Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Childhood, Creative Development, Creativity, My Fatherhood, Otis
I’ve written in the past how Otis has taken after his dad in terms of loving tech.
An iPad encouraged him crawl at 10 months old.
He uses Alexa to interact with the house.
Youtube is his preferred entertainment channel, which he is incredibly proficient at working his way around … which, given the way they are running things, means we have to pay even closer attention to what he’s doing than ever.
He doesn’t understand why things like the television don’t respond to the same hand gestures as Daddy’s iPhone.
It’s amazing.
But what really blew me away was when a few weeks ago, he called me over to show me this:
Yes, it is a better looking version of me, but the reason I was blown away was he did it.
All of it.
From finding a photo of his Dad … uploading it to an app on his iPad … to editing, creating and playing with the image.
And he’s only three years old.
THREE!
Now I appreciate the technology is more available than in the past and the programs are more user-friendly than in the past … but it still astounds me how much kids can embrace and engage the unknown.
Sure it’s been designed with them in mind – which is testimony to the people behind the app – but for a 3 year old to be able to manipulate photographs astounds me and, with a bit of luck, means the future of the World might be in better hands than those in the present.
Here’s hoping.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Comment, Confidence, Culture, Daddyhood, England, Mum & Dad, My Fatherhood, Nottingham Forest, Otis
Can you remember some of your greatest days?
I don’t just mean the big ones, but the ones that should have been a ‘normal 24 hours’ but somehow turned into something different.
Better.
Seminal.
Jill recently sent me a photo that captures one of those days.
Yes, that’s me watching TV.
More specifically, watching Forest.
Live.
Playing Arsenal.
In the FA Cup.
Fallen giants versus FA Cup holders.
Championship team versus Premiership establishment.
Managerless versus longest serving manager.
And we won.
4-2.
FOUR BLOODY TWO.
More than that, we won in style … so much so that a blind Arsenal fan, who was at the game, expressed that he had finally found a positive to being blind because he didn’t have to see how much Forest bossed Arsenal on the pitch, but only hear it.
But as much as that is most definitely a big and memorable event, that’s not what made it seminal for me.
It’s that little head resting against my body on the sofa.
Yep, that’s Otis.
Watching the game with me.
His first ever football match.
Where his Dad’s beloved Nottingham Forest, won.
Now I appreciate this isn’t the same as when I was a kid and started watching Forest.
Back then, they were not just winning against the champions, they were the champions.
First of the league, then of Europe and beyond.
Their success cemented my love of the reds … taking it beyond just geographic loyalty and into more personal identity.
And even though they have fallen so far from those heady days – where they have had 26 different managers in the time Arsene Wegner has been boss of the gunners – I still love them and hope this match, where Forest secured an unlikely yet thoroughly deserved victory in front of a 3 year old living in Manhattan Beach, means he will love them too.
Maybe I’m being massively unfair on Otis.
Maybe I’m setting him up for a lifetime of disappointment.
But then, when you hear stories like this that come out of matches like that, it does teach you that the events of the past don’t have to dictate the events of the future if you commit to always doing your best.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Childhood, Comment, Family, Friendship, Human Goodness, My Fatherhood, Otis
It’s Monday.
I know that’s pretty shit for all of us so I thought I’d do something nice for a change.
OK, I’m not really doing any of it … my son is … but if it affects you 1/1000th in the way it affected me, it will make your day a little sweeter.
Otis has a friend called Elodie.
Her parents – by pure chance – are English and we met them at our kids school.
Elodie adores Otis.
And Otis adores Elodie.
They operate at the same speed and frequency and while there’s the odd moment where one of them goes slightly off the rails, their affection for each other is obvious.
A few weeks ago we were all at the beach to celebrate another kids birthday [this is my life now]
Living so close to the beach is a real privilege and even though both kids are there most days, they still act like it’s their first time.
Anyway, we were there for Jack’s 3rd birthday and in-between birthday cake and opening presents, I saw Elodie and Otis walk to the gentle tide.
As they chatted to each other, I followed them from a little distance to give them space to continue playing in their own World when suddenly they did this …
There are many beautiful things in my life that have taken my breath away, but this was one of the most powerful.
Innocent.
Heartfelt.
Friendship.
Which is why as much as that lone surfer in the distance may believe they are riding upon life’s purest joy, I would like to say to them they are wrong and point them to the embrace of my son and his dear Elodie.
I think they would acknowledge I am right.
Happy Monday.
Thank you Otis and Elodie.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, China, Comment, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, Differentiation, Food For Thought, Goodbye China, Hello America, Insight, Internet, Interviews, Marketing Fail, Martin Weigel, My Fatherhood, Otis, Paul, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Pretentious Rubbish, Relevance, Resonance, Social Media, Standards, The Kennedys, The Kennedys Shanghai, Unexpected Relevance, Unplanned, Unprofessional Professional, Wieden+Kennedy
How is your 2018 going so far?
I know it’s still early days – but is it looking good or bad?
Well, if it’s looking positive, I’m about to ruin it for you and if it is looking dodgy, I’m going to help you solidify your opinion.
Why?
Well, a few weeks ago, a nice guy called Paul McEnany asked if he could interview me about my career.
While I’m sure his reasoning for his request was to help planners learn what not to do, my ego said yes even before my mouth did … and while the end result is the bastard love child of rambling randomness and base-level swearing, it’s the perfect way to justify your pessimism for 2018 or to ensure your optimism for the new year doesn’t get too high.
So go here and errrrrm, enjoy [if that’s the right word for it, which it isn’t] and after you’ve heard my crap, listen to the brilliant interviews with people like Gareth Kay, Russell Davies, Richard Huntingdon, Martin Weigel and the amazing Chris Riley because apart from being hugely interesting and inspiring, you’ll get the added bonus of [1] undeniable proof I’m a massive imposter and [2] the knowledge that if I can have some sort of semi-successful career in advertising, you certainly can.
You’re welcome.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Disney, Family, Fatherhood, Jill, My Fatherhood, Otis
Following on from yesterday’s post, I’ve taken today off so I can take Otis for his first visit to Disneyland.
I can tell you right now he is going to absolutely bloody love it … and I have to tell you I’m glad he will because it has cost the equivalent of the GDP of a medium sized European nation and I’d be devastated to have to sell a kidney for something he won’t enjoy.
As much as I can be rather skeptical about Disney, I have to say they know how to capture kids imagination.
I still remember taking Otis to a hospital in Shanghai and – as soon as he clapped eyes on the TV showing Frozen – his pain and tears disappeared to be replaced with a hypnotic state.
So that’s where I’ll be today and then I’ll spend the weekend trying to recover from it as well as hope my beloved Nottingham Forest end the season on a high, which – given the position they were in last season – already feels like they’re playing in football Disneyland.
Now I know finishing mid-table in the Championship may not seem the sort of thing anyone should celebrate, but when you’ve had the turmoil we’ve had over the last 20 years – and especially the last 5 – it’s feels really good to have a team that is occasionally in the news for the way they’re playing football rather the way the terrible ex-CEO was playing with the club and it’s finances.
So in a way to honor Nottingham Forest being slightly less shit than they were last year [when they were super shit] I hereby reproduce my ‘everything for a £1’ shop version of one of my favourite Nike/Wieden ads ever.
Horrific isn’t it?
Especially compared to the original.
Putting aside the fact I’m wearing something ‘Adidas’, it’s a bit like comparing a pair of Hi-Tec trainers to a pair of NIKE’s, but then that’s like comparing the current Forest side to the team that dominated Europe in the early 80’s.
Or – said another way – how it feels to be a Forest fan for the last couple of decades.
So now I’ve ruined your weekend, I’m off … see you Monday.