Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Cannes, Chaos, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Emotion, Empathy, Honesty, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Music, Strategy, WeigelCampbell
A few weeks ago, I read this:
It was said by Susan Ann Sulley, one of the singers in The Human League about their iconic song, ‘Don’t You Want Me’.
I have to admit, it has absolutely captivated me.
From the acknowledgement there was a real chance they could have put sleigh bells on the song if they thought it would chart over Christmas – which would have immediately made the song a novelty record rather than one of pop’s true classics – to her statement of simply being ‘an ordinary girl, doing her best’.
The level of honesty featured in those few lines is both breath-taking and disarming … especially given it comes from someone from within an industry that loves to big-talk itself, even when they haven’t had a Worldwide hit like Susan has.
To be honest, this openness is reflected in the entire article – which reinforces some ‘no nonsense’ Northern stereotype that adland likes to communicate over and over again.
But there’s something else I like about it …
Because while rigour and planning definitely increase the odds of success, the uncomfortable truth for all those companies, consultancies and self-anointed marketing masters who claim to have proprietary processes that ‘guarantee success’ is the legends, legacies and icons of culture owe far more of their good fortune to the beauty of happy accidents than an obsessive focus on the perfection of a process.
Said another way, they leave space for chaos rather than try to remove it.
I get it may sound counter-productive, but as Martin and I said way back in 2019 … chaos creates what order can’t.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Design, Distinction, Effectiveness, Emotion, Empathy, Food, Happiness, Imagination, Innovation, Italy, Management, Marketing, Mum, Relevance, Resonance, Strategy
Yesterday I wrote about laziness in retail, well today I’m going to write about when you care deeply about it.
Have a look at this packaging:
Maybe it’s because I’m half Italian.
Maybe it’s because pasta is my undisputed favourite food.
Maybe it’s because the brand uses wheat from the region of Italy my family is from.
But how utterly glorious is it?!
It does everything packaging should do …
It is distinctive without trying too hard.
It shows the quality of the product inside.
It feels premium without being pretentious and charming without being childish.
It is a bloody masterpiece.
I love that because the pasta shape is an integral part of the packaging design, it allows the overall look to be clean while still being informative.
What’s even better is that while it started out as a project by Russian designer, Nikita Konkin … it ended up being turned into a real brand by German company, Greenomic Delikatessen, who bought the idea of Nikita.
Or said another way …
Creativity turned an everyday product into something with a highly desirable and distinctive commercial value.
Isn’t it funny how all those marketing training programs being flogged left, right and centre never talk about this sort of thing. Instead it’s all dot-to-dot processes to build identikit branded assets, eco-systems and strategy frameworks.
But then this also shows the difference between design and adland.
Designers identify real problems and look for ways to solve them with clarity, simplicity and distinctiveness. Whereas too many in adland choose what problem that want to solve and then add all manner of complexity to the solution in a bid to look like they’re fucking geniuses or to try and justify the ever decreasing fee the procurement department is forcing on them.
Remember Peggy?
The ‘innovation’ JWT Australia claimed ‘would allow their client to empower people to maximise their day through weather aggregation technology’. What that bullshit translated to was a ‘scam product and app’ that would tell you if it was going to rain so you’d know if you should hang your clothes out to dry
Yep, forget weather apps.
Forget USING YOUR EYES TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW.
JWT was going to revolutionise the ‘washing line process’.
By making it longer, shitter and more expensive.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Unsurprisingly nothing happened with it because it was utter bollocks whereas everything happened for Nikita because he actually saw something that had real commercial value without extensive investment.
However in classic Russian melodrama style, he says he came up with the idea when he was “in love and perhaps this influenced me, though it could be just a coincidence” … which suggests he’s no longer in love and probably spending his time designing vodka bottles that look like your heart is dying. Or something.
I have written a lot in the past about the importance and value of design.
Whether it was the brilliant SONOS ‘sound waves‘ or the potential of using BK’s new logo as an emoji for food ordering.
Underpinning all of this is consideration, simplicity and craft.
Yes, I appreciate a personal project affords you more time than a client project … but designers are getting it right more often than adland and yet the talent in adland is there.
There’s tons of it. Everywhere.
And while there are still some amazing things coming out from the industry, I can’t help but feel design is pushing the possibilities of creativity more … which means the issue for adland must be something else.
Whether that is time, expectation, budgets or relationships, I’m not sure … but whatever it is, the attitude of ‘good enough is good enough’ is far too prevalent these days.
Or should I say, it is until someone like Nikita comes along and shows companies what they could have if they allow the experts to show them how they see the World rather than being told what to create by a committee of middle managers who value speed over quality and lack taste, judgement and real understanding of their audience.
It’s not easy to make something great.
But as a packet of pasta proves, it’s worth it.
Creatively, commercially and culturally.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, China, Comment, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, LaLaLand, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Nike, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Relevance, Research, Resonance, Respect, Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
So I’ve decided to do a little thing every month where I write about a planner I love.
Full disclosure, the vast majority will be people I’ve worked with because I can then say honestly I know all their bad bits as well, hahaha.
Today I’m going to write about Ben Perreira.
I first met Ben when I moved to LA and worked with him at Deutsch.
Or at least I thought I did.
About 6 months in, he told me that he had written to me when on April 11th, 2014 … I put a post up on my blog asking if anyone was interested in working with me on NIKE at Wieden.
Embarrassingly I couldn’t remember him writing to me – though it was well over 3 years later by that point – but fortunately, I had apparently written him a very nice return email saying that while I liked what he was up to, I didn’t think he was quite what we needed at that moment.
As an aside, that is the job that led me to the brilliant Paula Bloodworth and so I don’t think anyone would feel hard done by losing out to her – given she’s one of the top 5 strategists on the planet. Probably higher than that.
But that doesn’t mean Ben isn’t amazing.
He is.
I liked him pretty much as soon as I met him.
And that’s quite amazing given he was a surly, petulant prick for our first few get-togethers.
Arms folded.
One word answers.
A lot of, “why would you ask that?”
But Ben’s problem was I’d seen that behaviour before.
When I joined Wieden, one of the people who would eventually be in my team, Rodi, was a carbon copy.
Same reaction.
Same responses.
And that was in the interviews.
But I soon discovered it wasn’t because they were assholes – well, not real ones – it was because they wanted to see if my standards were going to be high enough. If I was going to fight my corner or try to just be liked. To check if I was worthy of the gig and they may learn something from me or I was just a token figurehead who just wanted an easy life.
So when I saw Ben doing the same thing, I found it amusing rather than disturbing.
Which meant I just kept asking him more and more personal questions. Digging into his character before he could dig into mine.
Oh how awkward he found it. It was wonderful. Hahahaha.
Now you would have to ask him if I ‘passed’ his test, but he certainly passed mine.
Because what I soon learned – and loved – about Ben was he just wanted to do great things.
He didn’t want to take the easy path.
He didn’t want to just be liked for saying yes.
He didn’t want to simply churn out the same thing over and over again.
And I loved that.
I loved the questions and the debates we’d have.
I loved the way he dug into the business details to pull out the possibilities.
I loved the way he was a fundamentally good human, despite his dating escapades.
I miss Ben.
Not just because he’s disgustingly handsome, but because he’s a good human who happens to be smart.
He has high standards and wants people who have the same.
And if he feels he has that, he’ll go into any battle because he wants to make a difference.
Not just to the work, but the people doing it.
Lots of people will say that, but for him, it’s in his DNA.
In some ways, I imagine Ben was a natural leader from the day he was born.
He gives a shit about others.
He wants to see them succeed.
He won’t manage up simply for optics … and in the insanely hierarchal corporate structure of America, that’s not just rare, but beautiful.
Christ, the things I saw …
And yet Ben didn’t fall for that.
One or two others tried to do that shit, but never Ben.
In fact, I remember one day being told by someone my team were out of control.
Too full of opinions with too much desire to debate.
And when I said, “I know … isn’t it great!”, it was made pretty clear to me they didn’t share that perspective.
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!
Normally I wouldn’t feel proud about that.
I shouldn’t, because a planners job is to be a well-intentioned, pain in the ass.
Someone who pushes clients to be great not to be average.
But I found in America that wasn’t always the attitude.
I met far too many people there who told me “saying yes” – regardless of the ask – was far more valued by their managers than saying, “I think we can be better than this”.
I don’t know if Ben likes me.
I hope he does.
And if he does, I know the exact moment it happened.
He’d been in a huge meeting that had gone well.
The ECD sent an all agency email updating everyone on what had gone on and thanked Ben for [I think] ‘preparing the room for the meeting’.
I kid you not.
What was even more pathetic was I knew how much Ben had put into this.
How much blood, sweat and tears he’d poured into the project to give us a chance to make something great.
So I decided to respond with an all agency email reply.
Basically pointing out that as the planning department were apparently ‘so good at setting up rooms for meetings’ … if anyone had anything else they need us to do – from fixing a TV to washing clothes – just drop us an email and we’ll be there in the blink of an eye.
It didn’t go down well with anyone, except Ben.
And that’s all I cared about.
Because he’s smarter than he realises and kinder than he likes to admit.
I’m glad I didn’t miss out working with him when the Wieden gig didn’t work out.
I’m even more happy that he’s still in my life.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Apathy, Apple, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Comment, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Digital, Egovertising, EvilGenius, Fake Attitude, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Politics, Relevance, Social Commentary, Social Divide, Technology
OK, I should point out I actually think the Metaverse has incredible potential.
It could revolutionise education, medicine and ignite the creation of industries that don’t even exist yet. Which is why I am still utterly baffled why Zuckerberg thought the best way to sell the technology was by putting out that utterly shit video … where you saw him and his ‘mates’ not only do things that are all possible right now, but were worse in terms of quality, creativity and interactivity.
And then I saw this picture and everything became clear …
Maybe Zuck doesn’t give a damn about the Metaverse.
Maybe he doesn’t want to help humanity evolve and develop.
Maybe the only reason he’s doing it is for the same reason a lot of conmen do things …
Because when you can distract your target, you can rob them when they’re not looking.
Now before Mr Z’s lawyers try and sue me for every penny I’ve got for saying that, I would like to point out two things.
1. I said ‘maybe’ …
That means I am absolutely not suggesting Mr Zuckerberg is a conman or only doing Metaverse for conman purposes. I am only suggesting that could be possible, however unlikely that is. Similar to me saying I could be a catwalk model.
2. Be honest. That photo is very, very creepy.
Whoever allowed that photo to get out at Facebook … I mean Meta … was either an idiot or a hero. Because when I look at that photo, I can’t help but think of this ad … except with a totally different ending.
Rather than everyone being saved in the nick of time – thanks to the hero coming in at the last moment and destroying the screen that is hypnotising and blinding the audience so they follow the words of evil – no one comes to save them, so evil walks past all of his hypnotised and blinded victims, smiling to himself that’s he got them exactly where he wants them.
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.