Filed under: 2025, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Anniversary, Attitude & Aptitude, Career, China, Colleagues, Creativity, Friendship, Love, Loyalty, Management, Planning, Professionalism, Relationships, Resonance, Respect, Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
One of the most special times of my life – not just career – was working at Wieden+Kennedy.
Specifically Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai.
Of all the adventures and experiences I’ve had in my life, it stands out highest simply because I feel a deeper sense to China and its people than any other place I’ve ever lived.
It helped that I was there during a time where the World needed China more than China needed the World – so I found myself invited into meetings and situations that frankly, few people – let alone strategists – would ever get to experience.
Wieden were amazing to me personally and professionally but I paid them back in droves.
But that said, leaving was very difficult.
They wanted me to stay.
A big part of me wanted to stay.
But I’d been there for a lonnnnnng time, I’d done pretty much everything that could be done – including starting and running The Kennedys – plus I had a young boy who needed a different environment to grow up in.
So with very bitter sweet tears, I said goodbye to a magical place in a magical country. Except I said it in a way where they would forever remember me. Specifically as the pain-in-the-fucking-arse I’d been to every single person in that place for seven fucking years.
You see about 6 weeks prior to leaving, I had 600 of these stickers made.
I then proceeded to spend the next 5 weeks hiding them everywhere.
From the – then – refurbished Shanghai office to all the local W+K hangouts, like Baker & Spice, Jamaica Blue, Little Catch and, of course, Nike HQ.
It made some people furious. Specifically one person. Which made me especially happy because in terms of making a final decision whether to stay or go, they were the determining factor on why I left.
And over the years, people would send me a photo where they had come across one or two.
And despite it now being 8 years … there’s still some there.
In fact, there’s now more than just some.
You see a few weeks ago, I was in Shanghai and was invited to visit the office.
I had not been in the place since I left … but given I’d now been away longer than I was there, it felt OK to go in.
And it was lovely and familiar.
But then it was a place where I did a lot of growing up.
And made a lot of friends … friends who are with me for life.
Which is why it was extra special for me to see some familiar faces from my time there.
And because of this, I wanted to honour the place and give them something new to show my gratitude and love.
So I gave them this:
That’s right, I made a new sticker to accompany the old ones.
“But how many stickers?” I hear you cry.
Well I couldn’t possibly divulge that information because it would ruin the fun of finding all of them, but in the interests of friendship, here’s a clue:
Now I fully appreciate this act of ‘love vandalism’ may result in them never inviting me back, but I do hope they see it as my own special way of showing my deepest and sincerest respect to a place and country I truly love.
Because Wieden Shanghai and China wasn’t just a place I lived and worked …
It was where I was reborn.
Filed under: 2025, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Ambition, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Career, China, Clients, Colenso, Colleagues, Comment, Community, Context, Contribution, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Curiosity, Effectiveness, Emotion, Environment, Family, Fear, Honesty, Hope, Imagination, Individuality, Katie, Love, Loyalty, Luck, Management, Martin Weigel, Metallica, Miley, Mr Ji, Paula, Perspective, Planes, Planning, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Respect, Standards, Strategy, Success, Wieden+Kennedy
Once upon-a-time, I hired a head of planning for NIKE at Wieden Shanghai.
They’d come to my attention via a colleague who’d worked with them in the past.
On top of that, they had a good pedigree of work and – just as importantly – they loved sport.
I was excited to welcome them into the team and everything was good … until it wasn’t.
One evening, I received an email saying they’d thought about it and didn’t want to do it.
I understood the cold feet, they were US based and I was asking them to move to China … but we had spent a lot of time discussing this and they had assured me they were up for it.
And they probably were – when it was theoretical.
Everything is fine when it’s theoretical.
The problems always lie once you move to reality.
What bugged me was this person refused to get on the phone to discuss it. They sent their email and in their mind, that was the only correspondence they were going to enter into.
Was I pissed?
Yeah, initially I was … because we’d invested a lot of time and effort into helping this person get a good taste of what the opportunity was, what life was like here and what we’d do to make their move as easy as possible. Add to that, I always take huge responsibility when bringing people over from another country and it all felt like they had just wasted our time a bit.
But by the emorning, I was fine with it.
In fact, I was bloody happy about it.
Because if they didn’t want to come to us, I sure as hell didn’t want them to be with us.
Now I appreciate that may sound cold as hell – and I was grateful they made the call before they actually moved here – but I haven’t got the time to waste on people who aren’t excited about what they could be doing and learning and who only want to repeat or surround themselves with the stuff they know and have done.
We used to have a lot of those people apply to be at Wieden Shanghai.
Same with Colenso, albeit to a lesser degree.
People who want to work at the agency, but don’t want to move for it.
Oh they say all the right things.
They complain about all the right things.
But then you realise they don’t want to change any of the things.
They prefer to be a blame thrower rather than an opportunity grabber.
I find that bonkers … especially for strategists … but it happens more than you could ever imagine. People only focusing on what they lose rather than all the things they gain.
And you gain a lot. In every single possible way.
But that’s not what this post is about …
Because the person I hired to replace the person who walked away, was the brilliant Paula Bloodworth.
THAT Paula Bloodworth. The fucking weapon of strategy and creativity.
A person with a reel that is better than entire agencies, let alone strategists.
And while I take absolutely no credit for all she has gone on to achieve, I do express my gratitude to the person who pulled out the job.
Had they not done that, Paula would not have entered my life … and given she is one of the most important people in my life – not as a colleague, but a full-on friend – that is something I feel eternally grateful for.
In many ways, my job at Colenso followed a similar story.
They’d hired a CSO from Australia, but before they could move, COVID happened and they realised they didn’t want to leave where they were.
It was at that point, Colenso saw I’d been made redundant from R/GA and – having almost got together in 2015 – they put in a call.
Had that not happened, I’d likely still be in the UK or back in the US … rather than at a place that is increasingly more special to me with each passing year.
‘Accidental Luck’ is everywhere …
Hell, we’re in talks with someone who embodies this on steroids.
Where they sent a VERY speculative email at the very moment a candidate we were talking to, pulled out.
OK, it helps they’re talented and have a ton of potential we see and can/will grow … plus there’s the good fortune we have a new client who is not only based in the very country they’re from, but also works in the same category they’ve been focused on for the past few years and they want to become what they want have always wanted a brand in that category to be … but suddenly a person we may never have known – let alone hired – could be someone we get to call a brilliant new member of our strat gang soon.
Hopefully.
For fucks sake, hopefully, hahaha.
[And if they don’t, they don’t – we all move on – however the real lesson they need to understand is what I write about next in this post … that is if they read this blog, which they don’t. Which is another sign they’re smart … haha.]
Which goes to the point of this post.
We can plan our careers to within an inch of their life.
We can study and follow the latest theories and systems.
We can spend time looking at every possible permutation.
We can demand every part of the job is described in minute detail.
Hell, we can even write 20 Linkedin posts a day, every single day.
But none of that – absolutely none – matters as much as being ready to act when the opportunity strikes.
Yes, it’s nice to think you will always have companies come to you.
Yes, it’s nice to think you will always have options and choices.
But often, the best thing you can do for your career is be ready to go when someone else isn’t.
If I am being honest, I owe pretty much everything I have ever done to the fact I’ve always been willing to move to wherever the best opportunities was located and then work my ass off to make great things for them.
Or said another way, if I heard of something exciting [and credible] was on the table, I was on the plane.
No if’s.
No buts.
No umming and ahhing.
I was sprinting towards it.
Doesn’t matter if it was an agency in China, an artist in America or a fashion designer in Italy … if it is interesting, intriguing and scary-as-fuck, I am there.
Now of course I appreciate not everyone has the ability to do this.
I also understand that ‘moving countries’ for a job has become infinitely harder.
And I get that there are occasions where opportunities can turn into fucking nightmares.
[Though that’s very rare as long as you stick to the rule that is detailed a bit further below]
But this isn’t really about your willingness to move countries – though that can help – it’s more about your hunger to go after what excites and interests you …
That doesn’t mean a role has to be perfect.
Frankly, when companies say there are no faults, that is ALWAYS a red flag … it’s more about whether the opportunity excites you and if the company and the person who will be your boss have a track record of consistently doing good shit. Maybe not pulling it off every time, but always pushing to do interesting things and having a on-going history of doing it.
It’s how I ended up working at Wieden … which definitely isn’t perfect.
It’s how I ended up working with Artists … who definitely aren’t perfect.
It’s how I ended up working with amazing creatives … who definitely aren’t perfect.
It’s important, because for all the good things the Bloodworth’s, the Weigel’s – and dare I say it – the Campbell’s have achieved, one of the biggest reasons for it is whether it’s a boss, a team, a company, a client or even a creative opportunity … we never, ever, ever look a gift-horse in the mouth.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Context, Creativity, Culture, Dad, Education, Effectiveness, Emotion, History, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, R/GA, Wieden+Kennedy
In his iconic Ted Talk speech, ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity’, the great Sir Ken Robinson wondered what Shakespear was like …
When he was a child …
At school …
In English class.
I still remember how it felt when I heard him say that, because frankly … I never had thought of Shakespear as a kid.
Hell, in many ways, I didn’t even think of him as a real person, as my only exposure to him had been through books and films … which all reinforces what the great Bob Greenberg, co-founder of R/GA, used to say, which was:
“People know you how they’re introduced to you”.
It seems obvious, but we continually forget it.
It’s why there’s a whole generation who know Jordan as a shoe brand more than an iconic basketballer … know Wieden+Kennedy as a brilliant ad agency rather than the outcome of two brilliant – but spotlight-reluctant – humans coming together to make anything but ‘ads’ … and know the Mona Lisa as a painting, rather than a portrait.
This last one is especially pertinent because I recently saw this …
… and yes, like Sir Ken’s comment on Shakespear, I was faced with the realization that the Mona Lisa was a person before a painting.
Too often we base our viewpoints on the mistaken belief that history only starts when we discover it … which may explain why there’s so much stuff spouted on Linkedin that suggests a person has just created something radical, when in reality it’s just a new take on an old lesson.
Which is why it may be useful if we all followed the advice my Dad always encouraged when exposed to something new.
In essence he asked himself – or others – 3 questions.
What do you know about them?
What do others know about them – that you don’t?
What can you know about them that will tell you who they are or how they got here?
It ensured he was always able to talk from the context of history and present … ensuring his viewpoint was grounded in truth but wrapped in modern contexts and perspectives. Which means, for someone who wasn’t a strategist, he was a fucking brilliant strategist.
Filed under: Advertising, Agency Culture, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Auckland, Bassot, Career, China, Colenso, Colleagues, Comment, Contribution, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Emotion, Empathy, England, Experience, Friendship, London, Management, Planners, Planning, R/GA, Wieden+Kennedy
I have always taken hiring people very seriously.
For me, it’s more than professional … it’s personal.
A sense of responsibility to help whoever comes on board discover who they can become, rather than just do the job that needs to be done.
Part of this is because – as I’ve written many times – I believe my role is to ensure than when they leave [as all people eventually do] they go to a job they never thought they could get.
Where they’re hired for who they are, not just what they do.
For what they’ve made, rather than just what they know.
For how they see the world, not just for how they do their job.
And how do I do that?
By helping create the conditions and the opportunities for them to be great.
That’s it.
My attitude is that the talent is already inside of them – otherwise they wouldn’t be hired in the first place – and my job is to help them see it, believe it and do things with it.
That said, talent is only half the equation … the other is character.
Who they are.
How they act.
How they interact.
As I’ve also written before, I believe in having a gang rather than a department.
A team full of different experiences, mindsets, backgrounds and ideas … but united through their values, standards and love of the work.
Because of that, it is important that anyone who joins has the character to add to the identity of the team rather than just duplicate it.
Or said another way: they need to be someone people enjoy being in a room with, even when we’re discussing, debating and arguing.
Which we do, a lot.
I suppose this is why I feel such a genuine sense of gratitude when someone agrees to be part of our team.
For me, it’s a big demonstration of faith in me/us and I don’t take lightly … which is why the only thing that beats it is when someone agrees to join me for a second time – even though I then worry about their sanity.
What is this all about?
Well, it’s a very convoluted way to write about Martin Bassot.
Back in 2017, I worked with Martin at R/GA London.
In fact, he was the very first person there to tell me to “fuck off”.
I should point out he didn’t say it aggressively, more a response to some cheeky-shit thing I probably did/said, but the moment he said it, I was in ‘HR appropriate’ love.
I know that makes me sound slightly unhinged, but it meant he was comfortable enough with me that we could debate freely and never let it get personal … and that’s a big thing for me.
But it only got better … because over the following months, I got to see someone with real talent and character … someone who could make a real difference to the ideas and craft, which is why I was both proud and sad when he told me he was off to join my ‘other family’, W+K London.
Zoom forward a few years and I’m in New Zealand at Colenso and rang him up.
“Hey …” I said, “… you know how you talked about always wanting to live overseas, how about coming to NZ?”
There was a pause before he replied, “I was thinking somewhere more like Amsterdam”
But he still came.
Uprooted his – and his partners life – to come to the other side of the World.
For me.
Well, not FOR me, but also not excluding me.
And he has been brilliant. Even better than I knew he would be … and I knew he’d be great.
He developed into a really great number 2 for me … helping lead some really great work, develop some really great people in the team and help achieve some really great results for the clients we work with.
I use the past tense because after 2½ years, he is going home. Again.
I was tempted to use the same post I wrote about him last time he left me, but he deserves more than that. Probably. At a push.
In all seriousness – and without wishing to sound an old, old bastard – I am very proud of him.
What he’s done.
How he’s done it.
And most importantly, who he is.
He’s left an indelible mark on the team, the agency and the work.
And in the time he’s been here, we’ve hopefully done the same for him because he leaves with memories, experience, fans, work, Cannes Grand Prix’s, LBB Immortal Awards and Agency of the Year titles and a lot of empty crisp packets.
And I mean, A LOT of empty crisp packets.
So all in all, it’s not a bad set of achievements for little over two years.
Back when I pitched the idea of NZ to him, I said “Come for an adventure and go back better and more experienced than you’d be if you stayed in London”.
I think it’s fair to say we both did what we hoped and promised each other.
And while I’m obviously sad he’s going, I’m very excited about his next adventure.
The agency who has hired him – and there were many who wanted to – are very lucky, but they’re also very smart … because they saw him for who he is today rather than who he was 2+ years ago. What that means is they not only took the time to properly understand who he is and what he can – and wants – to do, they shaped the role to enable it rather than just hire him and then ask him to fit in with what they have.
For someone who will always deeply care about Martin, it makes me very happy that is the environment he’s heading into.
Doesn’t mean it will be easy.
Doesn’t mean he won’t have to work fucking hard.
But it does mean he’s been set up to win not just to fit in.
I suppose the best compliment I can give Martin is this.
Despite working together twice before, I really hope I get to work with him again.
Even if next time, it’s far more likely I’ll be working for him rather than the other way around.
But even then it would be a pleasure.
So thank you Martin, for everything.
At the end of the day, the best thing you can hope you can do in a job is make a difference and you did that and some. [Though I must admit, one of the things I’ll remember most about your time here is the lunch we had in some weird Chinese restaurant in the middle of Canada, as we listened to Forest beat Palace in the last minute. That and Colenzob-do, of course]
So know you’re going to be missed, respected and always adored.
And with that, it just leaves me to say, fuck off Martin.
Said with love. Always and forever.
[There’s no more posts for over a week, not just because I need to get over Martin’s departure, but it’s a holiday and then I’m off to China … so see you in a week and please pray with me that Martin’s plane home gets delayed for about 12 more months, haha.]
Filed under: 2025, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Ambition, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Auckland, Augustine, Authenticity, Bassot, Blogosphere, Bonnie, Business, Cannes, China, Clients, Colenso, Colleagues, Comment, Community, Context, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Death, Doctor, Dolly, Dream Bigger, Education, Emotion, Empathy, End of Year, Experience, Family, Friendship, Happiness, Health, Hope, Human Goodness, Imagination, Jill, London, Love, Loyalty, Luck, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Metallica, Miley, Mischief, Music, New Zealand, Nottingham Forest, OnStrategy, Otis, Paula, Perspective, Planes, Planners, Planning, Presenting, Professionalism, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Ridiculous, Shanghai, Singapore, Standards, Stories, Strategy, Sydney, Tattoo, Wieden+Kennedy
So I know that I’ve only just got back to writing this blog after being away for my eye-op, but today is going to be the last post of this year. Yes, it’s earlier than it normally is. Yes, I will miss reporting on some stuff like the shitshow that was Fuck Off And Pie ’25 [which happened yesterday and was renamed to ‘Fuck Off And Die’ … because the theme was ‘hot spice’] but there’s 2 main reasons why I’m ending this year’s blog today:
1. My eyesight is still pretty bad so typing takes me a bloody age. [Don’t get excited, this blog will be back when I’m back – which is the 19th Jan – over a month away]
2. It’s Otis’ 11th birthday tomorrow and so the rest of this week is all about him.
That said, this will be a long post … not because it needs to make up the 5 weeks or so this blog will be quiet or because I think people want to read what I’m spouting [let’s be honest, does anyone even read this blog anymore?!], but because it serves as a reminder for me of what I’ve done over the past 300+ days.
The reality is, while this years been dominated by my health, it’s been a generally good year.
Yes, there have been some incredibly hard moments … from the tragic passing of 8 people I knew and cared about – that bizarrely all occurred around the same, short period of time – that still deeply affects me to this day through to the individual I once valued and respected highly, who ended up showing me how fragile trust becomes when someone stops meeting you with the same honesty, then denies it, takes no accountability for it, then runs from it.
But even with all that – and it was pretty shit, made more painful by the fact I was contending with my own health dramatics – I feel very fortunate that I still experienced more high points in 2025 than sad. And given how tough this year has been for so many people, I appreciate how fortunate I am to say that.
And what high points they were …
Getting Bonnie … who has not just added such joy to the family, but has helped Otis in ways we could only dream of.
Watching the family thrive, shine and be happy makes everything worthwhile.
I got some lovely new tattoos.
Finding a brilliant new school for Otis that specialises in kids with his particular contexts and conditions.
Seeing some old friends I’ve not seen for years … topped-off by not just seeing Paula after 2 years away, but speaking with her at Cannes, which was extra-special.
Getting a new car … which I appreciate is as indulgent as hell, but it made me very happy until I had to stop driving it because of my eye. Fucking karma, ha.
My Life Vs Time thing that seemed to touch the nerve of a lot of people all over the place.
Wednesday, September 24th … where I found myself sitting on the steps outside Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai on a very warm night – around midnight – chatting to someone I’d met on that trip that turned into one of the seminal memories and moments of my life, despite the fact all we did was chat for a couple of hours and I’ll never see or talk to that person again. But grateful for that moment.
Talking of Wieden+Kennedy …
I went back to see them after 8 years and not only was it lovely – and surprising – to see some old faces, I got to leave some new stickers all over the place.
Now back to other stuff …
I bought a suit. A good suit. Which surprises me as much as it likely shocks you.
Seeing Ange Postecoglou get fired after 39 days of destruction and arrogance.
Working on some incredible projects for people who are truly wonderful, talented and creative humans.
Being overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of people and clients in relation to my health and wellbeing … with special thanks and gratitude to Peter, who – on behalf of his clients – organized the surgeon who invented the surgical procedure I was going to have, to be part of the team who took on the drama and trauma of my operation. While we are still waiting to see if it was as successful as we all hope, I know I would not be even in this situation without him, the surgeons, the medical staff, my GP – Stephen Sohn – and the optician at Specsavers in Glenfield Mall … who all contributed to this having a shot of a happy ending.
Hanging out with some of the most famous and talented people in the World. Yep … at various points in the year, I found myself having dinner with a music/fashion superstar, an international model, one of the World’s most famous and iconic humans, a Hollywood screenwriter, the family behind one of the World’s most powerful and desirable Italian luxury brands, some Rock Gods and – on a wild 16 hours in NYC – gatecrashing the birthday party of the wife of one of the music industry’s most famous managers where I spent the evening sat between the wives of 2 different Rockstars who were so welcoming and epic before Taylor Swift entered the restaurant. [Culminating in a gift from one of them which was their way of telling me I was now ‘family’, which still blows my mind]
Having Metallica come to NZ after over a decade away, including a cup of tea at my house for some special guests.
Travelling a lot … including FOUR visits to my beloved China where, on one trip, I got to show some of my Colenso colleagues around for their first time there.
Talking of Colenso ….
We made some properly good work [of which, I’m particularly proud of the Family Roast stuff we did for Medibank for a whole bunch of different reasons and you can see the ad here, and the game here] , launched the brilliant ‘Dream Bigger’ book, won a bunch of international awards [though seeing us not win, we should have, was annoying – ha] and got to host/meet Fergus and his OnStrategy podcast in NZ.
In addition, while it was sad to see Martin and Augustine leave Colenso, I got to see them do great things on their new adventures while also getting to welcome James and Miz – who fitted in like they had been here for years. [Not to mention the wonderfulness of the team at large, who kept me learning, thinking]
As you can see, that’s a lot of good things … more than I probably deserve … but I am grateful for all of them.
Almost as grateful as I am for my son Otis.
Tomorrow, he turns 11. ELEVEN!!!
How the fuck has that happened? And while he has gone through many schools and classes in Shanghai, LA, London, Hundson and Auckland … the fact he is about to end his ‘primary school’ journey seems particularly momentous.
And yet, despite all these changes … and despite his dysgraphia challenges … he has handled it all so brilliantly of which one thing I am very proud of, is his ability to express when it is all getting too much for him.
I appreciate that may sound weird for a parent to be proud of … but I am.
Because if he feels comfortable enough to say when stress and anxiety is beginning to take hold, not only we can help him deal with it – in collaboration with his teachers who have generally been very supportive – it means we have created an environment where he feels safe and seen, and that means the World to us. And hopefully to him too.
He’s such a good kid, surrounded by other good kids.
Cheeky, mischievous, supportive, funny, passionate, compassionate. honorable, curious and independent.
And while they will all be going to different schools in the new year, I am confident they will maintain their friendship. Part of that is because of the way New Zealand works … but part of that is because of the bond they have. One built on more than just proximity, but a real connection based on shared interests, values and energy.
It took me a long time to realise how much energy plays into just how much you connect and relate to people.
Maybe that’s because I’m slow and stupid … but energy matching seems to be the real heart of connection. At least deep connection. And while Otis has met kids who share that with him in every country we’ve lived – most notably, his beloved Elodie in LA – he’s met more in NZ.
Of course, part of that is because he’s older and exposed to more … but for a kid that doesn’t really love the ‘outdoor life’ as is celebrated by all Kiwi’s [which, to be fair, is just like his old man] he’s definitely met his ‘peeps’ here. Maybe that’s why he has said that – while he knows we will leave NZ at some point in the future – he will want to come back and live here. And if that’s not the biggest compliment to the people of NZ, I don’t know what is. Which explains why that as much as my heart belongs to China, my gratitude will forever be with NZ.
So to my dear Otis …
Happy birthday my wonderful son.
I can’t put into words how much I love you but I can say how proud I am to be able to call myself ‘your Dad’.
I hope you have a wonderful day playing Geometry Dash and I can’t wait to celebrate your birthday with you and your friends this weekend.
Big love, hugs and laughs from your Dad, Mum and pooch.
Love you.
Rx
I’ve probably missed stuff to celebrate but this post is already too long so let me end it by saying a big thank you to everyone who has played a part in the good parts of my year as well as those who have popped by to read my rubbish on here.
Without wishing to sound too sentimental, but I am more grateful to you than you may ever know and I hope – whatever you are doing or celebrating – it soothes any pain you are feeling and/or elevates any happiness you’re experiencing.
Just don’t have a better time or better presents than I hopefully will receive over this period – hahaha.
And with that, I’ll see you on the 19th Jan 2026, and here’s to it being a better year than the shitstorm it has been for so many.
Hopefully … with almost 6 weeks of blog freedom, I’m starting it off on a positive.
See you on the other side.
Rx