Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Colenso, Confidence, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Distinction, Egovertising, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Fake Attitude, Honesty, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Management, Marketing Fail, Packaging, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Positioning, Relevance, Resonance, Rick Rubin, RulesOfRubin, Standards, Uncommon, WeigelCampbell, Wieden+Kennedy
I don’t understand what some people are thinking.
We have got to a point where ‘the idea’ is seemingly regarded as a superficial bit of nonsense.
A wrapper for marketing.
Something as interchangeable as a phone cover.
For some utterly imbecilic reason, ‘the idea’ is now seen as optional – a potential distraction to purpose, eco-systems, frameworks and anything else designed to elevate an idea rather than be the idea.
No wonder our industry is in such a state.
Not only have we sold the value of creativity down the river, we now have a business model based on selling condiments rather than meals.
This post isn’t about dismissing the different and the new.
There’s value in a lot of them – despite the fact most of them aren’t new, just in possession of a new name.
This is actually about being stubborn with the priorities …
Because an idea isn’t wrapping, it’s the fucking present.
Have a good weekend … we have Monday off here, so see you Tuesday.
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.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Management, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, WeigelCampbell, Wieden+Kennedy
So I survived and no one died. Yet.
Yesterday was wonderful.
Everyone was so nice to me, which means they don’t really know me.
Anyway, while I’ll be talking a lot about Colenso and New Zealand in the future, today I want to talk about something else.
A while back, the amazing Martin Weigel wrote an absolutely brilliant post about the importance of language in strategy.
Except it wasn’t just about the language you use in your work, but how you use it.
How you ensure you are writing a strategy that has colour, movement, clarity and provocation.
I’m doing it a disservice as it is basically a masterclass – as all Mr Martin’s brilliant posts are – on how to write strategy, with the end result being you not only have a greater understanding for how to do it, but a greater respect for doing it.
The craft.
The consideration.
The way to take people to a place they can see and feel and want to fuck with.
However, as brilliant as it is, I’ve heard some say, “it’s all obvious”.
And while there is an argument for that – because what Martin says isn’t a revolution on how to approach strategy, simply a focus on how to do it well – the reality is there’s a big difference between knowing the theory and actually doing it.
Which leads to my issue.
Our industry is filled with planners who talk about how to make world class creativity, but have never made any.
That doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to talk about it, but it does mean they don’t have a right to act like experts about it.
But they do.
And while I am not suggesting these people aren’t good at many other things and ‘world class creativity’ is about as subjective as you can get … in the area of actual making work that has defined brands in culture, I think if you looked at the reel Mr Weigel can put forward, it would be better than most agencies could present.
But here’s the thing …
World Class creativity isn’t specifically about work that has run across the globe.
Nor is it about work that is for a global brand … though, it should be noted, he has done this and done it brilliantly which is often far harder to achieve than work for a smaller client with far less politics.
It is simply about the actual work.
Not the theory of it.
The actual work and how it changed the way culture looked at the brand and how the brands fortune changed because of it.
Not one or the other.
Both.
That he has done this at the highest level and – arguably – on the most consistent level of any planner on the planet, means people who are looking to belittle it because ‘it’s obvious’ or because ‘he works at Wieden+Kennedy’ are idiots.
Maybe you can get to this level because of luck – especially if you’re male and white – but you definitely can’t stay there because of it.
Especially at Wieden.
What this piece of brilliance Martin gave us was an act of generosity.
Something designed to help the individual be better so that the overall work can be better.
Making work that fights indifference.
Making work that has a point of view.
Making work that we can all be proud of making.
So to all those who truly care about the work, follow the people who actually make it at the highest standards, because anything is easy for the person who never has done it.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Chaos, China, Colenso, Comment, Confidence, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, HHCL, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Martin Weigel, Perspective, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Relevance, Resonance, Shanghai, The Kennedys, The Kennedys Shanghai, WeigelCampbell, Wieden+Kennedy
A while back, I did a presentation for the Brazilian APG about the dangers of perfect.
Or more precisely, the boredom of it.
It was my usual rambling mess of random pictures that goes off on tangents a protractor would find hard to calculate … but I still liked the underlying point that perfection stops possibilities whereas acts others may view as stupid … creates them.
[If you’re mad, you can see a static version of the presentation here]
I say I liked the underlying point until I saw this.
I really, really like this.
I love the idea that flaws help us connect.
I love that imperfection can make us feel normal. That it is something to aspire to.
Of course, the reality is perfection is just an illusion.
One persons definition of what is the ultimate expression of an idea.
A temporary moment, where they believe nothing better has been explored or revealed.
The problems start when that definition starts being challenged.
While some embrace it – seeing it as a way to push the boundaries of what they thought was possible – many fight it.
Using their definition to control, limit or devalue the work of the challengers.
Sometimes it’s due to ego.
Sometimes it’s due to money.
But everytime it aims to oppress rather than liberate.
It’s happening everywhere.
From technology processes to agency ‘proprietary’ tools.
And while there is a lot to be said for being proud of what you have done, when you use it to stop people creating their own version, it’s not.
I’ve seen too many people in too many companies follow the orders of their bosses simply because it’s easier to do that. Where they know expressing a different point of view will be seen as an attack rather than an attempt for everyone to be even better.
So while perfect might be nice and shiny and make you feel good, it also has the power to stop progress.
Or as the brilliant chart at the top of this post states, stop feeling you can relate.
Not because it’s so far ahead, but because of the speed society evolves, it’s too far behind.