in our industry may smugly question the intelligence of the people who wrote that sign on the back of the ute … if we were to invite them to look at what our industry says and does, I’m pretty sure they’d think we’re the bigger joke.