Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Fashion, Imagination, Luxury, Management, Marketing
Recently I watched a show on Netflix called ‘7 Days’.
It was about about the preparations for the presentation of Chanel’s new couture collection.
I know … I know … I am the arsenic of fashion, but for reasons no one has quite worked out yet, I am doing a bunch of work for a number of super-luxury fashion labels [thanks to my Chinese client not only is one of the biggest investors in the industry, but is seen as the Patron Saint of street culture and luxury fashion] and so I’ve had the real honour of watching these people up close in terms of how much they believe, value and protect craft in all they do.
Put simply, it’s mindblowing.
For an industry many like to label as superficial, they’re miles ahead of many of the places I’ve worked at who go on about how obsessed with craft, creativity and culture they are.
Don’t get me wrong, some truly meant.
Hell, a couple even practiced it.
But compared to how high-end fashion brands embrace it, few come close to that level of commitment and focus.
And that’s what I loved about the Chanel documentary because it showed their relentless pursuit for perfection throughout the entire creative process.
From the cutting of fabric to the very last second before a model hits the runway … they have people checking, fine-tuning, considering, questioning and executing every detail in micro-detail.
A production line of seasoned experts, all looking at the clothes through their particular area of specialisation, but always considering their choices and decisions through the lens of the chief designers vision and the needs and focus of the other experts they work alongside.
Or said another way …
Every person involved in every detail is singularly focused on delivering an experience that lives up to the standards, vision and excellence of the head designer, rather than doing whatever they think works for them.
That doesn’t mean they have to lower their standards or deny their self-expression or individual flair – if anything, the total opposite is true. Because every person involved has been specifically chosen – or approved – by the head designer because they know these experts eye, judgement, skill and obsession for excellence won’t allow anything other than the brutal, uncompromising quest and commitment for the absolute majesty of perfection.
I wrote about this recently in connection to the film director Michael Mann … and how this approach is far more about collaboration than the bullshit that passes for it inside many companies, which is why I encourage everyone to watch this magically inspiring show, because you’ll not only re-evaluate an entire industry, you’ll see what it takes to be truly great versus those who simply say they already are.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Comment, Content, Context, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Honesty, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Music
A few years ago, almost 60 hours of unseen footage of The Beatles recording their final album was discovered.
Peter Jackson was hired to clean it up and put it together to make a program that would give a glimpse of the inner-workings of the band that almost no one had seen.
The result is Get Back … a 6+ hour show that reveals a band who couldn’t help being creative even when they were on the cusp of breaking up.
Someone I know described the show as basically watching one long creative review – and they’re right.
The whole show is full of the review rollercoaster.
Tension.
Judgement.
Protection.
Scepticism.
Debates.
Comments.
Ideas
Body language.
Pushing.
Encouragement.
Muddiness.
Clarity.
Excitement.
But there’s one bit in the whole documentary to me that best sums all that up … that best sums up the whole creative process.
Watch this:
https://twitter.com/notnotnuanced/status/1464990141576007691?s=21
What you’ve just watched is Paul McCartney plucking the song, ‘Get Back’ – one of the bands most famous songs – out of the air.
Literally pulling it from out of nowhere.
One second he’s stumbling in the dark trying to find some sort of a melody, the next second he has just written one of the bands most recognisable songs.
That’s a level of magic even Harry Potter couldn’t pull off.
OK, so McCartney probably had a loose idea of a loose idea … but in 2 minutes 20 seconds, we get to see the magic of the creative process unfolding in-front of our eyes.
Where we go from a distant galaxy, where you can’t really see where things are … to one that you feel is inside of you.
No warning. No indicators. Just landed with all its engines roaring in harmony.
And this reveals a truth about creativity people are seemingly trying harder and harder to deny.
It’s messy.
You have to try things. Get past the obvious things. The ‘alright’. The ‘makes sense’.
The reality is coming up with something that does the job is relatively easy, but coming up with something that has the energy that takes the idea to somewhere else, isn’t. But that should always be the goal. An idea that has the energy to pull others in … that lets them sense and see the possibilities of what is being created. That gets them on board to push things further and sharper.
I say this because we’ve seemingly become obsessed with forcing creativity into processes, frameworks and eco-systems.
Where the ambition appears to simply be ‘does it say what we need it to say’?
And while I understand the pressures of business means time has a competitive advantage … thinking anything is OK as long as it’s quick is a false economy.
Now the normal response to that sort of statement is …
“… but that situation is so rare, it’s a better use of our time to say what we need to say and move to the next”.
But most of the time, that’s more a convenient excuse than a true reflection of reality.
Because the reality is the reason the work doesn’t get to the standards they want is because they don’t let them happen.
There’s a ton of reasons for it – from not briefing properly to wanting to someone rather than talking to everyone to not knowing who they really are or where they’re going to not valuing quality but speed – but underpinning all of it is not understanding how creativity is born.
You see while there is absolutely a place for processes, eco-systems and frameworks … the most valuable thing creatives can have is the time, space and openness to explore and find the energy in the idea before they start crafting the idea.
I get that can be annoying to people.
I get that it may result in putting pressure on some other areas of the business.
But in my experience, if you give creatives that gift, they not only can work pretty quick with everything else … they can give you something that is great rather than OK.
So said another way, more ‘Get Back’ than ‘You Know What To Do’ … a song so bad, they never even released it while they were a band.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Confidence, Content, Context, Crap Campaigns In History, Creativity, Culture, London, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Positioning, Social Divide, Social Media
OK, I’m ‘proper back’ now and look at that – we’re in February!!!
Maybe I should just write a blog post on the last or first of every month and make life easier for all of us?
Nahhhhhhhh … where’s the enjoyment in that when there’s so much stuff out there to comment on, like this monstrosity of an ad that I saw recently …
Putting aside the fact anyone who wants to be ‘the most interesting person in the room’ is basically admitting they have an ego the size of Bono … or the average person working in adland, the choice of image for this ad is the most stupid I’ve seen in a very, very long time.
Since when were escalators at tube stations a room?
And I’m guessing the people behind it either don’t live in London because if they did, they’d know the first – and biggest – social cardinal sin in that city is speaking to anyone anywhere in the vicinity of the tube.
When I lived in London, I was told in no uncertain terms of this fact within days of being there by a bloke I was squashed next to, as we were on our way to Heathrow Airport.
He also had some luggage with him so I asked, “where are you off to?” and the look he gave me was as if I’d asked him to tell me his families home address and what times are they out.
He literally said, “don’t you know you’re not supposed to talk to people on the tube?”
Hahahahahahahaha.
So with that in mind … and the fact the image they’ve chosen shows people all in a row, all facing the back of the person in-front’s head – which makes having any conversation a bit difficult – maybe Curio should just change the headline of their ad to ‘be the most annoying person in the room’ and be done with it.
Let’s face it, it would probably be more a appropriate explanation of what the app supposedly helps you become, whether they use a visual of the London Underground or not.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, China, Colenso, Comment, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Emotion, Empathy, End of Year, Fulfillment, Goodbye England, Imagination, Jill, London, Management, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Mum, Mum & Dad, My Fatherhood, New Zealand, Otis, Paul, Paula, Resonance, Respect, Rick Rubin, RulesOfRubin, Shelly
So this is it, year 15 of this blog is officially over.
YEAR 15!!!
Christ, this might be the most I’ve ever been committed to anything. What a shame this blog is basically worth nothing, hahahaha.
But we’re here.
A year that the World hoped would represent huge, positive change after the hell of 2020 … but ended up being more of the same.
For us, of course, this was a year with a huge difference – namely we now live in New Zealand.
Moving countries can be a pain in the arse at the best of times, but doing it in a pandemic adds a whole lot of stress that no one needs. However, despite that … despite saying goodbye [or should I say, au revoir] to the beautiful house we had just bought … despite not being able to physically see my beloved Paul and Shelly before we went … despite the hassle, broken furniture and time to get settled in … it’s been amazing.
There’s many reasons to that.
From the 2 week quarantine we had to do, which let us – and Rosie, the cat – get acclimatised to the obscene time difference to the kindness and generosity of the people here. To the fact we had bought our beautiful home – and cars – before we arrived, which made things so much easier. To the covid vaccinations we received. To the community we have found ourselves in. To the outdoor life – excluding the insane rain and 4 month lockdown – we have been able to enjoy.
So much.
But it would be wrong for me to not mention the role Colenso and, specifically my team, have had in it.
Everyone of these talented souls has been wonderful.
Not just to me, but Jill and Otis as well.
Plus there’s the fact my team have [generally] put up with my ‘ways’ … and we all know how painful that can be. I’ve always been incredibly fortunate with the teams I’ve been a part of and this lot are no different.
Sure, they’re mouthy bastards with no end of opinions, ideas and considerations but that’s – as you probably could guess – is exactly why I love them.
We’ve only been together 7 months but I’ve seen enough to be excited about what damage we can do in 2022 – reinforced by the fact we finished this year being named Agency Of The Year by the Effies organisation for a whole host of work that solved problems in interesting ways.
So to Lizzie, Henry, Teresa, Emma, Gi, Augustine, Amy and Liam … thank you for everything.
You’ve given me laughs, headaches, pride, lessons and things to ponder … and I couldn’t be more grateful for all of it.
[And extra best wishes to Lizzie who gets married during the holidays. Made extra perfect because she had to postpone it due to Covid and this way she gets to make the holiday season even more wonderful for all her family]
But while NZ has been the major change in my year, there have been some other notable moments.
In some respects, it was a year of music.
From my Rick Rubin project to getting fired by the Red Hot Chili Peppers to the best passive aggressive endorsement ever seen in the history of mankind.
Given I’ll be working for The Black Keys, Muse and – weirdly – Journey in 2022, I can only hope the musical rollercoaster will keep me on my toes as much.
Talking of celebrity …
I met Noel Edmunds at a business ‘do’ in Auckland – which surprised him as much as it did me – and I got to hug Jacinda Ardern, albeit committing social faux pas when I interrupted her during a dinner she was having to say hello.
That I’m still allowed in the country is testimony to New Zealand’s humanity.
Then there was the Tokyo Olympics …
An event a year late from its original plan … met with global apathy, especially in their home country … only to win us all over and turn us back into fans.
Seeing young kids win medals in skateboarding will stay with me for a very long time.
In fact, having skateboarding in the Olympics may have just done more to get kids wanting to do sport again than any number of NIKE ad campaigns.
That’s how good it was.
Best ad of the year goes to the amazing MacMillan cancer ad.
I must have watched it a couple of hundred times now – hell, I’ve even built a presentation around it that I give clients – and I still cry when I see it.
Not because of sadness – though there’s plenty in it – but because of the human emotion it triggers.
As I wrote at the time, it has this incredible ability to take me back to the times I lost my parents but make me feel closer to them. Extraordinary.
I could go on …
I could talk about certain posts I wrote in the year, like Toxic Positivity, but let’s face it … you can’t be bothered to read it and I can’t be bothered to write about it.
So I want to say some thanks …
To everyone who reads, writes and insults me on this blog … I am eternally grateful – and surprised – you come here. Many of you have been coming here for almost as long as I’ve been writing it and I have to say I find comfort in knowing that whatever I’m facing in life, I can come here and all of it just fades away. So for that, thank you … I really appreciate it.
I also want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to check on how we’re doing. You didn’t have to, but you did and that means a ton.
Extra special thanks go to Paul, Shelly, Martin, Paula, Amelia, Martin B, Meg, Rach, Mike, Sam, Mr Ji, Peter and Cliff … who all made me feel like you were just around the corner, even though you were thousands of miles away.
And finally, a special thanks to Jill, Otis and Rosie.
None of this would be possible without you and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.
You make me a happier, better person than I believed was possible … and while you may rightfully think I can be a total pain-in-the-ass, I can just tell you I’d be even worsr without you.
So thank you.
For everything,
I can never fully tell you how much I love you and am grateful for you.
The way you handle all this change is extraordinary …
Nothing sums this up more than something Otis chose to do recently.
As you all know, Otis has beautiful, gorgeous, stunning long hair …
Well a few weeks ago, he suddenly announced he wanted to cut it off so it could be donated to kids with cancer.
We asked if he was sure as it was a big thing and he said, “he wants to and is determined to”.
Then he added he will continue to do this until he’s 18.
Grow his hair.
Donate his hair.
Grow his hair.
Donate his hair.
So that evening, his Mum got scissors and a hair razor out and starting cutting 35 CENTIMETERS OF HAIR.
THIRTY FIVE!
Throughout the cutting he kept saying how excited he was.
How it was changing his life.
How much ‘lighter’ his head felt.
And afterwards, the little champ looked like this …
A new sort of rock n’ roll.
I thought it was impossible to love him anymore. I was wrong.
To have the capacity to be so compassionate and considerate at 7 years of age is incredible.
Even more so when he has had so much change in his life.
Four countries in 6 years.
New homes, new schools, new friends.
Almost 18 months of lockdown.
And yet he still has it in him to think of others.
Definitely his Mum’s son.
But proudly mine too.
Hell, he even offered me a chance to remember what it was like to have hair …
… though it could also have been to take the piss out of me.
So to Otis … Jill … Rosie … everyone I know and people I don’t but somehow have still come into my life this year, I wish you a wonderful festive season.
I really, really hope 2022 is much better for everyone than the previous 2 years.
I hope we have a year where everyone can have hope for the future.
I don’t know if it’s possible with the machismo bullshit of politicians, but let’s hope so.
Thank you again for everything, have a great time … just not better than me. Please.
See you on January 31st.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Comedians, Comment, Content, Context, Craft, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Documentary, Entertainment, Immaturity, Mischief, Netflix
Congratulations on surviving the first week back of this blog.
Remember, the good news is there’s no more posts till next Tuesday thanks to yet another holiday in New Zealand. If I knew I’d be having this big a break at the start of the year, I’d have moved here 6 years ago when I first had the chance.
It’s utterly mad, which is the perfect segue to another example of madness.
Have a look at this:
That, my friends, is apparently a genuine tweet.
Someone believes a video made by Mr Beast somehow proves the creator community is the ultimate in power, influence and success because – according to them – it got more views in less time than the original Netflix show.
How many flaws can we spot in that statement?
Look, I’m not doubting the creator community can have incredible influence over culture.
I’m not doubting the creator community can attract incredible amounts of ‘views’.
I’m not doubting the creative credentials of Mr Beast [who I do enjoy following].
But apart from the fact the Mr Beast video actually took 10 years and 7 weeks to make as it required Squid Games to be written, produced and streamed prior to Mr Beast being approached by a company to ‘re-create it’ for his channel … not to mention it didn’t make nearly as much money, or have as great an impact on sales of Van’s as the original … literally copying something someone else created is the absolute opposite of what ‘creator community’ is supposed to mean.
Don’t get me wrong, the creator community is a brilliant thing.
I genuinely love it.
But there are millions of people who are putting in so much effort to make ‘content’ and often only end up with a few likes rather than real revenue. And even those who do make it big, still earn less than the biggest stars of ‘traditional’ film making – so the promise of the community may not be as bright as some think it is.
At least right now.
I’ve blanked the name of the person who wrote the tweet to protect their delusion, but it kind of reinforces my post from last year about the fine line between entrepreneurs and parasites.
In the 80/90’s, a number of UK up and coming comedian created a group called ‘Comic Strip ‘.
The comedians were Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders, Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Jennifer Saunders and Alexei Sayle.
So basically the foundation of British comedy television for the next 30+ years.
Anyway, Comic Strip was basically a creative vehicle for them to make a bunch of programs for Channel 4.
One of them was called Bad News, a ‘rockumentary’ about a fictitious heavy metal band trying to hit the big time. Yes, the premise sounds awfully like the movie ‘Spinal Tap’ … however Bad News came out the year before that seminal movie, so it’s just a bizarre coincidence.
So in the show, the guitarist, Vim Fuego – played by Ade Edmondson – tells the interviewer that he is a better guitarist than Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
His reason for saying that is because he could play the solo to Stairway To Heaven when he was 13 but Jimmy couldn’t even write the song until he was 26.
Later in the program, he said John Lennon had visited him in a dream and gave him a song. He decided to call it Imogen. And when the interviewer said the name – and the melody – were suspiciously like the Lennon classic, Imagine … he claimed he’d never heard of it.
Of course, all of this was supposed to be great comedy, but with views like the twitter writer above, apparently it was simply an example of future human delusion.