Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Context, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Embarrassing Moments, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Perspective, Point Of View
I don’t struggle for things that fuck me off, but what is currently top of the charts on my personal ‘shit parade’ is people who talk in definitive and absolute terms.
Actually I need to be more specific. I mean the people who talk in definitive and absolute terms that blatantly attempt to elevate their position by putting others down via some pseudo-intellectual or utterly subjective horseshit.
It’s happening more and more, especially on – surprise, surprise – Linkedin.
And while I’m all about having a point-of-view, it only has value if you have an appreciation of what others think or do. So you have some real context to evaluate your viewpoint. And it would be even better if you also had some actual experience in the area – or on the issue – you’re being condescending about. Not ‘in theory’. Not ‘by association’. Not some ‘short-term, low-level’ employment experience from 20 years ago. Actual experience. So – you know – you can show you have an actual idea what the fuck you’re talking about, including what it takes to actually make these things happen and who is complicit when it doesn’t on an on-going basis.
Because nothing screams egotistical, blinkered, privileged, arrogant asshole – desperate-for-attention-or-notoriety – than saying “This is shit as is anyone who disagrees with me”.
Topped off by then ignoring, deleting or blocking anyone who dares challenge their view, even if they are well placed to have a perspective and are expressing it with respect and politeness.
It’s like they’re the bastard love child of Andrew Tate and a shock-jock talkback radio host. Immediately dismissing anything that doesn’t suit their narrative but throwing praise on anyone or anything that acknowledges it. Even better if it specifically acknowledges them. By name.
The thing is, these people have smarts. They’re not stupid. But their ego refuses to accept or acknowledge any other possible way of thinking or working. So when someone or something achieves a level of success that sustainably outstrips their approach, they either attack or try to claim some sort of ownership of the success. A bit like all those people who suddenly updated their Linkedin profiles to say they were NFT/Metaverse/AI experts.
It’s pretty incredible to be honest.
Which is why I find it kinda-ironic some of the worst offenders seem to be those who reside – or are associated with – academia. Not all of course, just the ones who seem to think that because they’re highly qualified in one area, they are qualified to speak about all areas.
Which is why, whenever I see these men [and it’s typically men] peacocking on social media, it reminds me of Lucille Ball’s brilliant quote. A quote I made into a sticker that I’ve given to members of my planning teams for decades.
A sticker permanently stuck on the front of my laptop …
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Complicity, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Design, Differentiation, Innovation, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Packaging, Perspective, Positioning, Pride, Purpose, Reputation, Respect, Steve Jobs, Technology, Values
I’ve written a lot about the bullshit of brand purpose.
Or should I say the hijacking of purpose by marketing departments and agencies.
Far too often, we see companies where their ‘purpose’ has no day-to-day impact on the operations or decisions they make beyond pushing their marketing messages and promotions. For these orgs, purpose is positioned simply as ‘something we hope might change’ rather than actively doing stuff that actively pushes it.
As they say in the UK, “the truth of the pudding is in the eating”, and a lot of corporate brand purpose tastes like bullshit.
That doesn’t mean the concept of purpose is entirely wrong.
Oh no.
However the reality is true brand purpose is born rather than manufactured – especially by a marketing department – so for every Patagonia, there’s a Unilever … which is why I find the easiest way to see who is talking truth versus shite is simply by exploring how much inconvenience they’ll accept and embrace.
Recently I saw an interesting example of a brand who not just embraced inconvenience, but demanded it.
An example which I imagine caused all manner of friction and tension throughout the company.
And yet, when you think about who the company were and – more importantly – who they wanted to become, you see it as absolute commitment to their beliefs and ambitions.
Take a look at this …
Now I appreciate some would read that and only see the problems … the costs … the disruptions … the impact on productivity … the C-Suite ‘bullying’. But they’re probably the same people who think purpose is about ‘wrapping paper’ rather than beliefs and actions … which is why I kinda-love this.
I love how much they were pushing it and how they pushed it.
It was important to them.
Not for virtue signaling, not for corporate complicity – though I accept there’s a bit of that – but mainly because a company can’t talk about technology, creativity and the future while asking your very own colleagues to embrace the cheap, the convenient and the conformist.
Just to be clear, this is VERY different to companies who mandate processes.
That’s about control and adherence.
A desire to keep things as they are rather than what they could be.
And to me, that’s the difference between those who ‘talk’ purpose and those whose actions are a byproduct of it.
Every day in every way.
Because as the old trope goes, it’s only a principal if it costs you something and the reality is – like strategy – too many talk a good game but will flip the moment they think they could make/save a bit more cash.
Apple may have a lot of problems, but fundamentally, they mean what they say and show it in their actions – both in the spotlight, but also in the shadows … where very few people will ever see – as exemplified by Jobs famous ‘paint behind the fence‘ quote.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Age, America, Art, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Context, Culture, Design, Friendship, Gifts, Jewellery, Music, Rosie, Swiftie
How the fuck is it October?
OCTOBER?
It was only February 2 weeks ago, wasn’t it?
How the hell are we going to be in 2025 in less than 3 months?
On the bright side, it does mean I go on my family holiday in less than 3 months – but October, already? Crazy.
What else is crazy is this ..
Someone sent me this.
I don’t know who it was, but I got it.
And the fact they sent it to my house, means they know me well enough to know my address.
But what messes with my head is that while the message in on point, the bracelet design and size is one that would be better placed on the wrist of a 13 year old Taylor Swift fan.
Was this deliberate?
Was this a mistake?
Did they know that regardless of its ridiculousness, I’d still wear it.
Is it a diss or a reward?
I am so confused – especially as my friends have form doing shit like this. Like the time they discovered my iTunes password and bought every Taylor Swift album – with MY CREDIT CARD – which I only discovered when all her songs started appearing on my iPod. The clever, evil bastards. [But not as clever or evil as this]
But as confused as I am, even that isn’t as confused as the people who see me now wearing it with pride … especially as it sits under a tattoo I’ve had done of my beloved Rosie, so it kinda looks like a fucked up cat-collar.
So to whoever got it for me – whether for love or for taking the piss – I love it, I thank you for it and I just wonder if it will last the few months until we hit 2025.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Content, Context, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Imagination, Planners, Planning, Play, Point Of View, Ridiculous, Stories
For all the talk of planners having curiosity, we rarely talk about imagination.
Of course, Martin, Paula and I talked about this back in 2023 at Cannes with our Strategy Is Constipated, Imagination Is The Laxative talk, but the reality is imagination is more than just a topic for consideration, it’s a muscle that needs exercising every day and needs rigor to enable it to reveal where its capable of going.
The good news is it’s easy to do if you put your mind to it, which is why one of the things I tell junior planners to do is to always look for the unintended stories that surround us.
It might be in a cafe.
It might be at a bus stop.
It might be a coffee cup on the street.
But the point is, look for things that allow you to imagine the stories or situations that led to what you see in front of your face.
Now I should point out that I may have stolen this from the great Russell Davies … but even now I still do it because when it comes to writing briefs, it helps me imagine where it could go before logic tries to dictate where I have to take it.
Recently I was out for a walk when I saw this …
On one hand, they’re just 2 kids shoes on a pavement.
Maybe lost as their parent pushed them along in their pram.
But there’s a whole lot of other stories that could be made from them.
Full of light or full of darkness.
For me, the first place they took me to was dark.
There was something about their placement and context that felt so unnatural that it suggests something bad has happened.
The shoes are too far apart, yet facing each other rather than pointing in the same direction.
They’re on a suburban street. On a Tuesday lunchtime. Yet no one is around and all is quiet.
Then there’s the fact both shoes are missing. One makes more sense … but both?
It all felt like the opening scene of a British Police drama.
Now of course there’s an alternative storyline … one filled with joy and effervescence.
A celebration of a kid being allowed to truly be a kid.
But wherever I could take it, it is much more than simply 2 shoes on the street and yet so often, we spend our time looking at briefs through the lens of the research, the focus groups, the competition. Stuff that confines our imagination to exist – at best – in a small corner.
Which is why if you want to grow your skills, stop blindly following the [financially self-serving and ego fulfilling] rules of Ritson, Cole and co and put more energy and effort into noticing and exploring what is around you. Because while the ‘lessons for profit’ crew will tell you what you should do [and just for the record, I do appreciate their experience and perspective, especially in terms of learning important rules in the fundamentals of marketing strategy] … it’s the street that will help reveal where you could go.
Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Crap Products In History, Culture, ECommerce, Jill, Kickstarter, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Technology
Over the years I’ve bought a lot on Kickstarter.
I say bought … but the reality is there’s a shitload of stuff I never received.
And then there’s the stuff that I did get, that I wish I hadn’t.
That said, I have to acknowledge their unprecedented ability to hype the mundane up to fever pitch. It really is quite extraordinary, given I’ve gone back time and time again, despite enduring endless indifferent experiences.
But maybe I’m over that now.
Or maybe they’re just running out of ‘hype fuel’ because recently I saw something that made me laugh out loud rather than reach for my credit card.
To be honest, it’s been coming …
First there was the watch that claimed to be rebel engineering.
Then the phone attachment that supposedly gave you something fast-approaching infinite zoom.
But now they have entered a new world of insanity, even though I acknowledge this one is arguably much more sensible than either of those ‘trophies of stupidity’.
It’s this …
Yep, a portable dishwasher.
Does anyone ever need a portable dishwasher?
I understand a small dishwasher, but a portable one?
My gut would say no, but I know for a fact there’s some people [read: my wife] who hates the idea of washing dishes so much, she would probably see this as an act of humanity.
So let’s say I accept there may be an audience out there for a micro, portable dishwasher.
However what I cannot accept is – based on the photo they have used – there’s an audience who would want to buy a micro, portable dishwasher to then take to their local pub. More importantly, I don’t know why anyone would need to take a micro, portable dishwasher to their local pub unless they purposely forget their watch/purse/phone and need to work off the drinks and underwhelming bar snacks they consumed.
But the way the Kickstarter folk have written the headline seems to suggest they think it may be the next craze. The new ‘dog in a handbag’ or overpriced, oversized water bottle. Something you take with you at all times to show your peers your ‘status’ or in case you fancy washing your cup, saucer or – judging by the size of the machine – spork.
But it gets worse, because they then say ‘saving you time to make more joy’.
What the absolute fuck?!
Apart from that being literally the laziest ‘selling proposition’ in the known universe, I’ll tell you what saves you more time to make more joy … going to the local fucking pub to eat so you don’t have any washing up to do.
What the hell are Kickstarter thinking?
Are they thinking?
Do they care anymore.
Well, as much as I’d like to say ‘no, they’re not’ … it seems that accusation should be pointed at their customers rather than them, because the company behind the ‘social dishwasher’ have raised $1,186,891,682 from Kickstarter projects.
$1,186,891,682!!!
OK, so that is over 4367 products, but still, that’s disturbingly impressive.
But not as impressive as me being able to show Jill this news and look fiscally responsible in comparison to the tens of thousands of people who have dropped their cash on shit like this.
And this is coming from someone who has bough robot balls, a shitload of robot dogs and a windmill.
Result!!!
So a huge thank you to Kickstarter and Jellop Products … you may be exploiting the fuck out of the stupid, but you’ve made me realise I’m less stupid than I feared.