Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Complicity, Contribution, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Technology
It’s Brian May’s birthday today, so given it has been 4 days of slightly seething posts, I considered ending the week on a positive.
And then I realised that sometimes, ‘seething’ is my version of positive so I wrote this.
Obviously, right now there is a lot of talk about AI.
And in our industry specifically, a lot of that conversation revolves around how it will destroy advertising.
Taking jobs, destroying creativity, devaluing craft and breaking production.
All that may or may not be true .. only time will tell … though I tend to believe it won’t be as black and white as so many in the industry love to present the reality.
But I tell you what I’m far more frightened about …
Something that has proved its disastrous impact on the industry.
And the brands, business, communities and customers we’re here to serve.
And that’s the individuals who are making decisions about creativity who don’t know what good creativity is, how it works or how to create and enable the conditions for it to happen.
Individuals who hide their ego, delusion, ignorance, lack of experience and/or desire for control behind the justification of process, procurement, prices, timelines, qualifications and/or marketing practice.
In blaming AI for the death of the industry, we’re in danger of becoming like those people who blame powerpoint for every bad presentation ever written … conveniently ignoring that while the tools play a part, the real blame – and issue – needs to be aimed at the people who choose it, write it, prefer it and demand it.
And while AI will no doubt have a bigger and bigger impact on what we do – of which, let’s not forget some will be really good – if we want to fight for our lives, then it may be better to acknowledge who is the real problem versus who we feel is more convenient to blame.
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Last thing …
Despite this blog having basically posted the same 7 stories for the last 20 years – which means it would be VERY easy for AI to replicate the rubbish I post on here each day – I’ve decided to give anyone who has accidentally found themselves coming on here TWO WHOLE WEEKS OFF off as I’m flying to China tonight, then off to the US. I’m not even travelling for the whole 2 weeks … which means this gesture demonstrates a level of generosity that highlights while AI may have the productivity, humans have the generosity.
Have a great one. Let’s be honest, with a fortnight of silence from me, we all know you will. That is except Andy, George and maybe even Billy … who all stupidly said yes to having dinner with me. And I can’t wait. Except when they expect me to pay.
Filed under: America, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Cars, Corporate Evil, Design, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Technology, Twitter
Tesla.
When they launched, they were a glimpse into the future of mobility.
A way to combine technology to drive sustainability while keeping all the excitement of performance. Something that had previously been seen as impossible to create.
But they did and with it … it positioned Elon Musk as a modern day genius.
Edison x Einstein x Jobs. Maybe.
He added to his legacy when he launched a self-landing rocket.
The first time I saw that, it was – similar to sitting in a Tesla for the first time – like living in a sci-fi movie, such was it’s impressive impact.
But now?
Not so much.
Elon – through his actions, behaviours and attitude – has demonstrated that either he was trolling us or his immense success has resulted in him believing he is better than the rest of us.
The purchase of Twitter.
Accusing innocent people of pedophilia.
His treatment and attitude towards members of his family.
Claiming ‘freedom of speech’ except when it revolves around him.
There’s been so, so many moments of him revealing his ugliness.
That doesn’t mean he’s not very smart – he obviously is – but sadly where once we hoped it was to help lift everyone up, it’s apparent his focus is about lifting himself up. It all feels like he is seeking revenge for all the girls at school that turned him down and all the boys that wouldn’t let him play in their game of soccer.
We can’t say we weren’t warned.
His ex-wife’s interview in Marie Claire back in 2010 was a major red flag … which we collectively ignored because back then, he was still making headlines for good things more than satisfying his immense ego.
But now, his true character is fully on display and nothing sums this up more than the design of his cyber-truck … also known as the ‘middle-aged, white republican male, steroids-on-4-wheels-mobile’
Recently I read a designers review [@no_commercial_value] of the Cyber Truck aesthetic and it was the most perfect description of the philosophy and attitude of it’s creator … and the people who seem to love it the most.
It was this …
Paramilitary Cosplay is the most perfect description I think I’ve ever heard.
And the other definitions aren’t bad either.
It reminds me of the time Cynic did some research for Hummer and heard from interviews how the ‘feature’ many owners aspired to have was a ‘gun turret’ … I kid you not.
I also remember one person complaining about glove boxes you could close, because that was ‘pandering to the weak’.
I suppose none of this should come as a surprise because apparently when the iconic movie ‘Die Hard’ was first shown to test audiences featuring American men, many saw John McClane/Bruce Willis as ‘a coward’ as they interpreted his actions as ‘running away from trouble and that’s not what America does’.
Kind of explains a lot doesn’t it … including the rise of Trump and – getting back on subject – Musk.
Yes, I know Musk is South African, but his behaviour is pure Americana. Or should I say, 80’s Americana, as depicted in movies featuring Stallone, Schwarzenegger and van Damme.
Which all feels like the ‘theme’ behind the Cyber Truck.
A futuristic vision of a totalitarian regime. Where the rich are powerful and intimidating [and white] and the poor are disposable and weak.
Paramilitary Chic … as it were.
No doubt we can expect to see Putin, Trump and every other right-wing leader wearing 80’s style, Hugo Boss suits with massive shoulder pads soon … looking like some cartoon general with a metaphorical chest full of [fake or self-anointed] medals.
In many ways, they are a perfect example of a powerful brand … where society either loves them or hates them, but rarely apathetic towards them.
This revelation initially petrified me because this is kind-of what our industry is here to do.
I was going to point out that we should be careful what we aspire to.
But then I looked at what we’re producing all over the world – and what clients think is edgy – and realised there’s absolutely no danger of any of this happening, which might be a tragic indictment of the state of our industry but a relief that we’re not adding to a world of egomaniac, dictator-fantasist fuckwits.
Given the last few weeks or so have been quite serious and intense posts – at least by my standards – I thought I may lower the tone.
By lower, I mean ‘not about strategy’ because in terms of standard, it’s always questionable.
So one day last week, I was bored at work.
Don’t worry, I put it on the ‘bored’ job number.
Anyway, I decided to play Hangman with ChatGPT.
No … I don’t know why either.
Anyway, what I learned from our game was this …
I am fucking brilliant at Hangman.
“How brilliant?” I hear you cry … [Ahem]
So brilliant that I can beat it even when it makes up words.
So don’t worry about AI taking over your jobs, it can’t even beat an idiot like me at hangman.
Even when it cheats.
Though I am a bit concerned that it only admitted its mistake AFTER I beat it.
Following the belief that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Which is fine when we’re talking about a dodgy kids game played during office time, but maybe not so good when it launches nuclear weapons and claims they thought it was a firework show.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Family, Hotels, Technology
A long time ago, I was working on an innovation brief for a prestigious car brand.
As I sat there, listening to all the engineers talking, I realised their focus was more on optimising and evolving rather than innovating.
By that I mean, they were more focused on what they do and how they could make it better and more useful than embracing issues that were bigger than just the industry that they’re in.
So I said it.
Silence and incredulity.
“So what would you suggest?” one of them asked.
Now in these situations, it can only go one of three ways.
1. You go blank.
2. You say something they’ve already done/thought about.
3. You say something that makes them stop and think.
In the vast majority of cases – let’s be honest – it tends to be numbers 1 or 2, but on this occasion, I said something that fell into the last bracket.
“What if you made the car the most private, personal space they could be?”
That shut them up.
They weren’t expecting that.
To be honest, either was I … but while they came back at me with all sorts of technological and legal reasons why this couldn’t be done or wouldn’t be wanted – from car data through to our desire to be always contactable through our digital devices – the chief engineer was suitably intrigued for him to ask me to work with them on exploring what it could mean and who it would appeal to, most.
Which led to a year of one of the most interesting projects I ever worked on.
I should point out that when I talked about privacy, it was not about ‘isolation’ … though there is a value in that … I was talking literally about privacy.
Or said another way, ‘what goes on in your car, stays in your car’.
And while there was a bunch of fascinating research and explorations that went on in the quest to see where this could end up, it never got to where I hoped it would. And it certainly never manifested into an actual product I thought it could become.
Which is why this graffiti I got sent recently, hit home:
To me, this encapsulated where my head was at.
The desire to have a place where we are assured privacy and/or solitude.
A cross between a hibernation and a cultural vacuum, if you will.
To be honest, this was all influenced by work we did for Taj Hotels back in 2007 … where we blocked all mobile access at certain Taj resorts.
Back then, it was less about social media and more about the intrusion of work on family holidays … but the premise – and benefit – was the same.
[For the record, it was only possible because of where technology and the law was at back then. Plus all customers opted into this experiment with the acknowledgement there were alternative contact methods available, even if not as convenient]
Of course, I appreciate that was slightly different to what I put forward with the car idea. That was more about having a ‘social kills switch’ when the car was more a mobile ‘black hole’ … but I do believe the value of privacy – even momentary privacy – will soon rival that of FOMO.
We’re already seeing it.
From VPN’s to quiet luxury.
Not because we don’t want to be connected with the world around us.
But because we want to feel we have greater control over it.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Complicity, Consultants, Context, Craft, Crap Products In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Devious Strategy, Experience, Innovation, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Reputation, Strategy, Technology
A few years ago, my wife – a designer – was working for a company on a freelance project.
She met them for the briefing and they told her, “We want people to see us as innovative”.
To which she replied, “I think the only way you do that is by doing innovative things”.
Now she wasn’t saying this to be an asshole, she was trying to be helpful … but, of course, they didn’t see that, even though she was absolutely right.
OK, some companies get away with it.
There’s one I know very well who position themselves as progressive … but look a little deeper and you see the innovation is more in their language and wrapping than anything truly ground breaking. And what’s more, they do the same thing – albeit with a different skin – for different companies time and time again.
To be fair, some of what they do/did is truly progressive, but that is most definitely the exception rather than the rule because their current business model appears to be far more about duplication and replication than innovation.
And that would be fine … except they position themselves as innovation pioneers.
It works because nothing attracts conservative companies than the ability to pretend/think they’re innovative or disruptive when – as Lee Hill once brilliantly observed – all they’re really doing is simply ‘modernising to the times’.
Or said another way, they’re simply catching up to where everyone else is, rather than leaving them behind.
It’s a commercial co-dependency.
They talk to you so you can think you’re innovative and you pay them to allow them keep thinking they are.
The reason I say all this is because I recently saw this in Pudong Airport …
It’s for Austrian/American chef Wolfgang Puck and his restaurant chain.
Now Wolfgang has achieved a great deal in his life …
He is the only chef awarded the ‘Outstanding Chef of the Year’ award on multiple occasions.
His 1982 restaurant Spago – which was a revelation – created the concept of the open kitchen.
He is responsible for serving celebrities a special banquet after the Academy Awards.
All good and grand.
However for all the ‘innovation and success’ Wolfgang has achieved, his Wolfgang Puck chain is anything but … exemplified by the fact that this hoarding claims, “To be truly original is to invent the future of food … to question, to experiment” and yet all the pictures accompanying this statement are about as basic as my dress sense.
Cheeseburger.
Prawn salad.
Steak.
Now I am not saying this food won’t be tasty. But I am saying it is not original and it most definitely is not inventing the future of food.
Of course, there is a lot of [bad] marketing that is underpinned by exaggeration and hype. And I totally appreciate China loves the superlative … however, as exciting as the people behind this restaurant may be about this concept and regardless how ‘new’ this may be to China [clue: it’s not] they’re selling the illusion of innovation rather than the reality of it.
And why do I care?
Because people are falling for this shit.
And while that is their issue, the result of this is the systematic downgrading of standards and ambition.
And truth.
Where more and more people are falling for average because it’s been sold to them as exceptionalism.
And it is convenient for them to believe that because it doesn’t challenge or question, it just comforts with convenience.
The result being those who are being innovative … the ones who are trying to do things differently … are met with immediate distain and dismissal. Judged, insulted and dismissed.
Please note I am not in any way claiming to be one of these people. But I know those who truly are. And so many have failed to achieve the impact and success they deserve because the business of illusion innovation is easier to buy than actual innovation.
And while I could say that is their problem, a lot of it is because of what they refuse to do.
Like guarantee results.
Or sell one-size-fits all process.
Or blindly accept the opinion and views of people because of their title.
Or follow research methodologies that are designed for totally different scenarios.
But that happens a lot. I’ve seen it. We all have.
Which is why I think the best thing that can save marketing is maybe to stop marketing.
Stop playing the games of how so many operate.
Stop valuing convenience, complicity and popularity in favour of truth, action and change.
Stop judging people on how much cash they bring in and more on what they’ve done/do.
Stop playing down to a price rather than up to a quality.
This industry is littered with brilliant creative, innovative, progressive doers and thinkers.
They’re everywhere and yet they rarely seem to be championed or celebrated.
At best they’re viewed as a novelty. At worse, a destructive force.
The Emperor’s New Clothes may get short-term economic results.
It may keep people employed and give the C-Suite big, fat bonus cheques.
But what it is also doing, is ensuring we fall backwards.
Not just killing our credibility, but denying a future to those who could bring us back.
And as acts of corporate hostility go, I find that one of the worst of all.