Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brazil, Colenso, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Food, Kev, OnStrategy, Planners, Rio, Wieden+Kennedy
So last month, I said that Fergus – the founder, host and owner of the most honey-dripped voice in history of OnStrategy – was coming to Auckland to do a panel at Colenso’s offices.
Well today is the day and I’m excited.
I don’t mean because I’m one of the panel – don’t get me wrong, that’s lovely – but because I get to meet the big man in person.
He’s going to get a big hug.
That might not be very professional. That might be the last thing he wants. But he’s going to get one because he’s a good human and I like having those more and more in my life.
Recently, I met someone else who has been in my life for years without being in my physical proximity – albeit we had met once before.
In Rio.
In a meeting room.
That was underground.
Despite literally being opposite Cocacobana beach.
It was the one and only, Kevin Chesters.
I love Kev. He’s a tall, bald, charismatic and clever bastard.
We met in Rio because I basically guilt-tripped Dave Luhr – Wieden’s Global CCO – into letting us have a ‘head of planning’ get-together because every other bloody department at Wieden seemed to be having one every second week.
Dave was always great to me and said yes … so we chose Brazil, mainly because we could.
And yet, for reasons I can’t quite remember, we ended up choosing the only hotel in Rio where the meeting room was underground.
With no natural daylight whatsoever.
Unsuprisingly we didn’t spend long down there – I think just long enough for the video call with Luhr – mainly so he would think we were ‘hard at work’, rather than hard at chatting and sightseeing.
It was a crazy trip which I remember mainly for eating the biggest and best piece of mozzeralla of my life, accidentally walking through a favela on my own at 1am and then having a 42 hour flight home.
Anyway, since then, Kev has started his own management/training company and it’s epic.
Insightful yet practical advice on all manner of subjects from how to better deal with time, how to have a constructive argument and what you can learn from gangs.
We’ve been using him at Colenso for a while and were able to manipulate a situation that brought him out to us from the UK.
Which is why I got to see him again after 12 years.
And he got a big hug too.
Which for me, highlights one of the best things about this industry.
Because while it may be global, it’s really a village … and so getting to hang out with people you feel you know – but rarely meet – is a wonderful, special thing.
In many ways, it’s one of the best reasons to go and live/work overseas, as well as, bizarrely, go to Cannes.
Because for all the talk of adland being a service industry, it’s really a human industry – and while technology can enable great things to happen, it will never achieve what connections, collaborations and communication can achieve.
So welcome Fergus.
And hello again, Kev.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Bonnie, Childhood, Family, Food, Health, Holiday, Mental Health, Rosie, Walking
As many of you know, over the last year, I’ve got healthy.
Through exercise and a very regimented and controlled calorie/sugar/carb diet [except on Christmas and Birthday’s where I eat a whole loaf of Sourdough with salted butter and raspberry jam] I’ve lost over 46kg.
Or said another way, I’ve lost the equivalent of my 10 year old son.
Not only that, but maybe the first time in 40+ years, I am in the healthy BMI range.
Yes, I know the whole BMI system is currently being evaluated because frankly, it’s not fit for purpose, however this is still a huge thing for me.
But not the biggest thing. Oh no …
Because despite now eating well, dressing better and basically being in the best health of my adult life, the biggest difference in me is this:
Yep, that’s my walking chart for January. Or should I say, for most of January.
And full disclosure, of the days shown, 10 were during the festive break and another 10 days were when I was not allowed to drive due to my eye problem.
But, even then, I walked over HALF A MILLION STEPS in 28 days.
HALF A FUCKING MILLION.
That’s 19,000 a day!!!
And you know what, I loved every step of it.
I walk before work.
I walk on client calls.
I walk in the lunch break.
I walk when I get home after dinner.
I’m a fucking walking machine, and yet a little over a year or so ago, I’d have probably driven to the shower if I could.
Of all the things that have happened on my health journey, my love of walking has probably been the most surprising. But what it also has done is reveal how I used to manage stress.
Truth be told, I never thought I suffered with stress.
Sure, there were the odd times it was tough, but generally I thought it was all OK.
However when I decided to sort myself out, I would continually catch myself walking to the fridge. Not because I was hungry, but because I was looking for a distraction or a diversion from something related to work.
I’d deal with my ‘auto-pilot fridge visits’ by forcing myself to go for a walk instead … however over the weeks I realized how often I was out pounding the streets which revealed to me, arguably the first time, how much stress I was probably dealing with throughout my life.
I should point out that when I say ‘stress’, I don’t mean anything like so many people have to deal with.
For me, it was more mundane stuff … like how I was going to write a deck or how was I going to cram all my meetings in.
But here’s the strange thing …
Despite walking so much, I somehow am able to do so much more.
Not because I have more energy – I’m not really sure I do – but because I have more inner calm.
I call it ‘Zen Ferocity’ … which sounds far too new age bollocks, but in essence means by being calmer, I have been able to put more intensity into what matters rather than what distracts.
Of course this shouldn’t be a surprise as there’s so much evidence on how running helps the mind … but when you have gone from walking to the fridge to walking 19,000 steps a day, it’s still a gratefully received fist in the face.
But what this walking has also done is prepare me perfectly for welcoming this into the Campbell home:
Meet Bonnie.
Or to give her, her full name – courtesy of Otis – Bonnie Bourbon Biscuit. [But we’ll just be sticking with Bonnie, hahaha]
She was only 24 days old in that photo and we don’t get her until April … but we have a very excited household.
Even our beloved Rosie may have thought she was cute …
Maybe.
And while I know owning a dog is a very different proposition than owning a cat, I can be sure of one thing.
She’s not going to be wanting for walks.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Ambition, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audacious, Brand, Brand Suicide, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Cannes, Collaboration, Comment, Confidence, Context, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Devious Strategy, Differentiation, Distinction, Emotion, Fast Food, Food, IMU, Innovation, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Packaging, Paula, Planners, Provocative, Qantas, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Smell
Over the years, I’ve written a lot about collabs.
The good.
The bad.
The ridiculous.
But recently there has been one that has somehow achieved all three. AT ONCE.
That’s right, the glorious, overpowering flavor of Pickled Onion Monster Munch and Heinz mayo.
It’s the combination no one asked for … no one expected and no one imagined could work.
And it doesn’t, and yet it does.
It’s possible the unhealthiest and most unpleasant thing you could ever put in your mouth and yet – if you’re like me – and love Monster Munch, it’s something you could not possibly resist from trying.
Hell, when we moved to London back in 2018, it was literally the first ‘British’ food item I got Otis to try – literally the morning after we arrived – and the fact he liked them [at least he did, then] made me burst with so much pride, I could overlook his development of an American accent. Just. Check it out below..
But here’s the thing, similar to when the Absolut Disco Ball packaging made me buy alcohol, despite having not drunk anything since I was FIFTEEN YEARS OLD, this collab made me go to absolute lengths to get it into my hands.
You see you couldn’t buy it in NZ so I had to adopt different means.
I wrote to Heinz.
I joined their ‘fan club/DTC’ service.
I explored supermarkets in both America and Australia.
I contacted courier services about getting it and delivering it to me.
In the end, a plea on social media was answered by the incredible thoughtful Jestyn on Twitter/X … who not only got it for me, but sent it to me as well.
And while I would not get it again … the fact is I was not only more excited about it than 99% of brands out there, but I went to greater lengths to get my hands on it than I would for 99% of brands despite the fact I knew it was overtly bad for you and I’m Mr Healthy these days so I was perfectly aware that I’d only ever taste it once.
While there are many possible lessons we could learn from the creation of this, albeit, novelty product – be if fandom, communities or unexpected relevance – the real lesson is to follow, and then protect, the excitement.
The stuff that captures the imagination.
The stuff that changes the conversation.
The stuff that keeps people on their toes.
The stuff everyone keeps referring back to, even when logic tells them not to.
Because as Paula, Martin and I explained at our Strategy Is Constipated, Imagination Is The Laxative talk at Cannes back in 2023 … the greatest strategy doesn’t start from a place of logic, it finds the point of most excitement and works back from there.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Australia, Authenticity, Culture, Food, Friendship, Sydney
Last month I found myself in Sydney.
While I have spent a lot of time recently in Australia, it has been a while since I was in that city.
It felt a bit weird.
Part of that is because of the history I have with the place.
I lived there for almost 10 years.
My wife and her family are from there.
We still have a home there.
Overall, I enjoyed my time there – but I always felt I would have been happier in Melbourne.
I always found that city a bit more real. A bit less showy.
More NYC than LA.
But as I was walking to have dinner with a friend who has just moved to Australia from Amsterdam, I passed this place …
Harry’s is an institution in Sydney.
A food stall that is – or was – open 24/7.
A place that is covered in photos of all the World Famous people who have visited and eaten there.
Elton John. Pamela Anderson. Colonel bloody Saunders.
You name them, they’ve all gone on a trip to Wooloomooloo wharf at some ungodly time of the day or night to chomp down on one of their basic delicacies.
The entire menu of Harry’s consists of pies, mash, peas, gravy and hot dogs with many packaged up using different combinations of those ingredients and given ‘exotic’ names.
Not only that, they offered mint sauce as a condiment for people to use as much as they liked and they never, ever scrimped on the onions in a hot dog … which meant that for me, Harry’s was – or should I say ‘is’ – perfect in every way.
Cheap as chips. Tasty as fuck.
Anyway, when I lived in Sydney, there were 2 scenarios where I would find myself there.
1. When I had visitors in town.
2. New Years Day … around 4am.
For 10 years, I made those pilgrimages to gluttony and never once did I regret it.
Oh the people I saw there.
The sights I witnessed.
The stories I heard and wrote.
I was early for meeting my friend so I just stared at the place. Relived the memories. And I have to tell you, I literally had to fight with myself not to buy ‘a Tiger’ pie.
I really wanted to … but the impending dinner with my friend, my new-found healthiness and their ‘pay by phone’ feature being down conspired to stop me.
OK, it was the pay by phone feature being down that was the real issue.
And while I am sure some stuff has changed – it wasn’t open 24/7 for a start [though now I’m thinking that may never have been the case except maybe weekends] it was lovely to see the old place. Hell, it even made me feel good about the city again.
You see while people love to talk about Sydney for its beauty – which is fair, as it is gorgeous – I always loved it for its quirky character.
The corners.
The places hidden in the shadows.
The slightly questionable rather than glam.
And while so much of it all has now become gentrified, I do love it when I find places that are proud about not changing. Seems crazy, but in a world that always wants to run ahead, there’s something comforting about a pie shop who is stubbornly staying true to who they are.
Almost as comforting as the pies they feed you.
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Auckland, Colenso, Colleagues, Comment, Fast Food, Food, Happiness, Health, India, Pizza
As many of you know, I’ve been on a health kick for about 18 months or so and in that time, I’ve managed to lose over 47kg.
Despite that …
Despite being very careful with what I eat.
Despite me noting down in an app every single item I put in my gob.
I never am in doubt how easily I could go back.
Maybe not to what I was, but definitely far from where I am.
Of course I allow myself some treats every now and then …
I have a whole loaf of sourdough, salted butter and jam on my birthday for example.
And now – when I go out for an occasional nice dinner – I may actually have things I enjoy rather than denying myself, in the knowledge it won’t happen very often.
But a few weeks ago, I found myself working late and needed dinner. If I’m being honest, it’s been A LONG TIME since I’ve grabbed food while working in the office … but I had my brilliant colleague, India, with me and we’d been talking about a place up the road that owns another place which serves some of the best pizza I’ve ever had.
EVER. HAD.
So off we went to Farina to go get some pies before we sat down to some late night work.
In my defense, I’d basically eaten nothing the whole day, so I was starving.
Plus I knew we had hours of work ahead of us and it was a cold, rainy night.
But while that is all contextual evidence, it doesn’t hide the fact that as soon as we were handed our pizza boxes and stepped out of the restaurant … this is what happened.
Yep, I was into it like a shark in a kids paddling pool.
Worse, I almost cried when I had fully demolished it.
Not just because it was so good – and it was SOOOOOO good – but because, like a shark who had tasted blood – my body had been reminded how fucking great ‘not-so-great-food-for-you’ is and I have to talk myself every day from going in and having another.
I don’t.
But I could.
Which is why when people talk about losing weight, the reality is that’s the easy part … it’s keeping the fucker off that’s the hardest thing. And that delicious circle of pepperoni pizza I shoved down my gob in the blink of an eye reminded me both how well I’ve been doing, but also how easily I could give it all up if I let myself.
And given Farina is 5 minutes walk from the office, that means I am currently the strongest man in the World.