Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, China, Colenso, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Cynic, Dad, Daddyhood, Death, Deutsch, Embarrassing Moments, Emotion, England, Family, Grand announcements, Jill, LaLaLand, London, Love, Marketing, Mum, Mum & Dad, Nottingham, Otis, Paul, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, R/GA, Relationships, Stubborness, Sunshine, The Kennedys, Uncorporated, Wieden+Kennedy
I’ve written this blog consistently for 15 years.
FIFTEEN!!!
My god …
But it gets worse.
Because bar a few weeks of holiday, it is something that has been written every single Monday to Friday.
That means there has been over 3,900 posts of utter gibberish for over 780 weeks.
And as tragic as that all sounds, there’s an awful lot of people who comment on here who have been here pretty much all that time.
LOSERS!!!
Now, I have to say there are some lovely benefits to long term blog writing.
In some ways it’s like a diary … capturing what I was thinking or doing at any given time.
It also is a lovely way to see how my opinions and thoughts have evolved over time.
Plus there’s the hope that when I’m gone, Otis will still feel his Dad is close.
OK … OK … there are some posts I definitely DON’T want him to read, but there’s others I’d be glad for him to keep going back to.
Putting aside I basically write the same 3 or 4 posts over and over again … there is a lot of my life contained in these pages.
From getting married to losing my Mum to having my son.
Proper life-changing stuff … and that doesn’t even cover the moves to different countries, jobs and homes.
The best and worst of my life is detailed here which is why – despite all these big life events being sandwiched between endless amounts of shit – I still like it.
Occasionally I randomly click on a date and just see what I wrote.
Recently I did this and was reminded what a little shit I was.
OK, can be.
It’s this.
Yep, it’s the time I tried to auction off Martin Sorrell’s business card so people could send him stupid messages or texts.
On the plus side, I was offering to give any money to charity.
On the negative, I was working for WPP at the time.
If you think that’s stupid, there was the time I wrote a post featuring a photo of Sir Martin with a picture of Toad of Toad Hall under the caption ‘Spot The Difference’.
And the weird thing is that while I don’t agree with his approach to creativity, I do respect him. I have met him on a number of occasions and he was very, very impressive.
Though it’s fair to say that respect was only one way, Especially when there was an agency Q&A and I asked him ‘what do you spend all your money on?’
So Sir Martin … even though I know you would never read this blog [more proof you’re clever] I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for my stupidity. It was ridiculous … but if it’s any consolation, at least it wasn’t as bad as this.
I know … I know … this was a terrible post even by my standards.
So celebrate in the fact that tomorrow is Good Friday so I’m off till next Tuesday and you’re not going have to deal with any more of this shit till then.
I don’t know about you … but it’s the sort of news that makes you almost believe in God, doesn’t it.
Happy Easter, enjoy the sugar rush.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, China, Comment, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, LaLaLand, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Nike, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Relevance, Research, Resonance, Respect, Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
So I’ve decided to do a little thing every month where I write about a planner I love.
Full disclosure, the vast majority will be people I’ve worked with because I can then say honestly I know all their bad bits as well, hahaha.
Today I’m going to write about Ben Perreira.
I first met Ben when I moved to LA and worked with him at Deutsch.
Or at least I thought I did.
About 6 months in, he told me that he had written to me when on April 11th, 2014 … I put a post up on my blog asking if anyone was interested in working with me on NIKE at Wieden.
Embarrassingly I couldn’t remember him writing to me – though it was well over 3 years later by that point – but fortunately, I had apparently written him a very nice return email saying that while I liked what he was up to, I didn’t think he was quite what we needed at that moment.
As an aside, that is the job that led me to the brilliant Paula Bloodworth and so I don’t think anyone would feel hard done by losing out to her – given she’s one of the top 5 strategists on the planet. Probably higher than that.
But that doesn’t mean Ben isn’t amazing.
He is.
I liked him pretty much as soon as I met him.
And that’s quite amazing given he was a surly, petulant prick for our first few get-togethers.
Arms folded.
One word answers.
A lot of, “why would you ask that?”
But Ben’s problem was I’d seen that behaviour before.
When I joined Wieden, one of the people who would eventually be in my team, Rodi, was a carbon copy.
Same reaction.
Same responses.
And that was in the interviews.
But I soon discovered it wasn’t because they were assholes – well, not real ones – it was because they wanted to see if my standards were going to be high enough. If I was going to fight my corner or try to just be liked. To check if I was worthy of the gig and they may learn something from me or I was just a token figurehead who just wanted an easy life.
So when I saw Ben doing the same thing, I found it amusing rather than disturbing.
Which meant I just kept asking him more and more personal questions. Digging into his character before he could dig into mine.
Oh how awkward he found it. It was wonderful. Hahahaha.
Now you would have to ask him if I ‘passed’ his test, but he certainly passed mine.
Because what I soon learned – and loved – about Ben was he just wanted to do great things.
He didn’t want to take the easy path.
He didn’t want to just be liked for saying yes.
He didn’t want to simply churn out the same thing over and over again.
And I loved that.
I loved the questions and the debates we’d have.
I loved the way he dug into the business details to pull out the possibilities.
I loved the way he was a fundamentally good human, despite his dating escapades.
I miss Ben.
Not just because he’s disgustingly handsome, but because he’s a good human who happens to be smart.
He has high standards and wants people who have the same.
And if he feels he has that, he’ll go into any battle because he wants to make a difference.
Not just to the work, but the people doing it.
Lots of people will say that, but for him, it’s in his DNA.
In some ways, I imagine Ben was a natural leader from the day he was born.
He gives a shit about others.
He wants to see them succeed.
He won’t manage up simply for optics … and in the insanely hierarchal corporate structure of America, that’s not just rare, but beautiful.
Christ, the things I saw …
And yet Ben didn’t fall for that.
One or two others tried to do that shit, but never Ben.
In fact, I remember one day being told by someone my team were out of control.
Too full of opinions with too much desire to debate.
And when I said, “I know … isn’t it great!”, it was made pretty clear to me they didn’t share that perspective.
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!
Normally I wouldn’t feel proud about that.
I shouldn’t, because a planners job is to be a well-intentioned, pain in the ass.
Someone who pushes clients to be great not to be average.
But I found in America that wasn’t always the attitude.
I met far too many people there who told me “saying yes” – regardless of the ask – was far more valued by their managers than saying, “I think we can be better than this”.
I don’t know if Ben likes me.
I hope he does.
And if he does, I know the exact moment it happened.
He’d been in a huge meeting that had gone well.
The ECD sent an all agency email updating everyone on what had gone on and thanked Ben for [I think] ‘preparing the room for the meeting’.
I kid you not.
What was even more pathetic was I knew how much Ben had put into this.
How much blood, sweat and tears he’d poured into the project to give us a chance to make something great.
So I decided to respond with an all agency email reply.
Basically pointing out that as the planning department were apparently ‘so good at setting up rooms for meetings’ … if anyone had anything else they need us to do – from fixing a TV to washing clothes – just drop us an email and we’ll be there in the blink of an eye.
It didn’t go down well with anyone, except Ben.
And that’s all I cared about.
Because he’s smarter than he realises and kinder than he likes to admit.
I’m glad I didn’t miss out working with him when the Wieden gig didn’t work out.
I’m even more happy that he’s still in my life.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Colenso, Comment, Communication Strategy, Crap Products In History, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, LaLaLand, London, Love, Loyalty, Management, New Zealand, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, R/GA, Shanghai, Teamwork, Wieden+Kennedy
For some reason, I like having badges made for my colleagues.
Or anything a bit daft.
Of course, it started with the stickers I had made when I left Wieden.
600 of the buggers, hidden throughout the office – and buildings of interest – which they’re still finding to this day.
Then there was the packing tape of Jorge and the guy who is in Love Actually – which is a massive compliment even though he thought it was a huge pisstake.
Then there were the Zaid badges, made and bought on a snowy night in Boston.
Then my leaving Deutsch badges.
Followed by the pencils for Mike and Sam.
And the ‘don’t mess with me’ badge for Meg … after watching how disgusted she was at a presentation she had to attend.
Thanks to COVID, apart from the ‘you’re a twat’ sexual harassment badges we had made and sent to men who had made inappropriate comments to women in the workplace, I’ve been nothing but mature.
Until now.
Lizzie is in my team.
She has many qualities.
She’s fiercely smart. An incredibly talented, multi-instrument playing, musician. Community soup maker.
Basically, she is everything I’m not … but there’s one quality that she has that shines above even those bright lights.
She can see a dark side in everything.
I don’t mean in a depressing, mean, nasty way …
Nor do I mean in a hurtful, inconsiderate, selfish way …
I mean that in certain circumstances, she sees the worst case scenario in things.
Of course, she will claim she is simply being a realist – and there is a lot of evidence to suggest she’s right.
For example, when lockdown happened, we were having a bet on when we’d go back to work.
Most said early October, a few early November … but Lizzie swooped in and said,
“We won’t be going back till the new year”.
We laughed at her, until we didn’t and realized she was right.
Again.
Damnit.
Which is why I decided to commemorate her insightfulness with this ….
And while some may say this is not the nicest thing a boss could do for a colleague, I see it a bit differently. To me, I see it as an investment in my team – an investment at the price of my sons inheritance – which means I’m basically boss of the year.
Sadly, that year in 1953.
Happy weekend.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, Entertainment, Food, Honesty, Marketing, New Zealand, Social Media, Technology
Well I told you I wouldn’t be writing any posts for a while and I have to say, I’m as surprised as you that I managed to stick with it.
Obviously a lot has happened in the past few weeks – including learning how nothing tests how good your family relationships is, like being cooped-up in a small hotel room together for 2 weeks, 24/7 – but we’re happy, excited and up for adventure.
Before I begin, I have to say how amazing the New Zealand organisation is.
So clear, consistent and compassionate.
For someone who had a very privileged covid lockdown period, I was amazed how much it had affected me when I came to a place where I didn’t have to worry about mad decisions and u-turns.
Anyway we got through quarantine, already bought houses and cars [I know, I know] so this week is about stretching our legs, getting Otis a school, ensuring Rosie – the cat – gets to complain as much as she likes and generally getting our bearings of the city before starting at Colenso.
But that’s all for another day, today I want to kick-start the regularity of this blog with this piece of rubbish.
Now I know the re-design of the Burger King logo is not new news.
And neither is what I will be writing about, as I talked about it when it happened.
But while I like many things about the new/old BK design, the thing I like most is how perfect it is for the emoji universe.
Seriously, look at it. It’a the most emoji thing ever.
Sure, I could talk about how clever the B and K fit together.
Sure, I could talk about how I’ve not seen a logo that made me smile since since SONOS.
Sure, I could talk about how it’s as squidgy as sinking your teeth into a Whopper.
But I’m not. I’m going to say how perfectly it would go with other fast food emoji’s already available.
🍔 🍟 🥤
Come on … you so can see it fitting in with that group can’t you.
Now imagine how it could be used to communicate BK’s food menu?
Or, better yet, how it could be used for TikTok/Whatapp order functionality?
Imagine being able to order BK delivery simply by emoji on whatever platform you’re on?
When I was at Deutsch, they tried something like it for Taco Bell using Slack.
Obviously it wasn’t in emoji form and there’s questions how successful it actually was – but it showed there’s more ways to order food than simply going on a website or app.
If that wonderful BK logo was turned into the emoji it begs to be, it could be a really interesting way to drive delivery using the platforms and iconography of culture.
McDonald’s had to pay Travis Scott millions to deepen their connection with culture. BK could do it in an emoji. Their emoji.
OK, I know that is easier said than done and emoji’s are carefully controlled, but given BK’s love of trying to be controversial to be noticed, here is something they could do that has a real benefit and value to all, not just the BK PR department.
Maybe.
I also know some people are slagging the logo off.
Saying it makes the brand look as old as their food or that they need to get their stores looking clean before relaunching their brand design. But apart from those people making the classic mistake of being subjective rather than objective … I’d love to see the work they’ve done recently that proves their actions rather than their words.
God, that was feisty wasn’t it?
I’m definitely back and rested.
But all that aside …
While it’s really nice to see a brand using design to be both distinctive and authentic – versus the corporately beige approach that seems to be the norm for so many – I really hope they see the opportunity for it to be more more than just a static image. Because I have a feeling if they embraced the way culture uses social and platforms, that logo could be more than a branding device, but something that dramatically drives revenue.
You’re welcome BK.