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So today, I start working from home due to the devastating spread of corona virus.
As someone who has lived through SARS, avian and swine flu, you’d think I would be fine with it … but the way the government and media have responded, I have to say has left me on edge.
It feels like 28 Days Later – as we hide, hoping the invisible virus won’t get us while looking suspiciously at anyone who is outside or has a casual sneeze.
Personally I don’t think the government are taking it seriously enough.
I also think a lot of people are being way too blase about it.
But what’s worse is that while many of us are going to be inconvenienced, the elderly, the homeless, the single parents, the temporary workers, the unemployed and the small business owners are going to face a horrific time and no one seems to be creating plans for how they can cope.
I’m addition, it’s showing the worst of society.
From that fat, lying, cheating bastard who is the President of America – to the rapid increase in gun purchase in the USA [seriously, WTF?] to the disgusting locust like behaviour going on in across supermarkets all over the World.
I tell you what, any of these people who ever negatively judged immigrants, refugees or boat people better not do that from now on.
Though what’s the betting they’ll claim their situation is different.
I guess they’re right.
Refugees, migrants and boat people are trying not to die. They’re just trying to continue living in comfort and wipe their arse with 3-ply.
But through it all there have been signs of humanity showing their best side.
Coming together.
Uniting.
Looking out for others.
From the wonderful singing that is happening on balconies across Italy to Waitrose making sure all small business suppliers are paid the next day to LVMH doing this …
Given there are some companies you’d expect to jump to societies help who are acting like absolute wankers, it’s even more amazing LVMH are acting so swiftly and generously.
When this all passes, some companies will discover profit before people ends up costing them profit and people.
It’s a strange time but we will get through it – but what will make it better is if we can find ways to help those who feel left behind.
I’m working on something and there’s options already in place for the elderly – like this – but if you have more ideas, please let me know.
Most of all, look after yourself.
So far, 2020 has a lot to improve on.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Imagination, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Pretentious Rubbish, Relevance, Resonance, Wieden+Kennedy
Once upon a time, endlines meant something.
They were distinct, explained a brands value or purpose.
And more often than not, were packed with personality.
Then Dan Wieden fucked it up for everyone.
You see his famous JUST DO IT became the benchmark for all brands.
Marketing Directors craved a line that summed up who they were in 3 words.
The number of words was more important than what it said … which is why you now get this …
What a pile of shite.
Bland, contrived, sameness …
Literally doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do.
Designed to appeal to the ego of the board rather than the hearts of the audience.
All because we have fallen into the trap of believing simplistic equates to effectiveness.
It doesn’t.
Simple might do … but simplistic is the lowest common denominator that requires zero thinking because it makes zero impression.
It’s why I sit here and can remember endlines from my childhood more easily than end lines I watched 10 minutes ago.
Handmade by Robots … for Fiat.
Refreshes the other parts other beers can’t reach … for Heineken.
Do you love someone enough to give them your last Rolo … for, ahem, Rolo.
Of course there’s a few modern endlines that work … GoPro’s ‘Be A Hero’ for example [though they went and fucked it up by changing it to utter blandom] … but in the main, companies seems to like endlines that sound like they know what they’re doing but don’t really say much at all.
At cynic we used to call these ‘Yoda Statements’, but what is even scarier is consultants are being paid a fortune to come up with this sort of twaddle.
That’s right, companies who claim to know how to help business grow are coming up with statements that literally make companies blend into everything else.
And yet they still are valued more highly by clients that companies who know how to push, provoke, inspire and capture the imagination of culture through creativity.
If anything tells you how mad the World is, surely one of them is that.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Anniversary, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Products In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Experience, Focus Groups, Food For Thought, Imagination, Innocence, Innovation, Insight, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Perspective, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Relevance, Resonance, Standards, Valentine's Day
One of the things that frustrates me is when companies talk loudly and proudly about their ambition but then follow it up with, “but we have to take baby steps to get there”.
The only thing that annoys me more is when agency folk say the work they’ve made isn’t great, but it does, “push the client a bit further than they were before”.
Look, I get it … there are many implications to what we do, but as much as this ‘softly, softly’ approach may sound like it makes sense, it often ends up being counter-productive.
Being slightly better than where you were means nothing if everyone around you is taking huge strides forward.
But of course, just blindly rushing ahead often ends up with people getting burnt … just like planning your progress while constantly looking through the rear-view mirror.
At some point, you have to take a leap.
A step-change from what is known and established to something that changes how you, your audience and your competitors look at what is possible.
For me, this is what innovation truly is about, not micro-improvements designed to keep a company or product up to date with what the category and their competitors are doing.
I get for the company involved, that may feel like a big step – and for them, maybe it is – but it’s not really moving them ahead, it’s just keeping them closer behind the people leading – and owning – change.
To make it worse, culture don’t really care how big a step it was for you, they care about what’s in it for them – so if it’s not done to move them forward, you’re basically putting the ‘no’ in innovation.
So how do you leap forward without falling?
Well, on one level, you can’t.
Innovation of any kind runs the risk of failure … that is inherent to anything that is trying to dramatically move forward.
However you can improve the odds of success.
I’m not just talking about having an open attitude towards failure … where you look at it as a way to learn and progress rather than to lose due to unnecessary risk.
I’m talking about the power of insight.
Insight gets a bad rap these days.
Some of it is because a lot of things people claim are insight are anything but.
However I have been noticing an increase in the number of people using the Henry Ford quote of, “If I asked people what they wanted, they’d say a faster horse” … to basically try and undermine the value of insight.
But as I’ve talked about for years, if someone couldn’t tell from that quote that people wanted to get from A-to-B faster than they currently are able to do, then they’re a fucking idiot.
Sure, there is a lot of work to do to get from ‘speed of mobility’ to the creation of the motor vehicle, but the foundation of what people are looking for is right there for all to see.
Or hear.
Contrary to what many say, I personally believe people do know what they want … they just don’t know how to express it.
It might be said in hidden ways.
Or through actions written off as stupidity.
Or via behaviours that push against tradition.
Or with associations that feel random or misunderstood.
Or simply the core of a subculture inventing their own approaches.
It could be anything.
Which is why I believe our job is to listen, explore and investigate … recognize the clues culture expresses through their secret codes so you can work with your creative friends to translate this into something that defines something new.
Creates step change not a degree of change.
Reveals a new possibility rather than remakes something old.
Basically resonates with the speed and direction of culture, rather than tries to be relevant to the present rules.
And while that may indeed still fail or just require a shitload of hard work to evolve the idea into something infectious or – eventually – inevitable, it means you are leading change rather than being shaped because of it, which has the potential to change your future in ways no one could ever imagine.
Of course, the problem is not just that many people claim to want pragmatism but insist on micro-progress based on established behaviours, rules and habits … there’s the issue that some people evaluate something that challenges convention by the standards of what is already in place – ignoring the fact the idea they are evaluating it against has been given literally decades to hone their offering and establish their role.
Or said another way, some people happily kill something before it has been given the chance to be something, because they’re basing it on what they think rather than translating the codes of what culture want.
Like Blockbusters, who passed on Netflix.
Or Nokia who dismissed the threat of the Apple iPhone.
Or VW who basically laughed at Tesla and their electric car.
And while I accept anyone who wants create the future – rather than have it created for them – has a lot of obstacles to jump, there is good news.
Because for those who have competitors who believe progress only comes through refining and optimizing what they already have, they have been given the gift of time to create something that redefines the rules.
Leapfrogs established behaviours.
Create a new set of standards and expectations.
Because the only way to counter money, heritage and distribution is to innovate past it, in the knowledge that you know you’ve found something interesting when everyone feels the impact of your pragmatism …
Like a lightbulb compared to an optimised candle.
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Before I go, to ensure I leave you in the Valentine’s Day spirit, here’s what love is in the modern age – as described by the wonderful Amelia – who DID give me permission to post this, so keep your insults to yourself.
Got to be honest, I’m glad I am married because if I wasn’t, I’d either end up single or in jail.
And yes John, I did say prosperity instead of posterity. Deal with it!
Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Communication Strategy, Content, Context, Crap Campaigns In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Professionalism, Relevance, Resonance
So while going through my photos, I found this screen grab from Dave Trott …
To be honest, I wrote about this a couple of years ago but if it was relevant then, it seems even more relevant now.
There is more and more work that just seems to be a literal execution of the client brief.
Not even the agency brief … but the clients.
Literal.
Contrived.
Feature focused.
I can’t help but feel their strategy is to bore people into submission, and while it may be argued this approach is working – probably because all the competition are following the same thing – the reality is the value of the brand gets diluted and so the long term success of the brand ends up being based on factors like price or distribution.
Of course, price and distribution always have and always will play a critical role in a brands success, but the inherent value of it is elevated hugely when you are in a position that people actively want it and seek it out. Yet, as I wrote a while back, it appears many brand managers are only focused on sales today without any consideration for the sustainable value of the brand tomorrow and if you are constantly harvesting your good will, eventually it will run out.
The big issue is so many marketers still think people are waiting for them to advertise.
That they are sat on the edge of their seat waiting to hear from them and buy from them.
That they have nothing better to do and all that they do do, is based on rational logic.
This approach says far more about the people behind the brands than the people they hope will buy from them and while I appreciate creativity requires a leap of faith – something some marketing folk weirdly feel is an act of corporate irresponsibility – the fact is society respond to [authentic] emotion far more than rational argument, at least in terms of communication, and so if they want their brand to move forward, the only thing that can counter spend, heritage and distribution is to embrace creativity and to do that properly, it means being Lateral, not literal.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Business, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Perspective, Resonance
When I was a kid, the top shelf of the newsagent was what I imagined Las Vegas was like.
Naughtiness.
Adult stuff.
Things no one should mention.
What am I talking about?
‘Men’s’ magazines.
I’m not talking Playboy … but the very English, very low-rent versions that were all – weirdly – either named after Ford cars or luxury London streets.
Fiesta.
Escort.
Mayfair.
Park Lane.
In the early days, the covers were on display for everyone to see.
EVERYONE!!!
Young boys would walk into newsagents and stare at them while trying desperately to not look like they were.
For most people, that was as close as you would get to them because buying one – or even looking through one – was out of the question.
What if someone saw you?
What if someone you knew saw you?
Of course someone must have been buying them because they were produced for decades.
I know for a fact that ‘one-eyed’ – the newsagent opposite the Nottingham main police station – was a magnet for the pervs and the teens, because it was small enough and out of the way enough to get away with it, but I always wondered how many of these would be bought at major players like WH Smiths.
Over time, the covers got covered up.
Not just to protect the innocent, but to try and stop the objectification of women.
Of course, given The Sun still had ‘page 3’ and claimed to be a ‘family newspaper’ this meant it had absolutely zero impact … and even today you can see those attitudes are still alive and well in all walks of life thanks to so many companies – including those specific to women evolve and grow – having a vested interest in making women feel, or be seen, as offering only looks to the World.
Anyway, the reason I say all this is that I recently walked into a WH Smiths to buy Otis a magazine and was pleasantly surprised – and a bit shocked – to see the top shelf was just that, a top shelf.
No doubt part of this is because porn – or erotica, or whatever title you want to give it – is so readily accessible that you don’t need ‘specialist magazines’ anymore as opposed to society having a healthier, more balanced attitude towards women [or sex] but it was weird to see nothing but genuinely ‘family friendly’ titles on there.
What was funny was one of those titles was something I was interested in buying for Jill, but the context from my past meant it was almost impossible for me to grab it.
That’s right, a ‘word puzzle’ magazine was loaded with baggage from what the top shelf once meant to me and I wonder if that is something that reflects my individual weirdness or something bigger … where being placed on the top shelf of WH Smiths may be best for visibility but worst for purchase.
And before you think I’m a total nutter, remember the brilliant – but slightly mad – Clotaire Rapaille believes your first exposure to brands and experiences frames and defines the way you look at them forever.