Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Business, Chaos, China, Colenso, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, Diversity, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Family, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Jill, London, Management, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Metallica, Nike, Otis, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Purpose, R/GA, Shanghai, Singapore, Social Divide, Sport, Technology, The Kennedys, The Kennedys Shanghai, WeigelCampbell, Wieden+Kennedy
When you’re my age, you get to look at your career and see the different phases that it passes through.
I remember one year at Wieden, we seemed to make more beautiful, highly-crafted physical books on culture than we did ads.
Now I’m a huge fan of these – and still do them – but that year I think we made about 10, which was frankly ridiculous.
Then there was the year I got told I’d spoken at more conferences than anyone at Wieden.
It wasn’t said as a diss, more a fact – though I do remember Luhr looking at me with the face of someone who couldn’t work out why anyone would want me to talk at their event.
He wasn’t wrong.
Then there was the year I seemed to be in every bloody Asian marketing book or article and then of course, The Kennedys.
It happens. It’s rarely an intentional thing, but the nature of the business means it can be like that … and while I’ll always prefer to be involved in creating stuff, it does let you feel things are evolving and that’s a good feeling.
Well this year is another one of those years.
Part of this is because of the situation the World is in and part of it is because of the situation I have found myself in.
However, whereas previous years have seemingly had singular focuses, this year has had two.
Icons of culture and podcasts.
Both have been pretty awesome.
Musicians … Fashion superstars … Gaming Royalty … Billionaires.
Frankly people who should know a lot better than to ever want me to work with them … and yet, for reasons I don’t understand but am utterly grateful for, they have.
It’s certainly very different to the work I’ve done in the past, but it not only is introducing me to a whole new world of creative expression – from developing new concert experiences to video game design to stuff that is genuinely almost impossible for me to describe as it’s just plain beautifully bonkers – it’s letting me work with people who are recognised as being the best in their field so to be in this position … and to have Colenso to look forward to in addition … feels like winning the lottery.
I know this all sounds like humble bragging – but that’s not the intent.
To be honest, it’s more about me writing it down so I never forget this feeling.
This moment.
Because as tough as it is for people all around the World, I am very, very fortunate so many good things have come my way.
But that’s not what this post is about, it’s about the other thing I’ve been doing a lot of.
Podcasts.
I’ve done a ton this year.
[Here and here and here for example]
Why people want to hear from me – especially when I write so much bollocks about my life on here – is another thing I don’t get … but it’s been fun.
Recently the lovely/stupid people at Colenso had chat with me for their Love This podcast …
We cover all manner of subjects … from running a planning gang to developing creativity in a pandemic to how to be a fucking idiot … so if you’re bored, an insomniac or are jealous of Colenso’s brilliance and are looking forward to the pain they’ll experience with me in the building, you can listen to it at one of these places.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Culture, Football, Nottingham, Nottingham Forest, Shanghai, Sport, Wieden+Kennedy
A long time ago, I was sat in Wieden+Kennedy Portland, watching the Women’s World Cup with the NIKE team.
It was fun – we were all enjoying the match – when LTA [a legend at Wieden] said to me and the person I was sat next to, who I didn’t know …
“I’m surprised you’re sat next to each other”.
When I asked why, he said …
“Because of the teams you support”.
And that was the moment I discovered my sofa mate, Patrick, was a fucking Derby County supporter.
Worse still.
He was actually from Derby.
We both had the look of utter disgust on our faces.
Derby.
For fucks sake.
Anyway, despite his absolute shortcomings in football team, we got on and managed to show our maturity by rising above it.
I never saw Patrick again.
I was based in Shanghai and then he left Wieden.
That said, we stayed in touch via social media – especially when Forest were playing Derby – so a few weeks ago, when Patrick suggested we catch up and talk about what we think will happen in the league now COVID-19 is messing with everything, I was thrilled.
And while it had been a long time since I’d seen him and I continued to like him as a person, the fact is when you talk to a Derby County fan – even one based in the US – there are certain protocols to observe, which this photo from our zoom chat captures perfectly …
My favourite bit was how he responded to someone who asked how a conversation with a Forest and Derby fan had gone down ..,
MORTAL enemies!
But, given the testing time we’re in I’m willing to put that aside, for now.
That being said, Rob wasn’t even TRYING to make friends …
Another example of Forest getting one over the sheep.
Great chatting with you Patrick – while I doubt you’ll ever want to do it again, I hope we do.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Chinese Culture, Comment, Culture, Death, Sport, Wieden+Kennedy
My god. It seems impossible.
You were the black mamba … the one with superhuman powers, how is this even possible?
And we must not forget the others who died by your side, including your young daughter.
You leave a billion fans with a billion memories crying a billion tears.
I’ll never forget how you showed your love to the obsessed young fans in China. It was the same kindness and compassion you showed to someone who didn’t know shit about basketball.
Me.
Maybe that’s why my favourite work with you was Mentu. Not just for what you did for young, Chinese players, but for making me truly appreciate just what you brought to a game I didn’t then understand.
I still believe the music we used was the perfect soundtrack to present your dramatic, distinctive elegance.
There are players famous to a team.
There are players famous to a game.
There are players famous to a country.
But there’s few who are famous around the world, whether that sport is played there or not.
You are one of the legends.
You will remain forever.
But your loss is a tragedy.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Culture, Customer Service, Emotion, Empathy, Honesty, Insight, Management, Perspective, Resonance, Social Media, Sport
I’ve written a lot about customer service over the years.
Or specifically, bad customer service.
And the ironic thing is the worst examples tend to be organisations who literally say they’re in the ‘service industry’.
I suppose that’s why I loved how Claridge’s hotel train customer service to their staff – especially their belief in moments of stubbornness – because while they set incredibly high standards and ways to deal with situations, they always leave room for their staff to act in ways they feel is in their guests best interests … even if their guests don’t realise it yet.
And for me, that’s where customer service becomes it’s most powerful.
Where it moves from service to care.
Not just in terms of the obvious things, but reading between the lines.
Where it goes beyond just anticipation, but true consideration for the other party.
In many ways, it’s the ultimate demonstration of loyalty …
Not expecting it from your audience and instead, providing it to them in return.
Proof that they matter.
Proof that they care.
Proof they need each other.
Recently I saw an amazing example of this.
Surprisingly it came from a Chief Executive Officer.
More surprisingly, it came from a Chief Executive Officer of a football club.
And even more surprising than that, it came from the the youngest Chief Executive Officer in the entire football league.
Now to be fair, it’s the CEO of Barnsley Football Club … a club that is known for how much it values its community and fans.
But even that doesn’t quite capture what Gauthier Ganaye – the Barnsley CEO – did.
Read the letter below … then next time you’re with a client who talks about customer service or social listening, show them it and ask them how they’re going to demonstrate how much they value their audience, rather than just saying it in their corporate mission statement.
_______________________________________________________________________
PS: For the record, he – nor Barnsley – promoted this, the receiver was the one who made sure this act of loyalty, compassion and service got to a bigger audience.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Honesty, Management, Relationships, Sport
There’s a well-known phrase that says. ‘it’s easier to get to the top than to stay there’.
I couldn’t agree with it more.
That’s not to say getting to the top is easy, but staying there requires a very different mentality.
However, while it should mean you’re always pushing forward … looking for ways to push and provoke possibilities … understanding where culture is heading rather than where you wish it was … defining the future rather than just following it … a lot of companies do it in a very different way.
Abusing their scale.
Buying market share.
Pricing competitors out.
Focused on size not change.
But what makes this ‘optimise the position’ approach even more fascinating is that a lot of these organisations who are like this, were not like that in the beginning.
In fact, they were the polar opposite.
Founded on changing something in their industry they felt was wrong.
They wanted to create change by offering a real alternative.
Something that drove them and defined them.
Where over time, they became distinctive and definitive.
And then … the more comfortable they became, the less they could see what they were turning into.
Silencing the alternate voices that used to fuel their drive.
Replacing the misfits with the people who look just like them.
Seeing a point of view as alienating rather than a beacon for those they once served.
Looking at cost rather than value.
Optimisation over innovation.
But this isn’t just in terms of operational behaviour.
It also affects the people within the operation.
Playing politics more than performance.
Protecting their position rather than growing those around them.
Following the process rather than focusing on what they want to do … create … change.
It’s a question I love to bring up with clients.
Especially when we’re talking about brand and positioning work.
The good ones are open to the uncomfortableness of the conversation.
I’m not saying they like it.
I once asked it to the founder of a rather well-known, global sports brand and he DEFINITELY didn’t like it … but based on the hard, honest, passionate and open debate it stirred – let alone the shifts it later encouraged – it was definitely worth it.
As for those organisations who are too far gone?
Well, they tend to shut down that conversation very, very quickly.
Then try to position you as bad for daring to ask it.
That everything is perfect with them and you should respect them and embrace them.
Of course, asking that question is the ultimate sign of respect.
You’re putting yourself on the line because you do like them. You do want them to do well.
You have recognised something may be misbalanced and you want to help them get that back.
Which may explain why the vast majority of companies I’ve asked this question have been open to it.
That doesn’t mean it has always led to different actions or behaviours, but it has been something they’re willing to debate. And while some may consider this approach ‘career suicide’, the great irony is it has had a huge and positive impact on the majority of my client relationships … because they know I’ll always give them the truth and I know they will always give it the time.
So while I still believe it is harder to stay at the top than to get there … if it means you’ve turned into the beast you were created to slay, then ‘the top’ is really rock bottom.