Filed under: Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Collaboration, Colleagues, Comment, Complicity, Context, Corporate Evil, Culture, Differentiation, Diversity, Equality
Yes, I’m back. Kinda.
A storm in New York meant I missed my connecting flight to Auckland so ended up in Houston.
But if that wasn’t a big enough come down, maybe the hotel I found to spend the night was …
Because in NYC, I stayed in the utterly swank Crosby Street Hotel in Soho, in a room that – as a friend described – as “main character, intimidating-as-fuck, energy”.
Look at it!
How bloody New York awesome it is?
I got to spend 4 nights in that bloody gorgeous room and while I should have left on a cloud of joy and happiness, I found myself – just 12 hours later – in a room that I described to Jill as “the sort of place that could double as a crime scene in an episode of CSI. Houston Airport edition.”
There are 2 especially amazing things about that room.
The first is it wasn’t exactly cheap.
Sure, it was a lot cheaper than the Crosby Street Hotel, but when you take into account the city it was in and the location in the city that it was in … then the proportional difference in cost between the two, wasn’t much at all.
Or said another way, certainly not enough difference, hahaha.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with dodgy hotels – hell, I’ve stayed in enough of them in my time and they’re my ‘go-to’ when I’m footing the bill, but this was dodgy but at a premium[ish] price.
What’s funny is that when I saw it advertised – basically as the only hotel available at 11pm at night, when I got in, it was labelled as ****.
Naturally I assumed **** was its hotel rating, but as soon as I walked in, I realised it was actually just blanking out the word ‘SHIT’, hahaha.
Anyway, I survived and got back to NZ at 5am this morning – so this is the most up to date post I’ve ever written.
But it will also be the last post till Thursday as I now have to fly to Australia for a couple of days – so with that in mind, I’m going to leave you with the post I originally wrote to be shown today, mainly because I’m already tired of this post and I can’t be bothered to type anymore.
So until Thursday, let me ‘welcome you back’ with the first of my ‘piss and vinegar’ posts for this week.
The photo above is from a trip to Memphis – or more specifically, Memphis – way back in 2006 … and while it is both alarming and amusing that the local council seem to hate anything on wheels or 4 legs … I can’t help but feel this is a perfect metaphor for how many companies hire these days.
For all the conversations about diversity … conformity prevails.
Not just in terms of heritage, but backgrounds, interests, education.
A production line of parity.
But the really fucked-up bit is I believe many companies do want to ‘evolve’. They just can’t.
Or should I say, they just can’t help themselves stopping themselves from doing it.
So what happens is they do hire people who are different to everyone else in the company, however – if they then don’t conform to how the majority behave – they get let go for “not being the right cultural fit”.
In essence, they’re fired for being exactly who they were hired to be.
In nature, there’s this thing called ‘the edge effect’. It’s basically where different eco-systems – often found at the ‘edge’ of natural habitats – merge together and create something new. New possibilities created by new combinations. Evolution created by the acceptance of possibilities rather than the denial of them.
This is basically why we – as in, ‘humans’ – are still around, because despite humans giving it our best shot to kill the planet … nature keeps evolving to find ways to beat our bollocks.
In essence, it is constantly growing, evolving, adapting, and creating.
But in many companies today, they have adopted an opposing view.
More focused on denial, destruction, distain and dismissal.
In Japan there’s an old saying that goes, ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered down’
Sadly, in a lot of companies, anyone who stands out does not even get viewed as a number anymore. Instead, they’re a nail to be beaten down by a bunch of tools … and when I say ‘tools’, I mean that literally and metaphorically.
See you Thursday, which will be before my family get to see me. You lucky people.
Ahem.
Filed under: Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Context, Culture, Politics, UK
Following on from yesterday’s post about the UK election …
The campaigning has stopped.
The Tory lies has been told.
The votes are cast.
And now we wait.
We wait for the hopeful demonstration of judgement.
Of their lies.
Of their corruption.
Of their hypocrisy and shame.
Of their wilful disregard of care.
Of their viscous attacks on the young, the poor and the NHS.
But most of all, we wait – I hope – for the people’s revenge.
And yet there are those that will still vote for them.
Who spout lines such as, “taxes will be higher under a labour government” … and then quoting the 1970’s, while conveniently ignoring the destruction of a country and it’s people’s in the present day. A present day that has been presided over by the government they still see as positive despite the last 14 years.
As I said to someone yesterday, if you can still see the good in them, then you’re either very rich or very evil.
And it got worse …
I’ve seen some ad agencies putting out [obviously self-funded] ‘ads’ that tell people what policy they should vote for. Except they show no political affiliation and the cause they’re ‘standing for’ is rather ambiguous … mainly because it’s pretty obvious their real motivation is to try and hijack the moment to gain some PR for their ego.
It’s embarrassing.
Actually it’s more than that, it’s insulting – given the poverty and depravation millions are trying to deal with.
If you want to take a stand, say it.
If you want to make a difference, try harder.
But if you have nothing to say, shut the fuck up.
But there was a bright point …
A clip that beautifully and systematically surmised and destroyed the incompetence of a Tory Government who forgot their job was to lead the country, rather than serve themselves.
And within this clip was a line, that is possibly the best bit of writing since Arsène Wenger said, “Kevin Keegan thinks tactics are a small mint” … and I include all of Succession’s viscous tongue masterpieces in this declaration as well.
It was this:
[ex-Minister of culture] “Nadine Dorries. A woman so stupid, she thinks Channel 4 is a brand of perfume”.
How good is that?
What a reminder of the power of words. The art and craft of them.
How tragic so many brands think they’re just for decoration around a product shot or a Getty Image pic.
But that aside, check out the clip.
I should warn you it’s NSFW. However it is very appropriate to describe 14 years of Conservative lies and destruction.
So click on it as we wait.
And hope sanity finally prevails.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Audacious, Brands, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Distinction, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Nike, Perspective, Provocative, Relevance, Resonance, Strategy
Take a look at this photo of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
How good is it?
Two icons of tennis …
Hell, for people of a certain age, they’re still icons, despite this pic being taken in 1978.
But this isn’t about them, this is about McEnroe’s shirt.
McEnroe’s NIKE shirt.
Notice anything about it? Anything different at all?
Well let me put you out of your misery, because the answer is there’s absolutely nothing different about it whatsoever.
It’s the same logo as you see today.
It’s the same font as you see today.
It’s the same flawed genius athlete as you see today.
It is a demonstration of a brand who has always known who the fuck it is, what/who it stands for and what it believes.
A brand that made that logo ‘an asset’ through the decisions it makes and the athletes it associates with.
For over 50+ years.
No ‘relaunch’.
No ‘brand purpose’ statement.
No ‘one colour’ brand systems.
No ‘system 2’ decision making.
Hell, they’re even OK with making mistakes because they are focused on fighting, challenging, pushing and provoking athletes and sport rather than chasing popularity and convenience.
In fact, the greatest irony is the reason they’re currently in the shit is because certain people decided their 50+ years of pushing who they are, what/who they stand for and what they believe was now out of date. Irrelevant. Not ‘optimising or maximising’ their commercial value enough. So they turned their back on who they are to embrace what many modern marketing guru’s said they should be … ignoring the fact these people have never done – or achieved – anything close to what NIKE has and does.
Now it is very true there are certain things NIKE have been slow to embrace. Some are mindblowingly ridiculous and stupid. However, I would argue that is more because they shed so many people who loved and live for sport while replacing them with people who love and live for marketing processes and practices.
Because while there is – if done correctly – value in those things, it’s important to remember they never MAKE a brand, they – at best – help empower it. A bit.
That we’ve chosen to forget this to enable us to profit from an increasing number of companies who seek to disguise the fact they don’t know who they fuck they are, what/who they stand for and what they believe, highlights how much marketing has become an industry of platitudes, not provocation.
Which is why I will always remember what a friend of my Dad once told me.
He was a lawyer, but his words were very pertinent for marketing.
Especially a lot of what passes – or is celebrated – in marketing today.
He basically said: “Great companies don’t change who they are but always fight to change where they are”
Sadly, it feels too many have got things the wrong way around these days.
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’.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Content, Context, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Music, Queen, Resonance
Of all the terms banded about by the creative industry … craft is one that is spoken about a lot.
For many people, they interpret this in terms of executional quality and without doubt, that is a part of it, but it is so much more.
In fact, craft starts at the thinking phase … before a single thing has been defined or committed to paper.
I’ve written a lot about craft over the years, but I recently read something that for me, is a wonderful expression of its role and power.
Now, I get there’s going to be a lot of moaning when you see what my example is – or, should I say, – who my example of craft is coming from. But hang in there. Please.
Are you ready?
OK, so it comes from Queen’s Brian May.
I know … I know … but there’s a reason for this.
You see he was recently asked about the lyrics to one of his songs called ’39.
This song appeared on their 1975 album, ‘A Night At The Opera’ and it is a song about space travel through different dimensions.
For haters of Queen, just description probably justifies all your loathing … but there is method in the madness.
You see Brian May has a PHD in astrophysics.
And while he gained that qualification in 2007, the reality is he was a leading researcher in the field prior to joining Queen.
In fact the only reason he didn’t gain his PHD back in the 1970’s is because the band took off and so his studies stopped.
But even then, his love of astrophysics was a key part of who he was – especially the relationship it had with the dimension of time – which is maybe one of the key influences behind this song.
To understand the rest of this post, you should hear it … paying particular interest to the lyrics. So click here.
Did you do it?
Did you bollocks.
OK, then just click here to read the lyrics.
Did you do that?
Hmmmmn, OK … I believe you even if no one else will.
The point of this is because Brian May was recently asked about the story of the song and his reply is fascinating.
Fascinating in terms of where and how song writers get their inspiration …
But – to link back to the point of the post – fascinating in terms of how this crafted how he specifically wrote the lyrics …
How amazing is that?
I love how he explains why the tenses are mixed up in his lyrics.
How it is integral to the idea he had for the song.
How it is an example of craft in motion.
Sure, there’ll be some pricks who will claim its ‘post rationalized justification’, but that’s because they are confusing their ego with their ability.
Because here’s the thing with craft …
In many ways it is not immediately obvious to the recipient … they may not engage with it in the detail and care that went into it. They probably encounter it as a singular, all-encompassing experience. But to the creator, everything will mean something. Not in terms of ‘contrived, focus-group instruction and manipulation, but in terms of ensuring their creativity is crafted to represent their idea in its purest, most honest form. All the while embracing – and valuing – that the recipient may interpret and connect to the work in different ways than intended. Taking it to somewhere new, different and personal.
It’s a beautiful and generous act and why one of the most important questions I ask in any initial creative meeting is ‘what’s the story behind your story?’.
I don’t mean that in terms of them reiterating the brief or conveying some ‘insight’ they’ve defined to answer/justify their solution … but the journey they have been on in terms of inspiration, consideration or history that has led them or shaped what they are going to show.
Mainly because at this stage of proceedings, it’s got less to do with ‘answering’ the brief, but understanding how they see it.
A glimpse into where it could go, rather than what it currently is.
It’s why we need to remember craft isn’t something to wrap an idea in, it’s what informs the entire expression of the idea.
Because even if people don’t recognise it, they will probably feel it … even if they can’t explain why.
And that is the power of creativity … something we need to protect, especially from those who try to present it or define it like its engineering and their master mechanics. Which is ironic, given they’ve never created anything with it.