Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colenso, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Distinction, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Relationships, Relevance, Research, Resonance, Respect
When I joined Colenso, they organised some workshops for me to start having a deeper understanding with the Maori culture. It was – and is – amazing and I am so grateful.
In one of the classes, the professor said something that I thought was brilliant. While her analogy was about how many white people in New Zealand like to view New Zealand, it is so easily transferable to all nations.
While I’m probably paraphrasing her, what she said was this:
“We’re a world of fruit salad that governments, companies & media present and view as a smoothie.”
What’s terrible is adland is a major contributor to this.
Blending people and cultures to a bland, beige mess …
Saying a lot but telling you nothing.
Viewing individuality as an obstacle not a gift.
Which is why next time you write a brief or read an ad, it’s worth asking yourself … are you making fruit salad or a smoothie?
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Communication Strategy, Consultants, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Insight, Relevance, Resonance, Rick Rubin, RulesOfRubin
… however having just read a report by a consultancy on Chinese audiences – which was not only utterly generalistic, but out-of-date – I felt I had to write this.
Especially as the Rubin quote is so perfect for it. So here we go …
If you only know your audience through their transactional data … if you only speak to your audience to hear what they think about you rather than understand what you don’t know about them … if you only talk about your audience in generalistic terms … if you only interact with your audience through a one-way mirrored room … if you only interact with your audience by outsourcing to a ‘for profit’ organisation … if you think your audience only care about you and what you do … if you think your audiences lives have remained the same for over a year … if you use international trend reports as a proxy for knowing what your audiences future habits and behaviours will be … if you only talk to the same audience in the same markets [once a year] … if you only care about how to get your audience to buy more of what you’re selling … if you call your audience “consumers” …
Then I assure you, you’re definitely talking down to your audience.
If you want them to respect you, start by respecting them.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Honesty, Management, Relationships, Sport
There’s a well-known phrase that says. ‘it’s easier to get to the top than to stay there’.
I couldn’t agree with it more.
That’s not to say getting to the top is easy, but staying there requires a very different mentality.
However, while it should mean you’re always pushing forward … looking for ways to push and provoke possibilities … understanding where culture is heading rather than where you wish it was … defining the future rather than just following it … a lot of companies do it in a very different way.
Abusing their scale.
Buying market share.
Pricing competitors out.
Focused on size not change.
But what makes this ‘optimise the position’ approach even more fascinating is that a lot of these organisations who are like this, were not like that in the beginning.
In fact, they were the polar opposite.
Founded on changing something in their industry they felt was wrong.
They wanted to create change by offering a real alternative.
Something that drove them and defined them.
Where over time, they became distinctive and definitive.
And then … the more comfortable they became, the less they could see what they were turning into.
Silencing the alternate voices that used to fuel their drive.
Replacing the misfits with the people who look just like them.
Seeing a point of view as alienating rather than a beacon for those they once served.
Looking at cost rather than value.
Optimisation over innovation.
But this isn’t just in terms of operational behaviour.
It also affects the people within the operation.
Playing politics more than performance.
Protecting their position rather than growing those around them.
Following the process rather than focusing on what they want to do … create … change.
It’s a question I love to bring up with clients.
Especially when we’re talking about brand and positioning work.
The good ones are open to the uncomfortableness of the conversation.
I’m not saying they like it.
I once asked it to the founder of a rather well-known, global sports brand and he DEFINITELY didn’t like it … but based on the hard, honest, passionate and open debate it stirred – let alone the shifts it later encouraged – it was definitely worth it.
As for those organisations who are too far gone?
Well, they tend to shut down that conversation very, very quickly.
Then try to position you as bad for daring to ask it.
That everything is perfect with them and you should respect them and embrace them.
Of course, asking that question is the ultimate sign of respect.
You’re putting yourself on the line because you do like them. You do want them to do well.
You have recognised something may be misbalanced and you want to help them get that back.
Which may explain why the vast majority of companies I’ve asked this question have been open to it.
That doesn’t mean it has always led to different actions or behaviours, but it has been something they’re willing to debate. And while some may consider this approach ‘career suicide’, the great irony is it has had a huge and positive impact on the majority of my client relationships … because they know I’ll always give them the truth and I know they will always give it the time.
So while I still believe it is harder to stay at the top than to get there … if it means you’ve turned into the beast you were created to slay, then ‘the top’ is really rock bottom.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Colenso, Comment, Creativity, Culture, New Zealand
A few months ago, the disgustingly talented Nils Leonard of Uncommon, posted this on his twitter …
Maybe it’s because I’m old, but it stopped me in my tracks.
Of course, the reality is death is coming for all of us the moment we are born, but when you hit my age – it has a more profound impact.
But what’s interesting is that as much as turning 50 brought up a bunch of issues I never knew I had – driven by the fact my dad was only 60 when he died – it’s also given me more energy to chase after the things I’m interested in.
To be honest, I’ve never needed help with going after the interesting, but when you hit my age you come to the realisation the things you find exciting and intriguing can’t be put on a list to check out later, you have to act now because you may run out of time to do them later.
Of course the shit about all this is that the more you go into something new, the more exciting and intriguing things you find – so the concept of ‘running out of time’ is an unnerving inevitability. But it’s also something else. Inspiring.
While I have always prided myself on doing interesting stuff with interesting people, the last 9 months have been some of the most inspiring times I’ve ever had.
From what I’ve helped create to who I’ve helped create it with to what I have learned … I’ve thrown myself into anything that sounded beautifully bonkers and the result is that I feel like I’ve had a 10 years of experiences crammed into less than a year.
And while the pandemic helped make that happen … as did being made redundant from R/GA … so did turning 50 years of age.
That feeling that death is coming so I’d better live more.
Focus on the interesting not the banal.
Creativity not the endless talk of how to do it.
It’s a big part of why we are in New Zealand. At Colenso.
While it would have been easy to stay in England after 25 years away – and I totally acknowledge will be back eventually – the idea of being in an interesting and stimulating environment we had never lived before was pretty hard to resist.
Not just because it was Colenso …
Not just because it was closer to Jill’s Mum …
But because we have always evaluated our life by what we’ve done, not what we have and this allows us to add a shit-ton more weird and interesting experience to our lives.
Which isn’t bad when you’ve turned 50.
So thank you death.
You may be an asshole, but you’re one hell of a motivator.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colenso, Comment, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Marketing, Point Of View
Craft.
I’ve written a bunch about it over the years.
Like here.
Or this.
And in all cases, I’ve talked about the power.
The value.
The devaluation of its importance by clients and agencies.
I swear to god, the loss of craft coincided with the moment agencies decided they didn’t want to be art schools and wanted to be an MBA class instead.
Idiots.
However every now and then you see a piece of work that reminds you how great and valuable craft can be. Work where you know the details were sweated because they cared. And the fact it comes from Colenso just makes it better.
Craft is a competitive advantage.
For clients. For agencies. For individuals.