Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Colenso, Comment, Management, Metallica, Wieden+Kennedy
I know I’ve only been at Colenso a few days.
I know I’ve had a career full of a variety of highs.
But recently, I achieved something that will never be surpassed.
You see I was asked by a music management team to put a ‘credentials’ together for another band they may want me to work with.
To help with that, I asked if they would be able to send me something that described how working with me was.
I got this.
Not just a brilliant statement. [Ignoring it’s an insult]
But signed.
SIGNED!!!
Hahahahahaha.
Best credentials slide. Ever. Fact.
Though what is slightly worrying is I’ve been called an “asshole” by Richard Branson and Dan Wieden. Mind you, if I can get them to do the same thing for me, I will probably win – or be banned – from every piece of business forever.
Happy weekend … it’s been a hell of a great week.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colenso, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Emotion, Empathy, HHCL, Innovation, Insight, Love, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Metallica, New Zealand, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Relevance, Resonance, Respect, Technology, Uncommon, Uncorporated, Wieden+Kennedy
So this is it.
First day at school. Again.
In another new country. Again.
It’s always a weird feeling starting a new job. A mixture of excitement and nerves.
Excitement for the possibilities that lie ahead and nerves that you don’t really know what the hell actually lies ahead.
Most of this is because you are not you when you begin a new job.
You’re in this weird place where you want to throw yourself in the mix as quickly as possible – both to start feeling settled and to show your value to your new colleagues – while at the same time, knowing you have to learn a whole new set of people, protocols and situations while navigating the judging eyes that are going to follow you around for weeks.
But I have to say I am particularly excited about this.
I’ve loved Colenso from afar for a long time.
And as I wrote a while back, I almost joined them 6 years ago and always regretted it didn’t work out [simply because my head was not in the right place after Mum died] … so to be given this chance again is something else.
But the main thing is how they have acted towards me before I joined.
Lots of companies talk a good game when they’re trying to hire you and then – the moment it’s all signed and sealed – turn into demanding, inconsiderate pricks.
While it has only happened to me once, it fucks with your mind.
You doubt your judgement.
You question your decisions.
It’s pretty debilitating.
And yet, while it has been almost 8 months since we agreed to get married, Colenso have been amazing in how they have dealt with me.
One of the big things is how steadfast they’ve been not involving me in stuff till I’m here.
Of course they checked in … but they never gave me work to do, because they didn’t want our first experience working together to be one where I’m the only person on Zoom and 13 hours behind the rest of the team.
And while I would not have minded, I totally get why they wanted that to be the way.
That said, I did want to use the time to get to know the team and I basically had to beg to get that to happen.
Of course it’s not the best way to build any sort of understanding, rapport and relationship with people – so rather than talk about work, we tended to chat about what’s happening in our lives and how we feel about it – which took away any formality and allowed us to start revealing the different sides of each other.
And while I can’t wait to get to know them properly from here on in, I’m happy we have got to a stage where they feel comfortable enough to already call me a range of ‘choice’ names … which means I’ve just saved a week on my typical timings, ha.
While the past 13 months have been a very special time for me both personally [spending so much time with my wonderful family in our new home] and professionally [working with amazing people doing work I never dreamed I would be a part of] I am utterly thrilled to be starting here today.
Don’t get me wrong, I know it won’t all be rainbows and unicorns.
I’m old enough to know there will be plenty of times full of pain, drama, arguing and asshole challenges … but when you work for a place that only has its eye on the work they create, it means everything works out in the end.
For all the tension, scars, arguments and bloody hard fucking work it takes for creativity to be at its sharpest and most dangerous – at least a lot of the time, but not all of the time – once you’ve got it there and let it out into the world, it’s amazing how all the tension, scars and arguing fade away.
Better yet, it’s replaced with excitement, energy and possibility.
OK, and nerves, but even that is in an excited way.
Now I accept this might all sound like bullshit, but it isn’t
I lived it at HHCL, Cynic and Wieden.
It’s why it’s the founding principal behind Uncorporated.
It’s why places like Uncommon, are attracting the biggest names rather than chasing them.
And it’s why a small agency on the other side of the World has consistently played against the very best in the World.
The key word here is consistently.
Not one offs.
Not once upon a time, a long time ago.
I mean doing it day in and day out.
Finding new ways to do old things.
Looking for opportunities where creativity can change outcomes.
Embracing technology to expand the possibilities of creativity rather than just efficiency.
Staying on the path even when you could take short-cuts or potentially crash and burn.
Because in an industry that is increasingly defining success outside of the work they make and the cultural impact it creates, it’s those who let the creativity do the talking who create and attract the most interesting futures.
Not just for themselves. But for clients and culture alike.
So thank you to everyone who helped me get to this place in my career.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me actually get to New Zealand.
And thank you to Colenso for your stupidity in giving me this opportunity.
I will be eternally grateful, even if my new planning gang won’t be.
Right, time for the oldest ‘new boy’ to go cause some chaos.
Have a great day, I know I will.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Confidence, Consultants, Content, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Dad, Design, Digital, Distinction, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Finance, Honesty, Imagination, Insight, Internet, Legend, Love, Loyalty, Management, Metallica, Money, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Relevance, Resonance, Respect, Rick Rubin, Standards
I am a massive fan of Rick Rubin.
Actually that’s not quite right.
I am a massive disciple of Rick Rubin.
I think he is incredible. His ability to help others express their most powerful creative voice is amazing.
So much of this is down to how he see’s his role.
Not as a music producer, but as a sophisticated fan.
Someone who wants the band he loves to be their shameless best.
Protecting them from ever feeling they have to compromise on who they are or what they want to say because he fiercely believes the greatest return comes when you express your honesty and authenticity rather than play to be liked.
It’s why the artists he’s worked with reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the most culturally significant artists of their time.
Those who either defined a genre or validated it.
LL Cool J
Run DMC
The Beastie Boys
Slayer
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Rage Against The Machine
The Black Crowes
The Dixie Chicks
Johnny Cash
Look at that list. Look at it.
Hip Hop. Rap. Rock. Metal. Thrash. Blues. Country. Funk.
No one should be able to be so successful with that range of genre and artist.
It’s hilarious and yet there are so many more artists I could mention because for almost 4 decades, Rubin has helped artists not only express their truth but recognise the economic power from doing so.
He has created icons.
He has revived icons.
He has shaped, pushed and provoked culture.
He has influenced, shaped and changed music forever.
When we hear agencies talk about ‘creating culture’, most haven’t come anywhere close to what he has helped create.
But what I love the most about Rubin is how he decides who he is going to work with.
Basically his entire decision making process is based on one simple process.
Taste.
If Rubin likes what he hears, then he’s up for it.
It doesn’t matter whether it has any connection to anything he’d done before, he see’s it less about the music and more about the artist needing help to express … find … or rediscover their voice.
Not their singing voice. Their soul.
It’s not that far off what we as an industry say we do for brands.
Except we’re increasingly forgetting what brand is because we sacrifice it time and time again for the quick win.
I get it, we’re fighting for our lives … but in our quest to show we have value, we’re destroying what makes us valuable.
Oh I know we won’t admit that.
We’ll point to words like purpose, experience and membership as proof ‘we get it’.
We’ll say they’re representative of modern brand building and all else is old.
We’ll show 1000 page decks that show how our unique processes ‘guarantee’ success.
And some clients will buy this, which means we can go away thinking we’ve got it all sorted out and we’re legends.
Except we haven’t and we aren’t.
Yes, all those elements play an important role in building a modern brand … however they’re never the lead, always a supporting actor because …
Sales without distinction doesn’t build a brand.
Purpose without sacrifice doesn’t build a brand.
Data without understanding doesn’t build a brand.
User journeys without nuance doesn’t build a brand.
Eco-systems without an idea doesn’t build a brand.
Personalisation without being personal doesn’t build a brand.
Wanting to be something to everyone rather than everything to someone doesn’t build a brand.
The harsh reality is we’re dangerously close to confusing commoditisation with brand building. Of course this is not all our fault, but continuing to perpetrate it, most definitely is.
While I appreciate Rick Rubin didn’t mean the photo/quote that appears at the top of this page to be interpreted this way … he pretty much sums up how to build truly distinctive and definitive, culturally resonant brands.
And he does it in 10 words.
TEN!!!
And that’s part of Rubin’s magic.
He understands how to get to the simplest expression of his viewpoint, because he knows the simpler it is, the less obstacles to deal with.
Simple lets truth speak and rise.
Simple lets possibilities flourish.
Simple lets distinctiveness be expressed.
Simple is unbelievable power.
Now the irony of simple is it’s not easy to pull off.
Simple is definitely not simplistic. To be simple requires a hard work, experience and confidence … and while as an industry we have known this and advocated this for decades, we seem to have recently decided the opposite – where we celebrate complexity.
What the hell?!
Maybe it’s because we’re making more money from this approach. Or just feel more important. But the endless playbooks, frameworks, processes, tools and strategies we’re producing aren’t building better brands, just bigger obstacles.
Again, there’s a place for them. But the way they’re being used – they’re more like hammers than brushes – forcing them into the process, competing with all around them and ultimately leaving people lost with what they’re following, what they’re building and what they’re actually doing this all for.
As someone recently said to me – someone hugely successful in business – when companies make the solution more complex than the problem, they’re just creating another problem.
Please don’t think this means you skimp on standards or rigour.
If anything, it’s the exact opposite … but because everyone knows what they’re working towards [rather than doing their version of what they think everyone should be working towards], it means they can be sharp and focused and that means your work can be expressed in ways that lift things up rather than bogs them down.
I get some people won’t like this.
I get some people won’t agree with this.
I get some clients would never sign off on this.
But apart from the fact I doubt any of them will have come close to influencing, shaping or creating culture in the same commercially infectious way Rubin has, if they really believe selling the complexity of intelligence is a smarter way to operate, I’ll leave you with something my dad – who was pretty good on this whole intelligence thing – used to say to his lawyers:
“If you have to show how clever you are, you aren’t that smart”.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Culture, Death, Emotion, Empathy, Love, Loyalty, Metallica, Respect
Over the past 9 months, we’ve heard a lot from companies talking about loyalty.
Whether that’s loyalty to their staff, loyalty to their shareholders or loyalty to their values and commitments.
Sadly, in a lot of cases, this has been nothing more than a PR statement.
Something that looks good and makes the C-Suite feel good, without having to actually be good.
Of course there have been the exceptions, but in many cases, that’s all there is.
Now I am not naive.
I know in a commercial organisation, tough decisions need to be made every day … but the reality is, in many cases, it’s not that tough for them. Or it shouldn’t be given how often they do it. Though I do find it surprising how many companies are OK with letting people go but don’t like it when their employees let their employer go. Funny how they see that as an act of betrayal.
But that’s by-the-by, because this is about what real loyalty means and it revolves around Metallica.
So when the band started, there were 4 members.
James Hetfield
Lars Ulrich
Kirk Hammett
Cliff Burton
On September 27th, 1986, the band were in their coach travelling through a rural part of Sweden. They were there as part of their tour supporting their ‘Master of Puppets’ album.
It was a long and gruelling tour and sleep was in short reply. The band members had been complaining the sleeping arrangements on their bus were unsatisfactory so to decide who received the pick of the bunks, Hammett and Burton played cards.
Burton won and said to Hammett he wanted his bunk … leaving Kirk to sleep up front near the driver.
Around 7am, the bus flipped over onto the grass in Kronoberg County.
Cliff Burton was thrown through the window of the bus, which then fell on top of him, killing him instantly.
While there is debate on whether the accident was the result of black ice or the driver sleeping at the wheel, the reality is Burton – a much loved, highly talented musician – was dead.
So where’s the loyalty?
Well it’s true the band decided to continue rather than split up – like some other bands who had suffered the loss of a member.
And it’s true the bassist chosen to replace Cliff, Jason Newsted, faced a lot of tension from a band still grieving for the loss of their friend.
However, it’s the connection the band maintained with Cliff’s father – and the support Cliff’s father gave to the band – that is something to celebrate.
From the moment Cliff died, his Dad – Ray Burton – encouraged the band to continue.
Despite being in unbelievable grief, he was adamant the best way he could honour his son was having the band go on.
To play the music he helped create.
To let his name, talent and spirit continue even though he is no longer here.
And while the band probably didn’t need that endorsement to make their decision, they treasured it.
But more than that, they treasured Ray Burton.
In their mind, he was a part of the band because he had fathered the guy who helped father the band.
It was a mutual love … based on respect, compassion and a love of Cliff.
I know that sounds like the sort of cliched ‘bro’ statement you would hear from a band or brand in a desperate attempt for a PR headline, but in Metallica’s case, it’s true.
Demonstrated and proven by the duration this relationship has been celebrated, nurtured and expressed.
What’s wonderful is they always managed to do it in a way that was respectful yet positive.
Whether that’s having Ray join the band on stage to be conducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of fame, or just having him come to whichever band gig he chooses.
And then celebrating his attendance on stage.
But Ray also plays a big part in keeping this relationship healthy.
Because while he loves the acknowledgement the band and the fans give his beloved son, he also wants to ensure the memory of Cliff doesn’t overshadow or become a burden to his replacement. Or the band.
He loves the music and wants that to be the focus.
And that gives the band the freedom to keep moving forward.
Which, of course, makes them love and support him more.
Which is maybe why their loyalty is so strong and positive.
Because where many [read: companies] believe loyalty is about compliance regardless of situation, Metallica and Ray see it as being founded on openness, honesty and positivity.
They can’t change what has happened.
They can’t live in the past.
But they can celebrate where something they created is going.
Sadly, Ray died recently, aged 94.
The band’s loyalty to him still lives.
Filed under: Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Colenso, Comment, Consultants, Context, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Distinction, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Happiness, Honesty, Innovation, Insight, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Metallica, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Politics, Premium, Professionalism, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance, Respect, Rick Rubin, RulesOfRubin, Standards, Uncommon, WeigelCampbell, Wieden+Kennedy
So I know I said last week was the last of the Rules By Rubin … but then I did also say there may be some more in the future.
Well consider this the future.
Shit isn’t it?
Don’t worry, it’s just for today and tomorrow then we go back to normal.
So just as shit. Sorry.
Anyway this is about the state of the creative industry.
Whereas once, it was filled with companies all wanting to create wonderful things to put into the world – regardless of their individual discipline or expertise – the emergence of consultancies has led to the industry now falling into 2 groups
Those who can’t help finding ways to put creativity out into the world in interesting ways and those who seemingly do all they can to never put anything out whatsoever.
While I sort-of understand the theory why agencies would like the idea of being like a consultancy, what I’ve found especially bizarre is that in doing that, they’re seemingly happy to dismiss making any actual creativity at all.
At first I was really confused how they thought they’d stay in business.
I mean, there are as many competitors as there are in adland.
Their entire model is designed around making actual creative work.
The lack of C-Suite engagement is more individual than entire industry.
Then I thought maybe I was completely wrong.
That they did want to make work.
After all, why else would their excellent strategists continually write 100 page decks filled with charts, ecosystems, frameworks and playbooks to every single client meeting?
Surely that is a sign of a company actually wanting to make something.
But then on closer inspection, I saw a lot of those decks had no creativity mentioned in them whatsoever.
And the conversation around audience was simplistic, generalist and utterly contrived.
In essence, they talked a hell of a lot but actually said very little.
“What the hell was going on?” I would ask myself.
And then on a cold night one Wednesday, I worked it out.
Those planners aren’t writing strategic decks, they’re creating remuneration landfill.
Thank fuck for the others.
The ones who know who they are.
The ones who push rather than pander.
The ones who create opportunities not wait for them.
The ones who run to the edge rather than run on the spot.
The ones who finish interesting things to start making more interesting things.