Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, China, Chinese Culture, Context, Crap Products In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Distinction, London, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Membership, Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
One of the things I hated when I lived in China was hearing people slag off the country for all manner of things.
While some of the accusations were true, the reality was China was not the only country that participated in such behaviour but people chose to ignore that.
Not that I’m defending what was going on, because even though I rarely saw any of it – in fact I saw more in the US and UK when I lived there – I knew it was going on.
However there were some claims that showed people didn’t know what the fuck they were going on about.
The amount of people who would come to Shanghai from America and say, “let’s do ideas that force the government to deal with the pollution crisis”.
They’d say it like they were the very first people to identify China had a problem with pollution – which is possibly the greatest sign of arrogance you could have. So we would tell them.
China knows there is a pollution problem.
They are actively fighting it.
They’ve been the biggest investor in green tech for decades.
Proportionally, they still pump out less pollution into the air than America.
In fact, up until the last few years, they pumped out less pollution than America full stop.
America had been doing that for decades.
And there’s parts of London with a higher pollution index than most parts of China.
Then they’d stop acting like they’re a superhero and start understanding their perspective had been driven by media bias not cultural understanding.
But there were some things that were accusations. The lack of respect for copyright being one.
Of course, it’s not just in China this happens, but it definitely happens there. A lot.
Even now, I still think Uncle Martian is peak-plagiarism … mainly because they didn’t just make replicas and sell them as originals, they created a whole new brand based on the intellectual property of brands including Jordan and Under Armour.
I say that because I recently saw another version of this.
Maybe not quite as bad as Uncle Martian, but pretty terrible al the same.
But not from China … so you can keep your prejudiced thoughts to yourself.
It’s that brand at the top of this post that looks awfully like this …
I am an enormous fan of Liquid Death.
I love what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
Not only are they the true embodiment of a cult brand – with some amazing cult behaviours, such as their $100,000 country club membership … or buy a slab of Liquid Death – they have made drinking water in public cool for men.
That’s something no other beverage brand has pulled off.
So while I am sure they would think someone ripping them off is a sign they’re doing something right, it’s also a sign some lazy, parasitic pricks are ripping them off.
Though as George once said when we once pitched an idea to a client who said, “but what if we just asked another agency to do your idea for cheaper?”
If you choose to go with someone copying someone else’s idea rather than the people who actually came up and created the idea, then you deserve all the disappointment and confusion you get. Including the lawsuit.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Effectiveness, Insight, Planners, Planning
I posted this on LinkedIn a while back, but I thought I’d post here too. Not because I couldn’t be bothered to write an original post [when have I ever done that?] but because I think it is actually valuable for anyone working in addend.
If you work in an ad agency – especially in the planning or strategy department – you’re going to have a time in the year, where you’re writing award submissions.
Effies.
Warc.
You name it, you’ll be writing it.
And while I often judge these awards, the purpose of this post is not so I have an easier time reading the countless submissions … it’s so you can see how to make your case more persuasive.
The basic rule is this.
When you’ve written your paper and think you’ve got it “just right” …
I want you to read this article and then start again.
Yes, it is a food review.
Yes, it’s from the Birmingham Mail newspaper.
And yes, it’s from someone who describes herself as ‘common as muck’.
But when you read it, you’ll learn what wonderful writing, proper insight, real appreciation of the role of creativity and actual honesty looks like.
It’s a magnificent article.
One filled with appreciation and wonder when it could so easily have been a judgemental hatchet job.
I was so taken by it, I even wrote to the journalist offering to pay for their meal … and I don’t even do that for my team.
[For the record, she replied and said she couldn’t accept it. So I asked for her charity of choice and made a donation under her name instead. It was this one if anyone else feels inclined]
So if a food review in the Birmingham Mail newspaper can do it, you can do it too.
I’ll be watching.
And judging.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Honesty, Management, Marketing, Relationships, Research, Resonance, Respect, Trust, Truth
I recently saw this very disturbing video.
When I say ‘disturbing’, it’s not bad … in fact the person in it has CHOSEN to be in this situation … however watching it absolutely freaks me out.
I find it hard to watch.
I find it hard to breath.
I find it hard to comprehend.
In fact, every time I watch it, I start jiggling my arms and neck because I need to feel I am free to move rather than be trapped in the most contrived of spaces.
Have a look at this …
However after forcing myself to watch it a few times, I realised it could be seen as more than just a deranged man wanting to increase the odds of death. It was a perfect metaphor for so much of working in the modern creative industry.
Yes, we could talk about the quest for craft and rigour. The painstaking approach we take to find an idea that will unlock a whole world of change and opportunity. The commitment to doing the right thing rather than the easiest.
I could talk about that, but …
1. I don’t know if that is true for a lot of what goes on these days.
2. It feels far more a reflection of dealing with corporate politics, committees, toxic positivity, arrogance and ego or – worse of all – workshops, specifically those designed to let people ‘feel part of the process’ despite the fact they created the problem you’ve been asked to solve.
I know all this sounds massively arrogant of me.
It’s certainly not the case all the time.
But the fact that when it isn’t, it’s like a revelation means it’s far more present than many like to admit. And that’s horrific. Not just in terms of the wasted energy and time … but in lost opportunities. Which is why the best relationships are built on people who want the same thing.
That doesn’t mean they will always agree on how to achieve it … but it does mean you trust and respect each others opinion, talent and expertise rather than thinking the other party is out to screw you over. Though the way the procurement process is often handled, it’s not hard to see why that happens.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Not if you really want something to be great.
Not if you truly value the work the other party brings to the table.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about costs – of course not – but as I wrote a while back about how Metallica’s management dealt with me when we started working together, their view was when you pay someone well, you’re not just showing respect for what they do, you’re ensuring they want to give you their best in all they do.
Which makes an even more cost effective arrangement.
A more trust-worthy relationship.
A more productive partnership.
Who knew?
Oh yes, the people who understand the value of living up to quality, not purely down to a price.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Comment, Context, Creativity, Culture, Devious Strategy, Effectiveness, Food, Happiness, Insight, Marketing
A few weeks ago I was asked to talk to a board of directors about creativity in business. Specifically, how they could encourage more of it.
I showed them this:
I had seen this image on Twitter and fell in love with it.
Yes, it’s a small thing, but it’s an important one.
Alright … before I go over the top, I do appreciate it’s simply a napkin holder with some words printed on it and there’s millions of companies that offer that.
But instead of just putting their company name on it – or NAPKINS in big letters – someone at this shop saw the opportunity to use them to add charm and value to their brand and product.
Hell, I’ve seen 3 minute TV commercials that can’t achieve that.
And all it took was 4 words.
Four words to turn a lowly napkin into a Donut Evidence Removal Kit. A Donut Evidence Removal Kit that celebrates the deliciousness of their food. That acknowledges what you’ve just eaten is definitely on the naughty side of indulgence.
FOUR WORDS.
ON A NAPKIN DISPENSER.
And yet it all comes together to convey a ridiculous amount of cheeky charm for a shop that, whatever way you look at it, simply sells fried dough.
So don’t tell me creativity doesn’t add value or drive business.
It can make more of a claim for effectiveness than logic ever will.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Creativity, Culture, Egovertising, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, New Zealand
Love it or loathe it, but Wordle has captured the world’s attention. Whether it will continue to do that now the NYTimes has bought it, is anyones guess, but right now, it’s peak popularity.
Hell, even I love it and I HATE word games.
Crosswords? Hate.
Scrabble? Hate.
And yet whether it’s the last thing I do before I go to sleep or the first thing I do when I wake up, I’m playing the days challenge. And I’m brilliant at it. Hahaha.
Anyway, I was on Twitter when I recently saw this from Air New Zealand.
Look, I get it’s a competitive world.
I get brands are looking for anything that can help them stand out.
And I get ‘hijacking culture’ is a cheat way of doing this.
But there’s 2 reasons why this approach is tragic rather than magic.
First is it’s Air New Zealand.
Of all the airline brands out there, they are a pioneer. An innovator. A leader.
They’ve created, influenced and changed the airline industry in ways few have come close.
From being the first to make ‘in-flight safety videos’, entertainment to creating economy seats that turn into beds.
Ripping off Wordle doesn’t represent any of this.
If anything, it does the opposite.
But then, when I see the work they are putting out these days, maybe it all makes sense.
When a nation that prides itself as explorers and adventures has their National Airline promote their role in a post-covid world as being ‘we fly for you’ … you have to question if they realise what they’ve done or if they made a conscious effort to ditch the approach that made them great and forward thinking in favour of the sort of bland, contrived, unrealistic and meaningless twaddle of big corporation 90’s advertising.
Like this.
From 1991.
God I hope not. They are better than that and NZ needs them to be better than that.
Which leads to the other reason.
Hijacking culture.
What’s interesting is that so many brands do it.
As I said, I get why … but 99% of them have failed to understand how it really works and so we now live in a world where the approach is so common, it doesn’t surprise anyone.
If anything, it un-hijacks culture.
So how does it really work?
Well having worked with the brand and agency that arguably created the approach – or at least mastered it – the secret is to do something that adds to culture, not just steals from it.
Which means having an actual right to be there.
Then do something that opens things up, not just repeat what’s already happened.
Adding a point of view to the situation not just adding more noise and clutter to it.
Of course, even with all that, it still doesn’t mean it will work … but its definitely going to be better than the desperate amateur hour that so many brands favour.
Who think it makes them look cool but forgetting if you’re trying to be that, you’re definitely not ever going to be that.