Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Brands, Career, Cliches, Colleagues, Communication Strategy, Conformity, Consultants, Corporate Gaslighting, Creative Development, Creativity, Egovertising, Logic, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Marketing Practice, Marketing Science, Mediocrity, Privilege, Professionalism, Reputation, Resonance, Respect
So, this is the last working day of October and on Monday, we’re in November.
NOVEMBER?!
Thank fuck because I’ve found this year very, very difficult and November means it’s almost over.
I don’t really know why I have such a problem with 2026 … let’s be honest, I’ve had another year that many people would love to have experienced – not to mention the fact that compared to last year, my health has been in a much better state than it has been for the past few years.
And yet this year has felt a struggle.
Like walking through treacle.
Struggling for oxygen.
A difficulty to ignite energy and enthusiasm for stuff.
Not for everything … but given the one thing I’ve never struggled to have is energy to do stuff that excites me, it’s quite the revelation.
So why is this the case?
Who knows …
I do think the state of the World has a lot to do with it.
As has the almost shameless irresponsibility of the tech companies to destroy the future for all of us.
And then the equally repulsive behaviour of so many leaders in our industry who love acting like business pioneers while acting and behaving like the spoilt, greedy, selfish psychopathic children they are.
And yet despite my incredibly privileged and fortunate position, I am being deeply affected by it.
Not just for my personal situation – which is admittedly far better than most – but also for the millions of talented people who are either being discarded by the industry or are walking into it with high hopes and wide eyes.
Thank god, there are still some good people, companies and clients out there.
Who value quality rather than easy.
Who want to grow through standards rather than shortcuts.
Who care about the people who work for them rather than see them as an annoying cost.
But it feels like there are less of those than ever before … though that could be because the momentum of the industries publicity seems to be focused on the promotion of bullies and loudmouths, which makes me angry as anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their point-of-view ends up feeling there is no place for them and start to questioning if the industry is for them.
I’ve talked to so many of these people this year.
Struggling to work out where they fit in.
Wondering if there is a future they can grasp.
Confused why the standards they’re being asked to work to are so low.
It’s really that bad for so many and while it would be easy to say they’re complaining – the issue is with us, not them.
Which leads to this week’s posts.
I appreciate anyone who has read them may ask “is Rob OK?”
And the reality is I am … but I’m tired.
Tired of the hypocrisy.
Tired of the exploitation.
Tired of the pundits and theory pushers.
Tired of the gaslighting where everyone says nothing is wrong.
This industry used to be full of different voices, backgrounds, experiences and ideas. But now? Well now it feels everyone is adopting the same methodologies and approaches pushed by the same few people.
Worse, the same few people who either have never done the work they are so loud in criticising or have a self-interest in wanting others to adopt their ‘system’.
Earlier this year I spoke at the Berlin Strategy Conference.
At the beginning of my talk, I said how I keep hearing people talk about how we can make the industry better, but no one ever asks what I think is the critical question:
Are we having fun?
Not for superficial bullshit reasons but because if we’re not having fun, why are we doing it and – even more importantly – why do we think we’ll get paid and respected for it.
I appreciate not everything is going to be fun and frolics, but given our job is to use creativity to help society not just know about a brand or product, but to give a shit about it, means if we’re not enjoying making the work, you can be sure-as-fuck people won’t enjoy being exposed to it.
I appreciate systems, processes, formats and rules have an important role to play, but when they end up dictating WHAT we do and HOW we do it, then it’s hardly surprising the work we make isn’t just increasingly the same but is lacking the energy and intrigue that can deeply connect and motivate society at large.
That the value of creativity to inspire, encourage, motivate and engage people has been replaced by the ability to fire-hosing of the public with whatever self-serving, monotone message a company says all you need to know about the rise of consultant-think.
Add to this the fact companies spent over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS on media over the last 12 months and surely someone should be asking just how smart all these supposed smart systems and formats actually are.
Again, not because they don’t have any value, but because they definitely don’t provide all the value they love to claim.
So, here’s to the end of month 10 of 2026 … we’re much closer to [hopefully] ending a year of big egos and small thinking.
On the bright side, it’s the perfect conditions for a truly scary Halloween.
Always a silver lining … ahem.
Filed under: Advertising, Airports, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Corporate Gaslighting, Embarrassing Moments, Empathy, Tourism, Toxic Positivity
If you don’t want to read all this shit … just skip to the ad [and the point of this post] at the bottom of this page.
However, if you want the context and backstory … read on:
So I saw this ad yesterday. Yes, yesterday – which means this may be the most topical post I’ve written in 20 years.
And while it is supposedly for Emirates Airlines, the reality is it’s a Dubai Government ad.
Look I get how important tourism is to the nation …
I also appreciate how instrumental Dubai has been in helping change the perspectives of the Middle East …
But while they have been incredibly successful in doing that, the situation in the Middle East has impacted its appeal … as have the claims the Government are clamping down on anyone who uses social media to express a perspective that doesn’t match the image the powers-that-be want to present to the World.
I have friends who have/are living there and it’s fascinating talking to the ones who left and the ones who are still there.
It’s like talking to people who reside o different planets …
And while some of that may be because things have changed in the time they have gone, I can’t help but feel that for the guys still there – who talk to me with a robotic smile – the reasons are either:
1. They fear the possible implications of being found to have said anything negative to anyone.
2. It allows them to deflect having to ask themselves, ‘why are we still here?’
Or said another way, there’s commercial reasons to be deliberately positive.
Could be wrong … may not be such a binary answer … but whatever the reality, it definitely isn’t all Unicorns and Rainbows over there, which is why this ad blows my mind.
Because not does Emirates/Dubai Government fail to acknowledge any element of the situation happening in the region, they basically are doubling-down and saying the World’s media are lying to everyone.
Look at the headline on the fake newspaper at the beginning of the ad!!
It’s straight out the Trump playbook … deny, deflect, dismiss.
OK … OK … so they do say ‘some of the stories are even true’.
And then add ‘we know Dubai is not everyone’s cup of tea’.
But not only do they gloss over it faster than Usain Bolt after 19 espresso’s, they adopt a tone that suggests anyone who is not convinced by their words is a parochial idiot.
Or said another way, even more gaslighting.
And while that approach will probably convince some, for others they will be left asking ‘how do you trust a nation that’s so willing to lie to itself?’
There were so many other ways they could have done this.
Approaches that could have built bridges and provided clarity rather than just gaslight and create greater doubt.
[For example my ‘8 mile’ strategy approach could have been one way to tackle it]
But instead they went for this condescending, patronizing, ego-satisfying rubbish …
Another example of an organization who views ‘understanding audiences’ as an inconvenience when all they want to do is tell people what they want them to think.
Which is sad as Dubai is an interesting place. Full of wonderful people and with a far richer and more interesting culture and history than this work conveys.
So enjoy … it’s a great example of crisis management, wrapped in ego and denial.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Colleagues, Corporate Evil, Corporate Gaslighting, Work
Back in Jan 2021, I wrote a post about the ridiculousness of ‘unlimited leave’ policies.
By that, I mean companies pretending they mean it when we all know that they would lose their shit if someone said they wanted 4 weeks off, let alone 4 months!
Which is why I found this post I saw on Twitter/X recently, so funny.
Because while it’s taking the piss, it’s also never been so serious in its life:
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, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Corporate Gaslighting, Creativity, Culture, Data, Emotion, Experience, Humanity, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Marketing Practice, Marketing Science, Technology, Toxic Positivity, Transformation
Before I start, I want to acknowledge David, Dave and Andy because today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
And while I know that terrible, terrible day resides deeply in their everyday … it’s a significant anniversary and so the memories, pain and loss may feel even deeper to them today.
So know I’m thinking of you.
It was special seeing all of you.
I send big hugs to each of you.
Love you.
OK, let’s get on with the rant …
Years ago, I – and, ironically, David, Dave and Andy – worked for the founder of a very successful company who was obsessed with how his customers and lowest level employees felt, experienced and interacted with the brand.
He had seen far too many organisations manage senior leadership through pandering, toxic positivity and managing-up and was determined that was not going to happen to his company.
His view was the only way to keep improving was to know what’s going on … and the only way to know what’s going on is to ensure the people with the authority to change stuff, saw life from the perspective of the coalface.
Not occasionally.
Not via carefully orchestrated engagement.
But shoulder-to-shoulder and eye-to-eye with their people and customers.
It’s why his C-Suite were mandated to always travel economy, rather than business. Not because he didn’t care about the comfort of his most senior executives, but because he cared even more about the experience of his people abd customers as well as the standards and behaviour of his brand.
It’s part of the reason he saw the generous salaries he – and his C-Suite – were paid was about responsibility.
Not to the shareholders, but to their customers and employees.
Put simply, he believed the job of the most senoir management was to actively protect the standards, values and aspiration of the brand for the customers they serve and the people they employee.
His premise for it was simple. If you look after them, they’ll look after the shareholders.
It’s why he didn’t tolerate convenient answers.
It’s why he utterly loathed generalistic perspectives.
It’s why he vehemently rallied against outsourcing blame or responsibility.
And it’s why he demanded people spent time in the coalface, rather than looking down at it.
Over the years, I’ve had a few clients who behaved that way – and, unsuprisingly, they tended to command the greatest love and loyalty from customers and employees alike.
But these days it seems it is becoming less and less common, prefering – instead – to use data points to inform than actual experience.
And while it can be argued there are more ways to measure more things than there has ever been before, there’s 3 fundamental flaws with this approach:
1. It relies on people knowing what they’re measuring.
2. It relies on people knowing why they’re measuring it.
3. It relies on people knowing what the findings are saying and – more importantly – aren’t.
And while you may think this is obvious – which it is or should be – the reality is, it happens less than you think.
There are many reasons for this – from politics to convenience to different interpretations of industry language and definitions – but blindly accepting data-points without the counterbalance of real and raw human knowledge and experience means what you think is clarity ends up being commercial confusion.
A perfect example is from Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager of Manchester United.
Back in 2001, Sir Alex Ferguson decided it was time for the defender, Jaap Stam, to leave Manchester United..
Stam was at his professional peak and considered one of the best defenders in the world, but Ferguson decided it was time for him to go.
The decision was made after Ferguson took look at Stam’s performance data.
On close inspection, Ferguson saw the then 29 year old defender was tackling less and less and concluded he was past his prime and now was the time to move him on. He was subsequently sold to Lazio.
And to be fair, the data was correct, Stam was tackling less … however it was not because he was past his prime, it was because he had got better at defending.
Put simply, Stam’s positioning had got so good he did not need to tackle so much … he was dealing with the opposition attackers before it got to a point where he needed to tackle them as a last-resort kind-of measure.
So while the data was right, it lacked context and Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t think to question it or challenge it.
In essence, he momentarily forgot what the objective of the defender is, because it’s not about tackling, it’s about protecting the goal … but the data had obstructed his view and resulted in him taking the information at face-value, resulting in him viewing the declining amount of tackles as weakness, when it was actually a symbol of strength and progress.
This is not to say data is not important. Of course it is. It helps provide light on issues and subjects that may otherwise pass unseen until far too late. But the problem is it temps us – and is positioned to us as – speaking directly to our needs.
Where the claim is it provides all the information we need to make simple binary choices or decisions.
Forget context.
Forget questioning.
Forget understanding.
And definitely forget anything that challenges or states otherwise.
Simply make your choice and the most effective and efficient outcome is yours.
That’s where we are folks … a cross between Stockholm Syndrome and group Gas Lighting … but at least it helps explains why there’s such reluctance for companies to actually engage and interact with real people.
The people who work for them.
The people who buy from them.
The people who give a shit about who they are and what they do.
The problem with the industry – every industry – is we are subservient to data. We treat it like the second-coming of Christ. We have started to believe it can bestow us with miracles, when half the time we don’t even know where it came from, let alone what it’s actually saying.
Again, I am not anti-data, but I am anti-data blinkeredness.
It’s why I wonder how many corporate leaders spend any meaningful time on the streets of the customers and/or the shop-floors of their employees … rather than spending hours sitting around a boardroom table commenting on sales data and focus group reports that they’ve not actually read, don’t really understood and never question how they were compiled or what they were trying to uncover.
At a time where every conversations around business seems to be about maximising optimisation and performance data points, maybe the most valuable form of AI any C-Suite can engage in, is the promotion and consideration of real Audience Interaction.
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PS: I am going to be in the US for most of next week, so enjoy the weekend knowing you won’t have to read my clap-trap until probably Thursday. You’re welcome.