Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Creativity, Culture, Entertainment, Music, Queen
Yes, this is about my favourite band, Queen.
Yes, I know they aren’t really a band anymore and – to be honest – some of the stuff they’ve done in the last 15 years has made me cringe a little bit, but that aside, their music from Queen to Hot Space [I don’t have as much of an issue with it as most Queen fans do] are still albums I hold dear to my heart.
Anyway, as many of you may know, they’re producing a film about the life of Freddie up until the Live Aid concert.
I get why they decided that was the cut off date, because apart from it being arguably their pinnacle moment, he apparently had not yet discovered he was HIV positive so it allows the film to focus on his glory, not his pain.
Anyway, recently they released the teaser trailer for the movie and I have to say, it’s epic.
Not just because of how good Rami Malik looks in the role of Freddie.
Nor because of the bizarrely accurate voice of Brian May.
And not even because of the spectacular stage sets and fashions.
No … it’s because of the fantastic sound design.
Just like when they performed at Live Aid, the band know the best way to get people interested in the movie beyond sad fucks like me, is to remind them how many songs of Queen they know and like.
By mixing some of their biggest hits seamlessly together, they have increased the odds of making a movie about a man who died 27 years ago interesting to people who were born 27 years ago.
That’s pretty impressive, especially for a band that is almost 50 years old.
A band where the guitarist will be 71 years old in a week and the drummer 69 years old in about a fortnight.
[Not forgetting Mr John Deacon, who will be a young 67 in August. And looks it]
Now I know the trailer doesn’t really say anything and – I am still petrified it’s going to end up feeling more like a ‘Lifetime Movie’ than a Hollywood blockbuster [especially with all the issues the production has faced] – but I have to admit I have watched it so many times and been in awe every time … especially the bit between 11 and 16 seconds, where you see the different ‘looks’ of Freddie in concert, because I remember some of them from when I saw the band live.
Oh god, I’m even more pathetic than I thought.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Management, Resonance
So in a few weeks I’m doing a presentation on creative relationships.
I’m almost certain I’ve been asked so people can learn what not to do, but despite that, I asked an old client for a quote about what it was like working with me so I could include it in the presentation.
The picture at the top of this post is what he sent me.
I know it could be read as an insult, but either way, it makes me insanely happy … which may say more about me than it does about the quality of our old working relationship.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Experience, Love, Management, Resonance
I’ve written a lot about getting older because – lets face it – I’m old.
OK, I’m not ancient, but by adland standards, I’m practically a dinosaur.
I’ve talked about how stupid the industry is to look at people like that – but when someone old is ranting, it sounds much more like someone trying to keep his career going than something more objective.
Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent because what this post is actually about is an elderly lady – a truly elderly lady of about 75-80 years old – who I saw walk into Starbuck’s a few weeks ago.
Now I appreciate this may not sound interesting, but as you can tell from the picture above, she was wearing a bright pink beanie with the words ‘thug life’ on it.
I don’t know about you, but when I saw that, I knew there was only one thing I could do which was tell her she looks amazing, pay for her breakfast and walk away with a new hero in my life.
Adland might think anyone over 40 is past it.
Thankfully humanity doesn’t think that way.
Here’s to those who are impervious to conformity.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Context, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Happiness, Management, Marketing, Social Divide
… not just because I’m with a couple of mates I love and respect.
Nor is it that the angle of the pic means my physical horribleness – especially compared to their disgusting beauty – is partially hidden.
It’s because they’re two super-senior leaders, who got to where they are because of their talent and authenticity.
They also happen to be black.
Karrelle Dixon is the Managing Director of Wieden+Kennedy Portland.
Jason White is the Global CMO of BEATS.
Of course the colour of their skin shouldn’t matter – just like it shouldn’t matter what gender you are or what sexual preference you choose – but tragically it still does.
Especially in America.
To get to the top is an amazing achievement for anyone.
To get to the top while remaining authentic to who you are is something truly special.
To do all that and be a person of colour … well, that’s the highest accolade of all.
Of course I hope for a time where this isn’t news – it is just normal – and while neither of them should have to have the additional burden of being a role model, they are and, if I’m being honest, they should be because if you want to model yourself on anyone – regardless of your heritage or background – it’s them.
Smart as shit.
Charismatic as Clooney.
Total natural born leaders.
Tireless in their passion.
Focused on making the best work of everyone’s lives.
A real and proven desire to help young talent come through.
[In both cases, they have personally helped me help people I thought were bursting with talent but were not getting the breaks I felt they had earned, let alone deserved]
In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact I can consistently beat them at table tennis, they’d be perfect.
But the fact is, Karrelle and Jason are still anomalies in this business – and while that should not underestimate the impact they will have on people of colour who previously had little or no role models for believing they could get to the top – it’s also why I’m a bit conflicted with Adcolor’s Future program.
Let me be clear, this is not about Adcolor specifically.
They are an amazing organisation who have done more to promote diversity in the industry than anyone else, not to mention for longer than everyone else.
Their mission has always been to create a community of diverse professionals who support and celebrate eachhother and they have an incredible track record of doing just that … giving people of colour a real chance in an industry loaded with hurdles.
For hurdles, read ‘senior white men’.
And this is why I’m conflicted.
You see recently a couple of my colleagues applied to get in their Future’s program. They are talented, smart, passionate colleagues… who happen to be people of color, but sadly they didn’t get in.
Let me be clear they were OK with the decision.
Disappointed, but OK.
And I can say the same too.
Despite their talent, maybe they didn’t show how good they are in the way they needed to.
But here’s the bit that bothers me.
You see instead of being told what/where they went wrong … how they could improve … they were just told ‘no’.
Now I’m sure there’s a bunch of reasons for the limited response – for example. maybe they’re inundated with requests – but for an organization committed to helping people of colour move forward, a simple ‘yes or no’ seems counter to that commitment.
It feels like they are judges instead of coaches.
Deciding someone’s fate instead of helping it rise.
Now I fully appreciate I am not aware of all the facts.
I also appreciate that Adcolor as an organization is very open and transparent.
But I would have loved it if the people behind their Future’s program had given my colleagues some advice about what they could have done better with their submission, because the fact they wanted to belong to a group who wants to improve the industry means they’re already showing traits adland badly needs to embrace.
But lets be honest, success for people of colour should not just be down to Adcolor.
Nor the inspirational achievements of Karrelle and Jason.
We all have a role to play.
And that goes beyond just talking about it, but doing things about it.
One of the things America has taught me is that if you don’t act, you’re complicit in keeping things the same.
I’d love to think I have always acted on this issue – not just because I’ve spent so much of my career living in nations where I was a member of the [privileged] minority – but that’s how I was brought up.
By that I don’t mean it in a we need to give everyone a chance sort-of way, but in a ‘everyone is equal even when we’re different’ sort-of way.
And while the only way we’ll find out if I’m full of shit is if we ask the people of colour I’ve worked with – both in America and around the World – if I’ve fought for them and shown my belief and faith in them, there’s one thing that is absolutely not open to interpretation …
Diversity makes everything better.
It allows different experiences, understanding and cultural references to open up possibilities and opportunities for everyone and everything. From creativity to culture. Commerce to the potential of creating real change.
But it does even more than that.
It can take our industry to places we might never see or experience without it.
Let’s be honest, our industry has been predominantly shaped by white males.
Hey, some of them have done a brilliant job. I’m not knocking them – or anyone who is white or male – I also happen to be one.
But imagine the possibilities if we let people who had different backgrounds, different experiences, different frames-of-reference to have a go.
Finally we might get to some genuine new thinking in the industry as opposed to the usual old ideas with a different name.
I know for a fact, all my years living in China/Asia made an astounding difference to how I think and who I am. Differences I still embrace and rely on to this day.
[Here’s a talk I gave in Australia on this: Part 1, 2 and 3 ]
And unlike many of us white guys, people of colour [not to mention members of the LGBT communities] have always been generous with their brilliance, talent and kindness, which given all the shit they have had to – and continue to have to – deal with, that makes them the sort of leader we’d all benefit from working with and for.
Put simply, every single person in adland should be pushing, embracing, celebrating and making room for diversity.
Not because it is ‘the right thing to do’ – even though it is – but it might be the only thing that can save adland and make it truly matter again.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Chaos, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Wieden+Kennedy
So next week, I’ll be in Hong Kong.
For the whole week.
Yes, that means absolutely no posts whatsoever for the next week.
But to make sure you don’t get too happy, I’m going to leave you with one final post.
This is about the importance of mistakes.
Now I appreciate the word ‘mistake’ is often viewed as a negative, but I have a very different perspective on them.
Mistakes create standards.
Mistakes open opportunities.
Mistakes reveal who we can be.
OK, so depending on the mistake, some people may feel very differently about the positive effects of them, but in my experience big, small, life-changing or just momentarily ridiculous … they all have a benefit as long as you go into them and come out of them with the right attitude.
In short, if you’re making mistakes for any other reason than trying to do something great, you’re wasting everyones time and effort.
Making mistakes out of laziness or stupidity doesn’t help anybody, especially yourself. But doing it because you went for awesome … had a desire to push boundaries … wanted to see what other possibilities are possible … then each one of those mistakes should be celebrated and embraced by all.
Unless, of course, you’re just doing things for personal and selfish reasons then you’re a bit of a dick.
But that aside, this attitude is especially important in relation to being able to come out of your mistake with dignity and sanity intact.
Dignity and sanity are big words.
You can’t bullshit those.
For me, the only way you can walk out with either is if you went go your mistake with a clear reason for doing it and come out with a real learning from having done it.
That’s it.
And while others may never understand your reasoning, if you are clear on your motivations going in and your learnings coming out, then what others may call a ‘mistake’ may be one of the most important and valuable things you can ever do … something that has the power and potential to change, shape, reveal and create every new path you take from here on in.
Dan Wieden used to call this ‘fail harder’, he was right because whatever anyone says, mistakes matter.
See you in a week …