Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Brands, Business, Comment, Context, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Distinction, Honesty, Innovation, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail
I saw these 2 brilliant cats starring each other down when I was in Utrecht a few months ago.
Look at them.
Focused. Determined. Pissed off.
Trying desperately to intimidate each other while obviously being scared of each other.
Maybe not in terms of size … or beauty … but in terms of one being able to pull off something better, quicker or smarter than the other.
Trapped in an endless cycle of statue paralysis or trying to micro ‘one up’ the other.
The cat cold-war so to speak.
And what is funny is this is often how many brands behave.
Looking sideways rather than ahead.
So lost in what one other brand is doing – or could be doing – they ignore what’s going on around them.
What others are achieving without them.
Sometimes this is not simply driven by a competition, but greed.
A desire to make sure nothing is left on the table.
Hoovering up every scrap.
Believing they are in control and in power so nothing can challenge or take them.
So lost in their self-belief that they fail to see they’re being left behind.
Blinkered by ego.
We saw it with Nokia when Apple launched the iPhone.
We saw it with Listerine when Wrigley’s positioned chewing gum as dental care.
We saw it with Kodak when they chose to protect their photo processing profits rather than launch their digital camera.
We have seen it over and over again.
And while sometimes, having a focused enemy can push you to greater heights than you would be able to achieve on your own … driving you to make things better, rather than to look for things never done before [because often, those things are stupid or self-indulgent] like most things in life, the key is knowing when this approach starts to be counter productive.
When the focus is pulling you back than pushing you forward.
Blinkering your view rather than opening your perspective.
Losing your edge rather than fuelling your ambition.
But sadly, too many brands act like those two cats in Utrecht.
Unable to look away but without the looks to make others still want to come to them.
Which is why as much as there’s a lot to be said for exploiting and optimising the failings and learnings of your numero uno foe, there’s also a lot to be said for remembering to keep looking up and out from your blinkered bubble.
Or said another way …
When you ensure you’re focused on where culture is heading, you don’t get lost following where your competition is staying.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Content, Context, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Marketing, Marketing Fail, New Zealand, Nike
There’s been a lot written and said about brand assets over the years.
A lot of claims and over-promises.
Hell, careers have been made from being a cheerleader of it … even though it has also been responsible for a whole lot of terrible advertising.
Contrived, complicit and confused advertising.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a value – or a role – but as I wrote here, the thing rarely talked about is that brand assets don’t happen by themselves. You can’t buy them off the shelf or make them happen by simply repeating their use ad-nauseum.
No, the only way to turn an attribute into an asset is through creativity.
It’s creativity that gives it meaning.
It’s creativity that gives it a purpose and role.
It’s creativity that imbues it with financial value.
I appreciate that might not fit the narrative of certain people, but that’s the reality of the situation … or it is if you want to do it properly. Unfortunately, it appears more and more people don’t. Preferring to outsource their responsibility – which, let’s not forget, they are paid to do – to generalistic and simplistic solutions that are focused on recognition, not value.
Nothing brought this home more than this ad I saw for a new Nike store in Auckland.
Look at this …
What the fuck? Seriously, what the fuck is that?
While they have used a number of NIKE’s ‘brand assets’ – namely the font and swoosh – it’s pretty obvious whoever put this together has no understanding or appreciation of what they represent or how to use them.
Mind you, it also seems they also have no understanding or appreciation of sport, art direction or design.
It’s like they’ve just taken a few pieces and shoved them wherever they like – like a terrible jigsaw puzzle that doesn’t show the picture they need to create.
Which highlights another thing rarely talked about brand assets …
Just because you’ve earned them, doesn’t mean you can’t lose them.
Treat them with distain and you’ll find all that hard work will be for nothing.
Moving from a brand asset to an attribute to a warning sign to stay the fuck away.
Brand assets are made and built over time.
They need nurturing, crafting and supporting.
They’re not something that once earned, can be used any way you choose.
It’s why the people who use them need to understand them.
What they represent.
The context they play in.
Their creative meaning and expression.
How to actually fucking use them in the right way.
Without any of that you don’t just fail to unlock their inherent value and power, you’re killing their credibility and the brand they’re tied to.
That doesn’t mean you can evolve them. Or expand them. Or play with them in different ways. Nike – of all brands – is very good at doing that. But that only happens because generally they’re embraced by people who have a deep understanding of what they stand for and represent … rather than random ‘colours and logos’ that they treat as a range of stickers they believe they can put wherever they want and whenever they choose.
It’s why I get so frustrated with how certain people talk about them. Acting they’re like ‘parts’ that can be replaced, exchanged, adapted or used however someone chooses … which ultimately demonstrates many of the people who talk like this don’t actually understand what a brand is, what it takes to build one or the difference between post-rationalising and creating.
Filed under: Agency Culture, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Black Lives Matter, Comment, Complicity, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Diversity, Environment, Prejudice
Robin Bonn recently talked to me about what I’d learned about diversity from having lived in so many countries.
To be honest, I was quite apprehensive to do it as I wouldn’t want to suggest I have all the answers or I’m doing it well … however the issue of talent diversity, or more specifically, hiring, championing and elevating People of Colour is nowhere as prominent as it was – or it should be – which is why I agreed to do it.
Not because I have any influence over the industry, but I have real anger about it.
More than that, I feel I have a responsibility for making up for not doing enough, sooner.
And while there’s stuff I am continuing to learn – and stuff I believe – there’s 3 things that I’m absolutely certain about:
1. When you open your eyes, you will see talent literally everywhere.
[and if they don’t come, that says more about how you operate and have acted than them]
2. You need to be impatient and stubborn about making things happen
3. Take personal responsibility for stuff rather than wait/rely on a corporate policy to do it.
As I said, I feel very conscious that as a privileged white male who has not had to suffer to be given chances or taken seriously, I do not and cannot claim to be an expert on issues my lived experience has shielded me from ever having to deal with – even with the honour of living in countless countries around the world.
However I can say the claims of companies wanting DEI is not working – not as it should – and I believe a big part of that is the attitude we have going into it, the policies we create to manage it and the overall approach to why we need it – and all those issues are down to white leadership not People of Colour.
And, to be clear, we need their talent and way of looking at the world.
Not just for relevance but creative possibility, influence and impact.
Personally I think they should just come together and leave us in the dirt.
We deserve it.
But they’re more generous than that. They’re also more dynamic given everything interesting in modern culture originates from them and their creativity.
So while I don’t normally ask you to listen to anything I say, this time I do.
Not because I want it to be about me, but because what you might be able to recognise and change.
And the irony of it all is we all win if we do it.
All of us.
Especially our increasingly stale and out-of-touch industry where we continue to use acronyms like BAME without thinking for a second what we are doing, what that is saying and we are defining.
You can listen to it here and if you want to hear more stuff I’ve learned from the journey I’ve been on, then these posts may be of interest … acknowledging they were born from the lessons from the brilliant and generous people I met rather than anything specifically from me.
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Your perspective is not everyone’s perspective.
[you could also check this one out or this]
The odds are not fair.
It’s not enough to hate racism, you have to fight it.
Agencies are still trying to colonise.
Why we should be more like The Blues Brothers.
Whose house are you asking people to come in?
Don’t let your ego fool you into thinking you know stuff.
Convenient excuses to keep things the same.
Own your own shit don’t ask those you have held down to help you clean it up.
Make space, or we die alone.
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And if you want more, let me know.
I have a bunch of stuff … from our books America in the Raw, China Misunderstood and Dream Small … through to other people, stories and resources I’ve been lucky enough to find or be a part of.
As I said, I don’t have all the answers.
And I certainly make a lot of mistakes.
But I am committed to making up for lost time because I hate that some of my actions of the past – while never intentional – will have added to the situation.
And I owe that to a lot of people for the faith they showed in me. And my hope for what I want to help enable for others.
It’s down to us. Not down to others creating HR policies for it.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Airports, Art, Attitude & Aptitude, Australia, Authenticity, Childhood, Comment, Content, Context, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Empathy, Fake Attitude, Humanity, Imagination, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Point Of View, Provocative, Qantas, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Respect
Many years ago – 2009 to be precise – I wrote a take down of Qantas, the Australian Airline.
It wasn’t about their experience or service which – back then – were pretty good, certainly much better than they are today. No, it was about the lyrics to their ‘iconic’ song, ‘Still Call Australia Home‘.
Now I appreciate I’m a Brit.
I appreciate that, at the time, I had an agency called Cynic, so was full of piss and vinegar.
I even appreciate – as my Aussie wife reinforced to me in no uncertain terms – that the song and Qantas’ advertising was pretty special for Aussies so maybe I should shut the fuck up.
And that is good advice. Except 15 years later, I’ve decided to come back with a comeback.
You see recently I saw an ad for another Australian icon …
The difference being this one is worthy of that label annnnnnd – even more significantly – they’ve made a piece of advertising that ignites all the emotion, pride and Australian spirit that Qantas would possibly sacrifice their ‘never had a crash’ reputation, to achieve.
[Please note, this is simply to emphasise the point. I get it’s not a great turn of phrase. And I obviously don’t mean it. So if you prefer, simply replace it with: “… that Qantas would allow themselves to be embroiled in even more financial scandal, to achieve”. Better? Oh god … there’s no pleasing some people is there!]
Anyway, if you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it’s this from the Sydney Opera House for their 50th anniversary.
[Though while it’s being shared a lot at the moment, it actually came out about 8 months ago]
I love it.
I love it so much it made a cynical Brit emotional.
Sure, I have an Aussie wife … a ½ Aussie son … Australian residency and was even a member of the audience in a couple of the historic scenes they show in the film … but I’ve never, ever felt that way about a Qantas ad.
Not once.
Hell, I don’t even like Tim Minchin – the guy who leads every thing in the ad – and yet I still felt connected to the spot.
Part of it could be because The Opera House was to me, a symbol of Australia, decades before I moved there.
I still remember how overawed and overwhelmed I was when I first saw it for real. This incredible place whose image had been burned into my mind from years of seeing it on TV shows, in magazine articles or just everyday imagery.
But it’s more than that, it’s what the place signifies.
The story that underpins the whole film.
A true story.
One where the quest to do something different triumphs over the demands to control and conform. An ode to the majesty of imagination and art rather than the adherence of tradition and regulation.
It all feels – ignoring the fact the Opera House was designed by the Dane, Jørn Utzon – much closer to the ‘Aussie spirit’ than anything Qantas has ever done.
A salute to those who wish to push and challenge rather than seek the comfort of being back ‘where they’re comfortable’.
Now I appreciate that maybe that spirit is more confined to the past than the present.
One look at how the vote for ‘The Voice’ turned out reveals comfort, convenience and control are the words of the day.
But that aside, it’s a very special film.
Helped by the fact the Opera House is a very special place.
Not just for Australia, but for anyone who hopes for something a bit more.
A bit more personal.
A bit more emotional.
A bit more wonderful.
And if you need any more reason why you should love the Opera House far, far more than Qantas … let me tell you, even the Opera House’s cheapest seats offer more leg room than pretty much anything you’ll get on that airline.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Asia, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Comment, Context, Culture
A few weeks ago, I had the most bonkers week of my life.
MY. ENTIRE. LIFE.
Of course, it involved China – where bonkers is a beautiful way of life – but it was at a level I could never imagine, let alone imagine I’d ever get to experience.
But it happened and it is something I will treasure and remember for the rest of my days.
But this post is not actually about any of that, it’s about this …
And this ….
I know … I know … it’s a photo of a man cutting a hedge and an empty road which sounds especially boring given this post started with ‘the most bonkers week of my life’.
But the thing is, of all the bonkers stuff that happened [taster: dinner-for-2 with a global superstar in LA, dinner with editors of GQ and Vogue China, asked to bring another global superstar to China, conversations with the head designers of some of the hottest street culture and luxury brands on the planet] those were 2 of the moments that made the biggest impression on me.
It was on my first morning in Beijing.
I woke up very early because of the time zone change.
And because I’m on a health kick, I got up to go out for a walk.
It was light as it’s summer there and as I left the hotel, I saw the guy cutting the hedge and it kind of stopped me in my tracks.
I know that sounds dramatic and over-the-top but it is true …
Part of it was because it triggered Sunday morning memories, where I would hear Dad – or one of the neighbours – cutting the grass. A sonic symbol of family, safety and happiness. A guarantee that whatever happened later in the day, it was starting in a good way.
But it was more than that …
It was the joy of seeing a city literally prepare itself for the day ahead.
And not just any city, but one that is crazy in terms of scale and volume.
Bustling with kinetic energy and possibility.
There was something exciting and reassuring seeing the city actively create the conditions for people to experience and live up to.
All bathed in the warm golden glow of a summer sun, rising to bake us all in its intense heat within an hour or two.
And yet it would be so easy to do none of it.
Let’s be honest, each day tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of people pass through this area and I’m pretty sure few ever notice it.
And yet they do it.
Every day.
OK, so the area I was in was ‘posh’ – full of luxury brands and retailers – so there is an ‘image’ to maintain, but it felt a real gift to be there at that moment.
To experience pride in a job well done and calm before the story.
To welcome the day rather than fear it.
To see the people who make it possible rather than the people who take it for granted.
And while I appreciate you may be fearing for my sanity at this point … the thing is, for a country that cops so much shit for what it ‘does wrong’ from people/media/politicians who often have never even been to the country, they understand the importance of the environment we live and work in far more than many of the places that like to present themselves as having all their shit together.
I know China has a lot wrong with it.
So does every other nation.
But while there’s a lot they can – and need – to do a lot better in, there’s some things, they do miles better than the so called ‘first world nations’.
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Tomorrow we have the day off to celebrate Matariki.
It’s a very important day in New Zealand and if you want to know why, click here.
See you Monday.