Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Auckland, Community, Context, Culture, Food, Love, Loyalty, Pride, Professionalism, Small Business
This is the last week of blog posts for 2025.
I know … I know … it’s the Christmas gift you’ve all wanted.
And it gets better, because not only is this post relatively short, it’s also relatively harmless.
But like a scammer trying to lull someone into giving them their credit card number, I should warn you … the rest of the posts this week are long.
Like seriously long.
And while I am in no doubt you won’t read them, they’re actually quite good. Or at least one of them is … hahaha.
So with that warning now formally announced, I’ll leave you with a post about Amy and her ‘Fig’ delivery company … and what we can all learn from it.
I appreciate the last couple of posts have been a bit serious, so I thought I would tone it down a bit. Even though, underpinning it all … is a serious point.
If you look hard enough.
So recently, on a walk, I saw this …
Now, I get figs are delicious.
I get restaurants often need and use them.
But an ‘on-demand’ delivery service for them?
It may initially sound bonkers but I love it exists.
So many people only value ideas ‘with scale’ that they ignore the power of servicing niche.
Sure, it may not make them trillions but they know specifically who they are, what they do and who they are for which is more than many companies who spend tens of millions desperately trying to ‘be something for everybody’ and finding out they’re nothing for no one.
I suppose the point of this post is that while there are many definitions of success – scale is, contrary to what many say, only one of them. Which is why if you have an idea for a business … don’t evaluate it simply by ‘how big can it be’, but think in terms of how important it can be to someone and how happy it will make you.
There’s a lot of celebration for big talking, big names … but frankly, Amy at Figs Direct is more inspirational to me than most of them.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Colenso, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Delivereasy, Design, Distinction, Food, HHCL, Radio
I am of an age where I read the magnificent Viz comic.
For those who don’t know what that is, it was a highly successful ‘adult’ comic that featured a steady stream of ridiculous characters such as ‘The Pathetic Sharks’, ‘Sid The Sexist’ and ‘Roger Mellie … The Man On The Telly’ and that’s just the ones that are still ‘PC’ enough to name.
But its appeal was far more than just the stories …
Part of its legacy was written through the ‘readers letters’ and ‘ads’ they created and published. A glorious mishmash of bonkeredness and inappropriateness that were always delivered with charm, laughs, mischievousness’ and truth.
A perfect example of this is their iconic tourism campaign for Mabletherpe:
Skegness is fucking shit. Come to Mablethorpe.
I have that as a poster at home and still use it as a perfect example of expressing a clear and powerful point of view. And I’m not even joking.
Anyway, the reason for this write up is because I utterly adore our new Delivereasy work.
Not just because it’s beautiful …
Not just because it continues our fun ‘the outdoors is a bubbling cauldron of danger’ work which we launched a little while ago, celebrating how Delivereasy helps you get takeout without the risk of having to go out …
But because the look and feel of the work feels – at least to me – ‘prime Viz’, and as compliments go, I don’t know if they can go much higher.
Isn’t it lovely?
Add to this that the radio campaign that proceeded this work feels – again, at least to me – similar in spirit to one of my most loved pieces of work [the Diet Tango radio spots, which are so well written, Shakespeare would be jealous] … and you will see why Delivereasy is more than just a business to me, but something much more personal.
Now all I have to do is convince them we could this into a book that’s kinda like an ‘adult’ version of ‘Where’s Wally’ and my career is complete.
Watch this space. Haha.
Talking of space …
I fly to China this weekend.
Well, I do, assuming the doctors give me the green light for my eye this morning – which they didn’t last week so I couldn’t get to Billy’s funeral. Add to that, I woke up this morning to 2 horrible and sad bits of news and not only can I categorically say ‘bad news doesn’t happen in 3’s [as I’m already on 5 for this month alone], I worry karma has decided to visit me, even though I’m not exactly sure what it wants to see me for – haha.
But hey, let’s be positive and assume all goes well … what that means is this blog will be an even bigger wasteland than it normally is as I’ll be gone for all of next week. Mind you, if it doesn’t, it’ll still be quiet because I’ll be pissed off and seething with anger.
Or more likely, disappointment, hahaha.
So while the good people of the Middle Kingdom will have to endure the pain of my presence, you lot – or whoever actually still visits this site anymore – gains from my absence. But not as much as Din Tai Fung are going to gain from having me eat EVERY MEAL at one of their locations.
See you in a week.
After Paula and I presented at Cannes, we were sent some photographs by WARC.
Of course I wanted to look at them, but the thing that shocked me the most was the difference between the photo from our session, and the one – almost 2 years to the day – from our Strategy Is Constipated, Imagination Is The Laxative presentation.
Of course I knew there would be a difference – I’m now literally half the man I used to be – but I guess I hadn’t realized just how different the overall impact would be.
Which highlights one important thing: Strategists are fucking idiots. [Or at least I am]
Anyway, this is what I’m talking about …
While I recognize the ‘before’ sight of me, I can’t quite believe I let myself get into such a state.
Now some of it was not entirely my fault.
When I was younger I was very fit but an issue with my eye [Not the issue I’m going through now, another one and another eye] meant I was not allowed to do much exercise as there was a real chance of losing my sight, which obviously I didn’t want.
But then, over the years, the sedentary life because my day-to-day life.
And while I – if I’m being honest – didn’t like how I looked, I couldn’t see a way out of it.
Part of it was because I couldn’t imagine a life where I had to stop eating the food I loved.
Part of it was because I didn’t let myself accept how I looked – a kind-of body dysmorphia.
Part of it was I didn’t know how to change it, which caused me real turmoil.
That last point is the biggest one … because I went through real lows at different points in my life, recognizing the position I was in, even if I didn’t allow myself to recognize just how bad the position I was in.
Now it is important to note I am not saying I was lazy. If anything, I was ill … so while it’s dead easy for people to look at overweight individuals and think it’s all their own fault, it’s far more complex than that. Sure, they have to take responsibility for their situation, but there’s a lot going on in many of their lives which means they just don’t feel they can. Add to that, the fact it costs a lot of money to eat healthily and it just makes everything much, much more difficult.
Anyway, I posted that photo on Linkedin and – bizarrely – it got the most engagement of any post I’ve ever written on that platform. And all the comments were not just supportive, but very human. For a platform that seemingly revels in replicating American Psycho, that blew my mind and gave me more hope for business than I’d had in years.
But one question many asked was ‘how did I do it’ … so to round out the week, I thought I’d tell you what worked for me. Can’t guarantee it will work for everyone, but it has – and continues to [because it’s never going to change, even though I can be less strict on the range of food I eat] – be the foundation of how I live.
So here I go:
+ 1675 calories a day [total or net]
+ 25 grams of sugar a day
+ 65 grams of carbs a day.
And then I walk 15kms a day. Didn’t start that way, so it doesn’t really matter how far you go, as long as you do a couple of kms and you do it consistently.
I also write EVERYTHING I consume on an app called Lose It and that’s it.
To be honest I found it easier than I thought it would be but acknowledge I’ve had a lot of help from family, clients and colleagues.
My total loss – so far – is 47kg and while I still crave bread, I manage to only have it on special occasions. There’s a lot of good alts out there – from coffee to chocolate to rice to sauces – and while it takes a bit of getting used to, once you have, you will hardly know any difference at all.
Last thing … we all will have bad days. Accept it. Try not to have more than one a fortnight and if you’re going to do it, make sure it’s with good quality food that you love. If you’re going to fail, fail gloriously … but occasionally … and then get back on the horse the next day.
Bizarrely, while I can now eat a few more things now than I let myself originally … I actually LOVE getting back to my diet. Not only do I appreciate taste more than I ever have, I also accept some food is for fueling my body not just satisfying my gluttony.
That’s it … so if anyone wants to chat about specifics, just reach out to me. As I said, I can’t guarantee it is what you need, but I’ll happily answer anything you want to know, including some of the recipes/foods that have filled me up without necessarily clogging me up – haha.
So if you fancy giving it a go, ‘go big’ on Saturday … eat to your hearts content … but use Sunday to start planning for the rest of the week. I get how big a deal it is. I get how daunting it is. But apart from the health benefits – of which they are innumerable – if you’re anything like me, you might find the biggest change is you start to like and respect yourself a little bit. And as benefits go, that’s incredible.
Good luck, I’m here for anyone who needs to chat.
When I was in London, I went to Borough Market.
It had been years since I’d last visited, but the allure of TikTok videos saw me heading there early one Saturday morning.
I knew I was going to go a bit crazy with eating stuff – but in my defense – I live in NZ so I knew I wouldn’t be doing it very often.
When I arrived, I basically attacked it with military precision.
By precision, I mean I went straight in … sampling everything I had seen on the socials as well as anything that caught my eye.
And a lot caught my eye.
Breads.
Sausage Rolls.
Specialist sandwiches.
Fruit covered in chocolate.
Fancy pants pastries.
Doughnuts with exotic toppings.
You name it, I spent a fortune buying it, scoffing it and – if truth be told – being disappointed with it.
Not all, but most.
In fact, the best thing I ate was the easiest to make … the strawberries covered in chocolate.
Admittedly they were fucking good strawberries – and how can you go wrong with chocolate? – but even so, to have that as the tastiest thing I put in my mouth that day is pretty sad. That said, it does explain why that stall allegedly clears 20,000 quid profit a day.
A DAY!!!
[I know that sounds mad, but it came from a person in the know so don’t shoot the messenger]
What blew my mind was how packed it got …
People of all ages and places flocking to it like it was a new type of religion. Except instead of bringing bibles, they brought their cameras, smartphones and selfie sticks to flood their socials with more appetite illusion.
Me included, obvs.
Anyway, as I approached the whole experience like it was some sort of bizarre race, I was in and out within 2 hours … which is good, as I then proceeded to walk 29,000 steps to offset what I’d put in my mouth, but if it was based on taste rather than calories, I reckon I could have got away with about 40 steps.
Another reminder social media may wet the appetite, but its reality rarely satisfies.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, China, Comment, Communication Strategy, Context, Creativity, Culture, Customer Service, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Food, Perspective, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Service, Supermarkets
Isn’t it funny we talk so much about the environment, and yet we are producing more stuff that fucks the world than ever before?
That said, while companies aren’t great at living up to what they state – humans tend to be far better.
One of which has been our ability to find ways to make food last longer than intended.
Whether that’s been creating mustard to disguise the taste of potentially ‘off’ ingredients through to making stale bread into bread and butter pudding, we’ve always found ways to stretch things out.
Of course, the ultimate nation for food maximization is China.
Now, part of that is because during the Great Leap Forward, people were starved/starving and so were forced to eat anything they could to survive. However, while that time is well gone, the attitude of ‘waste not, want not’ has remained which is why there’s so many recipes across the region that utilize a nose to tail philosophy.
Literally.
I say this because I recently saw Marks & Spencer’s [M&S] in the UK be a bit smart with their sourdough bread.
It’s this.
Good eh?
Rather than chuck the bread out as it starts to go stale … shove loads of garlic butter in them, place them in a fridge and flog them as mouthwatering garlic bread you just have to heat-up before shoving down your throat.
OK, they could have given it to the needy rather than find another way to take every last penny from their customers, but it’s still devastatingly simple. And smart.
They’ve also launched a range of ‘minimal ingredient’ food … which is clever for a whole host of reasons. The first being the increased awareness and desire for preservative free food. The second being it goes off faster, so there’s a good chance people will end up having to buy more when their best intentions to eat it gets scuppered with life etc. Given it is probably even more expensive than the preservative counterpart – I know, paying a premium for less, classic capitalism – and everyone can kinda win with this.
To be fair, I’ve always been quite impressed how supermarkets innovate – they’ve done far more and in more ways than most organisations – but while ‘pre-packaged’ garlic bread is not a new thing [though garlic sourdough loaves is a whole other level] … as is finding new ways to extend old/ugly food … it’s still a perfect example of creative thinking.
It’s also a lesson to the ad industry on how to sell creative thinking.
Because for all the systems, processes, charts and models we love to bang on about, the key seems to be much simpler.
Solve a real problem. [Opportunity]
Show why people will really pay for your solution. [Benefit]
Make it easy-as-fuck for them to buy [Action]
[including what they have to do at their end to make it happen]
I say this, but I bet there’s still strategists and agencies out there who would still write a 305 page deck to explain this idea …
As I have said before, if the solution feels more complicated than the problem, why the fuck do we expect anyone to do it?