Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Apathy, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Culture, Love, New Zealand
I recently wrote a post about the situation with youth culture in NZ. How such a brilliant country that does so much right is failing its youth at an epic level.
Not all is its fault.
It is a small country, far from other nations with an incredibly small population so for many brands – especially more youth culture focused – it is a market that offers little profit potential or industry influence so it is a very low priority to go there.
Hell, if IKEA or Amazon aren’t here, you can be sure Supreme etc won’t be.
So what this means is what is in NZ is – in many ways – the very same things that have always been in NZ … resulting in a belief among youth, there’s not much here that is specifically for them, reinforced by the internet allowing them to see what is happening in other countries, which all contributes to a feeling of isolation, a lack of opportunity and pressure to conform.
While this is not the only reason for the terrible statistic of being the number 1 country in the World [per capita] for youth to die by suicide, it is one of them … and when I wrote about this a while back, the beautiful and generous Nils from Uncommon sent me the brilliant poem above by Philip Larkin, which pretty much sums up the issue NZ needs to deal with.
Because whether for protection or control, wires make your World smaller, which eventually will make a smaller World for everyone.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Black Lives Matter, Comment, Culture, Diversity, Emotion, Empathy, Equality, Management, Racism, Relationships, Relevance, Resonance, Social Media
Adland – and most companies for that matter – love to talk about their commitment to diversity and inclusion.
And while they tend to be most vocal about it when there is a global news story that highlights the racism and oppression People of Colour experience EVERY SINGLE DAY, I do believe it is something many companies care about.
The problem is, very few seem to be doing anything other than caring about it.
No change.
No new decisions.
No policy shifts.
Recently I saw a poster advertising a conference in Australia about Africa.
This was it …
Notice anything?
Yep … a conference in Australia about Africa without a single Person of Colour being represented. Not one.
A conference in Australia about MINING in Africa without a single Person of Colour being represented.
[Though someone who saw it suggested the conference organisers may try and suggest the blank speaker space could classify as a Person of Colour]
Now I appreciate mining is hardly the most ethical industry, but even then the lack of representation shocked me so I tweeted about it saying this was a perfect demonstration of how much companies still had to learn about D&I.
“Surely no one could disagree” I thought …
Oh yes they could.
Rather than just go, “that’s bollocks”, some people tried to defend it … accusing me of having no context.
My 2 favourite comments were this:
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. I personally feel after a 2-second Google they have their intentions in the right place – well apart from the plundering of natural resources, but that’s a different outrage post. If anything they are guilty of crappy comms and maybe BBDO in Oz (or Africa) might like to say G’day?
“As organisers of Africa Down Under (ADU), Paydirt Media acknowledges the comments on social media and the interpretations which may be drawn by the advertised preliminary line-up for the in-person element of this year’s ADU,” the organisers said in a Twitter thread.
“As the premier forum for Australia-Africa business relations, ADU has always strived to ensure its programme is truly reflective of the diversity of African mining. In 2019, the last event before the pandemic, the programme featured 24 African presenters and 15 female presenters. “Ongoing travel restrictions mean we will be unable to welcome our African-based colleagues in person this year but once the full programme – including virtual participants – is released we are confident balance will return.
“We look forward to announcing participants from the African continent – including Australian-based African diplomats – in the coming weeks.”
And then this one …
“Are these specific companies spouting anything about diversity and inclusion though?”
Right there is the typical corporate response to these things.
Protecting the company behind it.
Suggesting you are jumping to conclusions.
Saying that they’re good and this is a misunderstanding.
Yeah … yeah … if I’ve heard it all before, imagine how People of Colour must feel.
Which is why my responses were as follows:
“This is the sort of excuse churned out year after year to justify acts like this. A conference about Africa without a single Person of Colour as a speaker is not about difficulty, it’s about complicity, so maybe you’re looking at it from totally the wrong perspective.”
and for the second comment …
“Ahhhhh, so you’re saying companies that don’t talk about D&I don’t have to care about it which is why it’s fine to have an all white speaker group for a conference on Africa. Is that your point?”
I know people make mistakes … but this is not one of those, this is a deliberate act. There is no excuse for this. They can say they asked hundreds of People of Colour to be a part of the even and they said no – it still won’t wash. Because even if that was true, it would surely suggest there was something wrong with the whole premise of the conference if people from Africa didn’t want to be part of a conference in Africa.
“But maybe there aren’t many People of Colour working in the mining industry based in Australia, Rob?” I hear a prejudiced, white privileged individual ask.
And while I don’t know the answer to that, I do know if that’s the case, why are there so many bloody white people working in the African mining industry based in Australia?
It’s all bollocks.
And what is worse is the justification some people try and give this shit – with special focus on the organisers and their desperate attempt to look like they have tried really, really hard to make it more inclusive. Despite NOT ONE Person of Colour being included as a headline speaker.
As I wrote a while back about female leadership, change doesn’t even require white people/men to give up their seat … they could just make room for someone else to join them, but apparently even that is too much to ask.
We all are complicit..
We can all do more.
We all need to do more.
Hell, when white supermodels can use their privilege to create space for People of Colour to win [not just be seen, but win] the least we can do is exactly the same.
So to the people who will claim what I’m doing is promoting ‘woke cancel culture’, I would respond with this:
1. Yes I am.
2. Being referred to as woke is not bad as it means you have compassion for others.
3. You are the problem and you’d better be prepared for me to push back with the same energy you have adopted over years to maintain your privilege and power.
Anyone who defends this sort of shit is insane.
There is no excuse for it.
Ever.
Even having 5 People of Colour on that huge poster of faces would be too few, so to take the side of the organisers for NOT HAVING A SINGLE PERSON OF COLOUR is an act of prejudice.
You may not relate to being called that.
You may not accept being called that.
But your actions reveal it … because nothing says privilege than thinking your experience is everyone’s experience.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Childhood, Comment, Culture
Back in 1988, there was a charity concert in Sheffield called Sport Aid.
Like many charitable causes of the time, it was an attempt to recreate the phenomenon of Live Aid … even though none ever did.
Anyway, due to Queen being rumoured to play, me, Paul and a guy called Chris decided we would catch the coach up to the city of steels so we could camp outside the stadium and ensure we were right at the front of the crowd for the concert.
Like many plans, it all went to shit.
It started off when we got off the bus and met a soldier who told us he has absconded from his army base and wanted to get away. He was obviously a bit spooked about the situation he found himself in but soon the conversation took on a menacing air and we felt very, very uncomfortable.
While I can’t remember all the facts about how we got rid of him, I’m pretty sure it involved going into a pub with him, buying him a drink and then – when he went to the loo – running for our lives.
Ahem.
Then there was the fact we got to the stadium and instead of finding thousands following our plan, we found no one. Not one.
Worse, it got so cold that at about 4am – after playing games of seeing how many times we could run back and forth across the road to keep ourselves warm – a passing police car forced a newsagent to open up so we could buy food and matches to get some heat.
And then, at around 8am – when we were feeling very confused that no one had joined us – we realised we were at the wrong fucking gate and all entrances were literally on the other side of the stadium.
By the time we got there, it was heaving and we discovered we were about as far from the front as we could possibly get. If that wasn’t enough of a disaster, we then discovered Queen were not going to play – nor were Def Leppard – but Five Star, Sister Sledge and Mica Paris.
No offence to all those artists, but it’s the equivalent of going to a concert to see the incredible blues guitarist Bo Diddley in concert only to learn you are actually seeing Bo Derek. And not in her prime.
In fact the whole thing was a certifiable disaster except for 3 things.
1. Paul yawned the biggest yawn ever seen in the history of mankind. Just as the BBC decided to zoom in on his face during their live broadcast. While Heaven 17 were playing on stage … resulting in the most passive aggressive ‘concert review’ ever written without words.
2. I got to hang out with the beautiful and wonderful Jenny Powell. She wasn’t well known then – and I didn’t know her at all – but she was epic and made the disaster of the day much better.
3. This.
Yes, that is what you think it is.
Proof that even desperation can’t counter the British need to queue for everything.
Regardless of the situation or the implication.
Which highlights two wonderful things to remember whenever you’re having an utterly horrific or just plain terrible day …
1. Someone, somewhere is having something far worse than you.
2. If you’re lucky, that someone having a worse day than you is actually in front of you because you will suddenly find your day is much better.
I know … I know … what a psychopathic bastard eh?
I must admit, I often wonder who that young man was?
What was thinking at the moment of explosion?
Does he still hear the laughter and jeers from the people behind him?
Has he ever worn light coloured trousers ever again?
The only thing I do know is that while my day at Sport Aid went from terrible to good, I’m pretty certain his opinion of the worst concert in the history of concerts goes the other way around.
And for that I thank him, because his humiliation was my jubilation.
Now that’s the true definition of human generosity.
Or bastardness.
Filed under: 2020, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colenso, Comment, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, England, Fear, Honesty, London, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, New Zealand, Perspective, Planners, Relevance, Resonance, Respect
A year ago tomorrow, I was made redundant.
Well, I was told the week before, but tomorrow marks a year since my last day at R/GA.
While I wrote a long post at the time about how positive I was about the whole thing – especially that it was happening to me rather than a junior or a woman or a Person of Colour who normally get impacted by these sorts of decisions – it still blows my mind how well things have turned out for me and my family.
Part of the reason I was so optimistic was because I knew I was going to shout about my redundancy from the rooftops. Hell, even the Guardian wrote about me doing it.
Despite what some on here may think, this was not because I wanted to appear in a national newspaper … oh no, it was for far more practical reasons.
The first was that the more people knew I was available, the more chances I’d have of being considered for work. I mean … come on. I work in advertising, what else was I going to do?
However the second – and possibly more important reason – was I hated how many people felt some sort of shame for finding themselves in this situation.
Shit happens – especially during a global pandemic – so to carry that burden in addition to all the other stuff they have to deal with must make the pressure they’re dealing with unbelievably destructive. I would not wish that on anyone … no one at all. And while I was treated fairly, what makes these situations even worse is that some companies actively encourage people they’ve let go to feel this way … simply because it encourages them to stay silent about what’s happened which lets the company act to clients and the market that everything is fine and dandy when it obviously isn’t.
So my thinking was that by owning my situation publicly, it may help burst this corporately induced shame and reinforce there is nothing to be embarrassed about … especially as the situation ultimately has nothing to do with you – and everything to do with them – even if some companies try to suggest otherwise.
But there was also another reason for my optimism.
Potentially a stupid one.
And that was the last time this situation happened to me, it led to one of the most fruitful and creative periods of my career and I wondered/hoped/mused if lighting could strike twice.
Despite turning 50 [rather than the last time, where I was 35] it amazingly did.
Now I absolutely appreciate how lucky I am.
I also appreciate there are a lot of factors that contributed to this luck.
From the openness of my family to move countries for the 4th time in 4 years … to the wide range of contacts I’d gained thanks to having lived all around the World … to the fact I’m a white male so ‘unfair advantage’ was baked into my career DNA from the very beginning.
But even with all that, the life I now live is in many ways – or at least in many parts – unrecognisable to the one I had when I was let go from R/GA a year ago
From the work I’ve done and do.
To the clients/bands/billionaires I’ve done it for and do it for.
To the immensely talented people I’ve worked with and work with.
To the country I now call home.
Hell, I even managed to get hired and fired by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in that time.
It’s bonkers.
And while I enjoyed my time at R/GA and am grateful for the experience, I’m happier now.
They probably are too … hahaha.
That said, I miss my gang.
Lachlan, Nic, Rach, Anna, Joel, Amar, Erika, Laureen, Bassot, Ed, Hannah, Megan, Nicole, Divya, Arda, Amelia, Severine, Marissa, Insa, Toby, Ben … and the others who helped make my time – and the gang – so much fun, including Anne, Valia, Eduardo and Michael.
What a wonderful bunch of beautifully talented misfits they were/are.
Always demanding … debating … provoking … and making me smarter because of it.
Then again … given all but a couple of them have moved to do other interesting, weird, infamous and famous things, it means that even if I was still there, they wouldn’t be.
Or maybe they would. [Cue mischievous laugh. Hahahaha]
But the point of this post is not just to celebrate a year since a weird day in July … it’s a reminder that life is always changing, moving, evolving and progressing.
However bad a situation may be, it does not mean it will always be that way … even if it feels like it is.
And if anyone worries they are the exception, I want you to know I am here to chat.
Not to convince you you’re wrong.
Or try to solve your problems.
But to listen.
Because not everyone has that and not only is that important … sometimes that’s the first step to getting stronger.
Not to self-reflect or gain enlightenment … but to vent, bitch, moan, complain.
The things some people try to make you feel guilty for wanting to express or think, even though the real reason is because it makes them feel uncomfortable rather than it being bad for you.
And it absolutely is not bad for you.
At least in small doses.
Because as we all know, the first thing you do to treat a scrape is to cleanse the wound … so if anyone thinks this would be useful to you, please know I would be happy to give you a safe space to be your worst without judgement or expectation.
Because the worst times don’t last.
They just feel they do.
So thank you R/GA, I will always be grateful for what you did for me.
Especially on July 10th 2020.
You can reach me here.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Devious Strategy, Finance, Money, Relevance, Resonance, Respect
The picture above is a well known internet image that reflects the value of using professionals.
It’s right.
But where it’s not entirely accurate is that in the real world, what’s happening more and more is that rather than ending up with an image of a horse drawn by a blind, drunk, 5 year old … clients are getting a beautifully image because the professional has been forced to lower his price to get the work.
It’s shit.
What’s worse is that many of these highly talented, exceptionally trained professionals have been made to forget their own value.
It doesn’t happen immediately, it’s often a slow, drawn out process – but the end point is the same, they treat their craft as a commodity. Not because it is, but because they’ve been made to think that way.
When I started working with Metallica, their management asked for my rates and costs.
I gave it to them.
They told me I was a fool and I needed to triple it.
Let me be clear, I thought it was a fair cost – I wasn’t knowingly lowballing myself – and yet here I was being told it wasn’t just low, it was THREE TIMES LOW.
I said I couldn’t do that, it was in-line with market rates and I felt it was fair … to which they asked me a question that changed the way I value what I do.
“Do you think your work and your experience is better than the market?
I knew if I said no, they’d ask why they were working with me, so of course I said yes.
I have to admit, I felt a bit weird saying it, but there were 3 reasons that pushed me to do it.
1. I really wanted to work with them.
2. It was obvious they thought I was worth that amount.
3. Without being arrogant, my experience is pretty huge.
Now the reality is my fee was still a fraction of what many people in the industry charge, but for them to do that when they could have just accepted my fee and said nothing – especially as they knew I wanted to work with them – is something I will forever be grateful for.
It also means I work harder for them, to both repay their faith and keep justifying my rate.
Clever sods.
Since this moment, my relationship with charging for what I do has literally done a full 180.
It’s why I was able to take on a procurement department when they tried to position me as ‘just another supplier’.
It’s why I enjoyed doing it.
It’s also why I was happy to do it in such a mischievous way.
For people who worked with me before – especially at cynic – this shift is amazing.
I was always George’s worst nightmare.
Agreeing to any price if the opportunity excited me.
It’s why I was banned from my own company when dealing with clients about money.
It’s why I still apologise to George for what I did.
Because I was not just undervaluing my talent, but everyone else’s too.
I know it’s hard, but the only way we will educate clients to pay what creative talent deserves – which, let’s not forget, it still a fraction of what they happily pay consultants who don’t ever do the work they recommend – is to give them the standard their budget actually should pay for.
For example the horse at the top of this page.
Because craft is not an expense but an investment.
An investment that doesn’t just lead to better work, but work that lets your client achieve more from it. Whether that’s charging a price premium or simple making more people more interested in what they do.
As Harrison Ford said, the most important thing we can learn is the value of value.