Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Colenso, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Content, Context, Craft, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Effectiveness, Emotion, EvilGenius, Marketing, New Zealand, Packaging, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Truth
OK, so today is a slightly un-topical post.
About Christmas.
Yes, I know that happened 2 months ago, but when has that ever stopped me?
You see I recently saw that Walkers – the royalty of Crisps – launched this.
What the hell?
Like, what the absolute hell?
I once did a project for Walkers about new flavour variations and we talked about topicality but I never – in any way – considered mince pie flavour.
I think we did say Christmas Dinner flavour.
Or maybe even Turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce flavour.
But mince pie?
No, no, no, no, no.
I particularly like how they say on the packet, ‘Limited Edition Flavour’.
No fucking shit, Sherlock.
And yet I admire the genius of it.
Let’s be honest, when something is as illogical as that, you’re going to try them aren’t you.
And when it’s linked to a particular event, it’s likely to pull in the people who don’t normally eat crisps.
Sure, it might make some crisp fanatics never try a new flavour again or make the occasional crisp scoffer, never eat another one again … but it’s still a smart strategy.
Which reinforces my view the most effective strategy these days is the ridiculous.
Ridiculous achieves what logic can’t.
Because rather than play to the norms of category behaviour are, they just ignore them.
In fact, they go off on a tangent even a protractor couldn’t measure.
Not in its entirety, but in an area that’s a necessity.
And while that sounds counter-intuitive, what it does is find a way around the in-built firewalls we have in our heads to avoid all this logical nonsense and messes with us.
Igniting our intrigue.
Demanding consideration.
Tempting us by simply being unlike anything we had ever considered.
And yet it’s not annoying.
In fact it’s pretty refreshing.
Because in a world increasingly sensible – it celebrates the bonkers … reframing how you look or feel or think about something you thought you knew all there was to be known.
In essence, it lets brands show that while they take what they do seriously, they don’t take themselves too seriously. Which must be a huge relief for all the people who work in the company, let alone society, given all the pompous, self-righteous, pseudo-Yoda bollocks we are bombarded with day after day after day.
We did a similar thing with a campaign for DB Export Beer …
A campaign that WARC said was the most effective campaign on earth.
Further allowing us to prove the commercial effectiveness of creative ridiculousness.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Comment, Confidence, Context, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Devious Strategy, Distinction, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Family, Love, Loyalty, Membership, Perspective, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance, Respect
Like most things in life, there tends to be 2 sorts of people.
Those who chase the cash.
Those who chase their passion.
Or said another way, the business folks and the creative folks.
But one thing I’ve learned from working with a number of highly successful bands over the last few years is this.
Those who chase cash can be hugely financially successful, but they’ll never achieve the level of creative respect those who chase their passion will receive.
Now you may go, “who cares, they’re rich”.
But here’s the thing …
People who chase their passion can end up being even more financially successful than those who simply chase the cash.
Sure, it doesn’t happen often, but it also happens more than you may imagine. And when it does, that’s when things get really interesting.
I’m working on a project for a band [not Metallica] that is – quite simply – bonkers.
Not just bonkers in terms of what they want to do, but why they want to do it.
And why do they want to do it?
Because they their die-hard fans to be properly rewarded for their die-hard loyalty.
I don’t mean that in terms of getting early access to something they have to pay for – which is the way many companies think loyalty works. I mean rewarding them with something that has real – and long term – economic and emotional value to them.
Obviously I can’t go into specifics … both for the fact I’d be murdered and there’s still a fuck-ton of hurdles to be dealt if we stand any chance of pulling this off … but what I’ve loved seeing is how artists who have built their fortune as a byproduct of their passion [rather than just a focus on the cash] seem to reach a point where they kinda turn into a musical version of Robin Hood.
I should point out this does not mean they suddenly start doing things for free.
Nor do I mean they start giving all their money away.
There may do some of that but by then, they’ve finally learnt the value of their value.
No, what I mean is they put a lot of effort into ensuring their long-term fans feel the respect the artist has for them and all they’ve done for them … and one way they are increasingly doing this is by finding ways to ‘steal’ from the rich, so they can reward the loyal.
Case in point.
Billy Joel.
In 2014 he started a residency at Madison Square Gardens and vowed to keep playing there once a month until his concerts stop selling out.
Well, he’s still playing … and given he allegedly makes US$3-4 million per show, it’s proven to be an incredible relationship.
But this is where it gets fun …
You see Billy Joel no longer allows the first row of the venue to have people sitting in it.
There are 2 main reasons for this.
1. It stops scalpers from making huge money off him.
2. He hated looking down and seeing rich people looking back at him. Not really into the evening, just there because they could afford the seats and could brag about it to their friends.
So instead, every time he plays, he gets his crew to find fans who are sitting in the worst seats in the venue and gets them to bring them down and give them the best seats in the front row. People who are really happy to be there – not for the bragging rights – but for the chance to get the best view of an artists they love, singing the songs they adore.
In essence, he uses the wealth of the uber-rich to pay for the seats for the real fans.
Giving them the night of their life and letting Billy show that money can buy lots of things, but it can’t buy the respect he has for his true fans.
Now before anyone slags this post … or Billy off.
While I appreciate what he’s doing is not perfect … it’s more considerate, respectful and loyal than 95% of companies who talk a great game in terms of their customers/employees being their greatest asset right until the point it actually might result in costing them more than they want to spend.
Which is why I’d rather be loyal to a kinda musical version of Robin Hood than a smiling snake.
And before I go, I just want to leave you with my favourite little film about Metallica.
Unlike the Billy Joel story, this is not about repaying fan loyalty – at least not in the way I’ve just described how Billy Joel has. This is more about the sentimentality the band has for people and places that they believe has had a significant impact on the life of the band.
I’ve written about this before, but whereas that was about their ongoing relationship with Cliff Burton’s father … this is about one of James’ guitars.
That might not sound enticing, but I assure you it is.
Because while this film talks about where this guitar came from … what it represents and how it was crafted to have even greater meaning and significance to James and the band … it’s really a story of loyalty, legacy and love.
Enjoy. They’ve come a loooooooong way since Some Kind Of Monster, ha.
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, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Content, Context, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Crap Products In History, Embarrassing Moments, Marketing, Marketing Fail
Way back in 2007, I wrote a post called, Should Ink Stink?
It was how Mont Blanc had gone into fragrance and I found the whole thing a bit bizarre.
Then in 2008 I wrote about how Ferrari had licensed their name to a bloody memory card … in some very loose nod to how fast the 4gb SD card could save and upload files.
You’d think things couldn’t get worse, but over the years we’ve seen more than a few candidates for the title of ‘what the fuck were they thinking’ but in 2021, we finally got a winner.
To be fair, the brand in question is old, so you could imagine the license owner thought they may as well say yes to anything if it will make them a few extra bob.
But – and it’s a big but – late last year they released a special edition ‘reunion’ of the brand, and the clamor to get access to it from people and press all around the world was immense … which makes the decision to lend their name to this product ‘extension’ even stranger.
What am I talking about?
This.
Yes, that is a Friends manicure set and carry case.
Why???
WHY???
Yes, the cast of Friends were young and beautiful … but I don’t know if anyone in the history of the show ever commented on their nails.
And why a carry case?
How many people use their manicure set so often, they need a case to transport it?
Hell, how many people need a new set of nail scissors and nail file anyway?
Hell, they even had to say ‘The Television Series’ on the package, because they knew no one would naturally associate the TELEVISION COMEDY WITH A MOBILE MANICURE SET.
Does it even have the Friends logo on the actual manicure case?
What if it doesn’t? What is the fucking point of it then?
Actually, what is the point of it whether it’s on or off.
Frankly, if someone pulled out a manicure suitcase I’d already be concerned.
If that suitcase then had the Friends logo on it, I’d be bloody petrified.
How much did this license cost?
How many products did they end up actually selling?
Who was behind this utter insanity?
The only good thing about it is that when I saw this product, I laughed more than I laughed at any episode of the last 2 seasons of the show.
The theme song sings the words, “I’ll be there for you”.
Well, if it means they’re there with a Friends manicure set in its own case, I’d rather you didn’t thank you very much.
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.