Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Communication Strategy, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Design, Empathy, Equality, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Resonance, Technology
Microsoft used to be the joke of technology.
Or maybe the ‘beige of technology’ is a better description.
Creating products for mainstream mediocrity.
To be fair, that perception was driven more because of their marketing than their technology … but it’s fair to say they were certainly lacking that slick sheen that turned other tech companies into Rock Stars.
But a change has been happening in Seattle over the past few years.
OK, less on the marketing side and more on the tech … but a change all the same.
Where other companies are trying to hype up small degrees of change, Microsoft have been trying to push a genuine innovation agenda. But not innovation just for the sake of innovation, but stuff that has a real purpose as demonstrated by their new controller for X-Box.
Now you may argue making a controller that helps those suffering from physical difficulties is a small market, but on a global scale I would imagine it adds up – especially when there is no real viable alternative out there. [Or one that I know of]
But that’s not the point here … it’s that they did it.
Even more than that, they did it with real understanding of the audience they’re catering to.
They spent time and money on producing a product that offers a genuine solution to people often ignored.
[You can see how this affected their process by going here]
For all the talk tech companies give about wanting to ‘help humanity move forward’, few do.
Or should I say, few do if it requires doing something that has a more ‘niche’ appeal.
Yes, I know some are doing stuff that we don’t know about, but to make a physical product specifically for this audience is a big deal … especially in this commercially obsessed World.
So well done Microsoft, this is brilliant.
Brilliant for millions of people who want to play but have been ignored.
Brilliant for showing the power of design to solve problems … again.
Brilliant at showing you use technology to evolve humans rather than devolve them.
Brilliant at being more innovative than your competitors.
Brilliant at making me feel more towards you than I have in years.
As I’ve said for years, products have done more to grow brand value than advertising.
Don’t get me wrong, advertising is hugely powerful and important, but it all starts from doing something good, not something average.
That used to be obvious. Sadly, I don’t think it is anymore.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Devious Strategy, Emotion, Empathy, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Standards
One of the things I’ve found interesting over the years is how planners deal with creative reviews.
In the main, they fall into 2 groups.
1. The ones that tear things down.
2. The ones who lift things up.
What makes #1 worse is that in many cases, what drives their destruction isn’t the work doesn’t answer the brief, but doesn’t answer it in the way they imagined.
In other words, they’re acting like a Creative Director.
Don’t get me wrong, a brief is important – it’s something that not only gives direction and lets ideas be pressure tested, but serves as a historical document so people can see where things came from at some point in the future.
But – and it’s an important but – a brief is not law.
It is not something that can’t be changed, enhanced or thrown out and re-done.
The goal has to be the work and while briefs can work ‘in theory’, if the creative teams aren’t getting to ideas that ignite energy in people, then it’s time to look at where the brief is stopping creativity to flow.
That does not mean you post-ratrionalise whatever is produced, but by the same token, you don’t expect a brief to be answered to the letter, which is why I stand by the belief a brief should act as a direction rather than a destination.
And that’s why I like planners who ‘lift things up’.
Who look for the good in the work rather than the bad.
Not in a Paula Abdul ‘everything is good even when it’s not’ kind-of-way, but recognise the threads that could lead to something exciting and new … threads that encourage rather than dictate … threads that lets everyone feel you’re on the same team and want the same thing.
The reason I say this is because I recently saw a quote that I loved.
It comes from US politician, John A Morrison and he say’s …
“Knowledge may come from taking things apart but wisdom only comes from putting things together”.
I love this.
I love what it means and represents.
And that’s why I think planners need to spend more time on wisdom than knowledge, because while a major part of our job is finding out the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’, if we don’t think of how those things can come together in interesting ways, then we’re not only limiting our own potential, we’re doing a disservice to where creativity can go and what it can achieve.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Innovation, Standards
I’ve written a lot about the one dimensional view adland has towards who they regard as creative and creativity as a whole – except when it’s Cannes time of course – but I was recently reminded how this view remains by a recent purchase of a guitar effect pedal.
No, seriously.
I don’t mean it purely because this pedal can create infinite sustain for any musical instrument – though that is very impressive – I mean it because it was created by 3 young, Latvian electronic students who are also amateurs musicians.
Now I don’t know much about Latvia, but I don’t think ‘music technology leader’ immediately springs to mind and yet, their product has taken away all the attention from the big, established players at all the music shows it has been featured at.
What they did is – for me – an example of where creativity is at its most exciting as well as it’s most powerful … and yet so much of adland would dismiss their efforts as not only do they only value creativity in the context of art and copy, but only regard people who sit in the creative department as being creative.
Don’t get me wrong, the people in there have a very special and valuable talent … but that doesn’t mean they are the only ones who are creative and can solve commercial problems for clients.
As I said once before, it’s funny that the only people who refer to themselves as ‘creative’, are those who reside in ad agencies.
Writers don’t.
Musicians don’t.
Artists don’t.
Film makers don’t.
And Latvian electronic students – who also play musical instruments – don’t.
To be fair, many of the great creatives I’ve worked with don’t refer to themselves in such a singular way, especially as they have many ways of expressing their talent but sadly, due to the way agencies make money and clients determine good work, they are constrained in their creative expression to only doing work that fits with ‘traditional’ marketing channels. [read: the stuff that is measurable so clients feel OK paying for it]
This is annoying for many reasons, but mainly for the fact our industries future isn’t going to get better if the powers-that-be continue to think the best way to make money is to charge for process management rather than charging a premium for solving problems in the most imaginative, powerful and meaningful of ways.
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As you mull that over, I have some good news for you …
It’s a long weekend here so you are free from me until Tuesday.
Now while I know you will prefer that to the ad industry sorting itself out, the fact is if we an an industry leant back into the value of creativity rather than advertising [even though we often call advertising creativity – which it is, but you know what I mean], then I am sure it would make every day feel a bit more like a holiday than a job …. which is one of the ways we actually get to the work we all strive to make.
And with that, I’m off … ta-ra.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, BBH, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Cynic, Din Tai Fung, Experience, Family, Food For Thought, Freddie, Honesty, Innovation, Insight, Management, Marketing, Perspective, Relevance, Research, Resonance, Standards
Many years ago I worked with a Swedish planner called Fredrik Sarnblad.
I loved him.
I loved him for many reasons …
His brain.
His humour.
His creativity.
His friendship.
His unsatisfiable appetite.
We went through all manner of trials and tribulations together … from highs of convincing work to send us to Bali for a week so we could work on the SONY pitch strategy in peace [which, thank god, we won] to lows of being in Thailand with a client who spent all their time trying to undermine us in front of their colleagues. [which we, read: me, didn’t react to very well]
And while we’ve not worked together for over 11 years, Freddie was always more than an ex-colleague, but a real friend … exemplified by the fact that when we saw each other in Boston a few weeks ago – after almost 6 years apart – it was like nothing had changed.
My relationship with Freddie is different to that of many of my other friends.
One of those reasons is I’ve never made a highly inappropriate blog about the way they dress.
The other is that I can have really personal and emotional conversations about life with him.
That’s not to say I can’t with my other mates, it’s just I rarely do … but with Freddie, we always did and do. Talking about subject many people find uncomfortable but are true for all of us.
The reason this can happen is that Freddie is both self aware and in touch with who he is.
He doesn’t shy away from the big conversations because he knows that’s where life resides … the real stuff, not the things we use to distract us from dealing with the real stuff.
One of the things we talked about recently was happiness.
Initially it was in the context of family but it quickly evolved to the job we are paid to do.
Creativity.
We talked about what makes us happy, what frustrates us and what we can do to make things better … more fun … more interesting and exciting. We even talked about how we can work together again.
Well that conversation must have had a real impact on Freddie because weeks later, he quit his job and started his own agency.
To be honest, I think that’s a bit extreme … all he had to do was say he didn’t want to work with me again … but I’m super happy and excited for him.
I’ve written many times why everyone should experience starting their own business, but in Freddie’s case it’s a little different.
Don’t get me wrong, it will be amazing for him – but the real value will come from the companies that use him because he’ll not only make them better, he’ll make them discover what they are capable of being.
So congratulations my dear Freddie, I look forward to one day being one of your shitkickers …
Knock them dead …
You can find out what he’s doing and how he’s doing it here.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Innovation, Insight, Planners, Planning, Technology
So this is linked to yesterdays post about AI/VR.
A friend of mine recently put up this poster of an idea he’s trying to get Amazon to do with their Alexa virtual assistant.
Basically he wants Amazon to allow people suffering from domestic abuse, to be able to set up a ‘safe word’ in Alexa.
If the word is ever heard, Alexa will automatically start recording all ambient noise and send it directly to the Police.
While I appreciate there are a mass of legal implications, it’s a simple, brilliant idea … designed to empower humanity rather than laziness.
The fact is was created by a planner, in an agency, makes me extra-happy.
I’ve written a lot about my frustration that too many agencies believe creativity only exists if you sit in the creative department – and while what they do is an amazing thing that can take ideas to even more magical places – they do not have the monopoly on creative thinking and this is additional proof of that. Better yet, my mate is not doing it for an award or some scam shit, he’s doing it because he gives a shit about humanity and has created an idea that could make a real difference to someone’s life.
Something we are all supposed to be doing but often end up just communicating.
If anyone out there knows someone of influence at Amazon, please can you show them this.
