Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Comment, Japan, Music, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance, Spotify, Wieden+Kennedy
Years ago, when I was helping launching Spotify in Japan at Wieden, we did a bunch of work on understanding what music fandom really meant.
Given this was in Japan – the land of extreme perfection – we knew it was going to be interesting, but after a short while, we realised we may have missed the point.
You see while we met a whole lot of people who had a deep relationship with music – including someone who had something like 74 different vinyl versions of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’, not to mention a rather un-nerving 40 year old bloke who was obsessed with everything Japanese, female heavy metal band BabyMetal, did … the reality is they weren’t fans of music, they were fans of a song or an artist or a genre.
And when we realised that, that’s when we started to get real clarity on what a real music fan was and went down a road that led to work that helped Spotify enter Japan and take a leadership position … despite being late to a market where vinyl still was the dominant format and where there was a ton of streaming competitors who all offered more music – especially local music – than Spotify.
However, on our journey to this point, we interviewed a bunch of people who were fans of a particular band – or genre – and asked them what they thought were the characteristics that defined someone as a ‘hardcore fan’.
We got such a range of answers …
Some cliched. Some intriguing. All expressed with earnest authenticity.
My favourite group with the heavy metal/heavy rock fans.
Part of that is because I love that style of music and part of that is because it seems to actively want to disassociate itself from anything associated with popular, mainstream or universally accepted culture.
Hence we got lots of comments relating to dress … places to drink … where you stand at gigs … how many gigs you’ve been to … influences … deep cuts … history … a never ending set of criteria that apparently separated authenticity from wannabe.
I say all this because I recently saw something no one mentioned in our conversations. Something that – for me – defines a real metal fan.
It’s this …
Because it doesn’t matter how many tattoo’s, leather jackets, bottles of Jack Daniels or gigs you go to, nothing – NOTHING – is more metal than driving a Suzuki Swift with a ‘Slayer’ number plate. 🤘🏻
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Birkenstocks, Brand, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Cannes, Communication Strategy, Context, Creativity, Culture, Dysgraphia, Empathy, EvilGenius, Fear, Holiday, Imagination, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Otis, Paula
So I’m back.
And after an October where I went to Fiji, Australia, China and America … November is wonderfully static.
Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling … but that was ridiculous.
For all the talk of how COVID would change the way companies would work and interact, I’m meeting more and more people who are travelling more than they did pre-pandemic.
And that’s scary for a whole lot of reasons.
Personal, environmental, commercial.
Scarier than the that day where ghosts and ghouls are supposed to come out and haunt us. Also known as the day kids keep coming to your door demanding sweets.
Yes … that’s a terrible link to the point of this post, but I wrote it to originally appear on Halloween, but then I went to the US and missed my chance, so here we go.
Halloween in NZ is definitely less full-on than the US.
Oh my god … they love holidays and Halloween is one they embrace full-on.
When we lived in Manhattan Beach … it was like a community event.
The whole street would basically come out, all dressed in god-knows what, embracing the mood and the moment.
Obviously I hate that level of sociability … but even I got caught up in it, buying a ridiculously sized baby head from a shop, which I tried on in the car before casually looking to my right and seeing [1] I was next to a bank and [2] I had a security guard looking at me as if I was going to rob the joint.
Good times. Ahem.
Anyway, to keep with the ‘scary’ mood, Otis recently became the proud owner of these …
Yep … Crocs.
Fucking Crocs.
I know we talked about them recently in our ‘Strategy is constipated, imagination is the laxative’ talk … I know I have some sort of grudging respect that they are cool with charging $8 for each ‘personalised attachment’ you can add to the shoes … I know, with Otis’ dysgraphia, they are much easier for him to put on than many others … I know I can’t talk with my love of Birkies … but, but, but THEY’RE FUCKING CROCS.
Seriously, compared to them, Birkenstocks are liked pieces of art.
And yet they continue to live.
To thrive.
Like cockroaches of the footwear category.
Which means I have to salute their brand management and imagination.
Which is better than 99% of brands out there.
Which is why we put them in our Cannes talk.
And why I felt scared enough to put them in a post that was supposed to appear on halloween.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Collegues, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Cynic, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Nike, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Professionalism, Relationships, Reputation
So this is the last post till next Thursday.
I know … I know … I’ve only just come back from China but now I’m off to the US, so you get 3 more days free from me. Given this month has had an alarming lack of posts given I’ve found myself in Fiji, Australia, China and America, you should consider October my early Christmas present to you all.
So to make up for that, here’s a relatively long post.
Which by my standards, means extra long.
So recently I caught up with an ex-colleague from cynic.
Given they were a bloody nightmare when we worked together, I’m still in shock how they are now a very senior figure in a very high profile company.
Damn them, hahaha.
Anyway, we were chatting and they said how bad they thought agencies were in pitches.
Specifically, their desperation to be liked.
They said they thought the business plan for many agencies is to out-pander the competition.
It got so bad that apparently in a recent meeting, they asked the agency:
“If we’re so good and doing so well, why would we need you?”
Aggressive?
Provocative?
Yep … but they have a point.
I remember once being told to not challenge the clients previous work as someone in the room might have made it … even though we were literally in a pitch to reinvent the clients work.
And while it was an exception in my career [which I ignored and – guess what – we won!!!] the reality is I am hearing this happening more and more, which is why my friends commentedjust seemed to underline its validity.
Which leads me to some questions …
What do agencies think our job is?
What do agencies want to do and change?
And for the companies that buy into this, what do they want their agencies to do for them?
I appreciate I have been incredibly fortunate throughout my career by working with/for/under people, agencies and clients [not to mention my parents] who deeply value debate and provocation to get to better places. I also acknowledge there is an art to HOW you challenge … rather than go in with fists and elbows.
But the idea of pandering rather than provoking seems insane to me.
Sure, you have to have a point of view rather than just have a desire to be controversial … but while you can’t be blind to the good stuff people are doing, neither should you be to the bad.
I swear part of the problem is this attitude we are part of the ‘service’ industry.
That our job is to serve.
To stay silent.
To satisfy needs.
And while we are there to serve our clients … it’s in the quest of helping them be better, not be subservient to. But increasingly it feels that is what a lot of people are expecting – and why a lot of agencies are pandering – which is why I will always treasure something my brilliant ex-NIKE/FFI client and friend – Simon Pestridge – once said to me:
“Middle management want to be told they’re right. Senior management want to know how to be better”.
He’s right.
He’s never been more right.
It’s why the people who worked for him are also great clients … because he set great standards, of which one of them was understanding that transparency, truth and challenge are ultimate signs of respect not confrontation.
Debate isn’t bad.
In my mind, it means you both want to get to somewhere better.
Where you’re holding each other to standards and ambitions you hold dear.
Of course, to do this properly you need to share ambition, standards and trust … not just philosophically, but in terms of the actual work and change you want to create together.
I mean … if you can’t be provocative during a pitch – when a client is literally looking for new ideas – when the hell can you be?
Which all reinforces something my parents used to say to me …
Everyone wants to be liked, but you go further when you’re respected.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Nike, Sport, Wieden+Kennedy
Back in 2016, I was invited to Paris to meet with Nike’s senior leadership and talk to them about where the brand is going.
Given I was the only person invited from Wieden to do this, I felt really honoured … so you can imagine the attendees surprise when I said they were in danger of becoming ‘the beast they were meant to slay’.
They took this pretty well.
Mainly because it was true.
We then spent the afternoon discussing where we’re making mistakes and where we should be doubling down.
And while it had a teensy bit about me – and a lot to do with Wieden – I feel there were a few years where they got shit together.
Then things changed …
Leadership.
Politics.
Chasing the cash.
Which may all explain this …
First you all they call people ‘consumers’ rather than athletes.
I mean, that’s bad enough … but to then go on about how they constantly evaluate the best way to serve their audience, before announcing they’re leaving NZ, is mind-bendingly mad.
Given a few weeks ago they chose not to make a retail version of West Bridgford born, Women’s England goalkeeper – and World Cup ‘Golden Glove’ winner – Mary Earps, I can’t help wondering what the hell Nike have against Nottingham, let alone NZ?
While back in 2016, they had made some decisions that led me to that presentation, I never imagined they could go this off-piste, and it breaks my heart because I love the brand and loved working with them.
But now?
Seems they misunderstood ‘dream crazy’ as act stupid.
But I’ll tell you something even worse …
Despite all this, they’re still better than most brands and that is terrifying.
I hope NIKE rediscover their love of the athlete and sport soon.
Not just for their sake … but for every little kid who needs to discover the power of sport to discover who they are and who they can become.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Cannes, Comment, Consultants, Craft, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Differentiation, Martin Weigel, Paula, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Pretentious Rubbish, Relevance, Research, Resonance, Respect
There are a lot of quotes out on social media that explains how to make great creative work. Hell, a bunch of them are probably mine.
But putting aside the fact many of the quotes originate from people who, arguably, haven’t done much work that is deserving of that description – all of them, in their own way, are right.
And that’s great, because the survival of this industry is down to making work that is great and achieves great things for those it’s for.
But the problem with those quotes is they often reflect an unrealistic World.
One where time … or budget … or client mandatories don’t matter.
Which is why this quote from Leonard Bernstein is so good.
Because it captures how to get to great in the real World.
We need more of this.
I think people want more of this.
Because not only is there a distinct lack of training in our industry at the moment – and what is there is often from the same outsourced ‘gurus’ everyone else is outsourcing to – but Fergus, from OnStrategy, told Paula, Martin and I how so many young planners outside of the ‘big cities’ end up thinking they have no chance to make something even good, as they lack the tools, processes and infrastructure to do what the people on his show said they did.
It’s why we ensured in our Cannes talk we put 3 practical pieces of advice that anyone could use … because if we want to change the standards, we need everyone to have the ability to do that, not just the privileged big city types.
Which is why I leave you with this.
Because as much as time can help craft, a lack of it can force audacious leaps.