Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, China, Comment, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Emotion, Empathy, Honesty, Management, Marketing, Wieden+Kennedy
Once upon a time, I worked with a guy called Kim Papworth.
He was the co-ECD of Wieden London at the time, with the irrepressible Tony Davidson.
Now I am sure Tony wouldn’t mind me saying this, but he has a reputation as a bit of a madman.
Brilliantly creative.
Deliciously stubborn.
Fiercely challenging.
And slightly bonkers.
OK, so in their early days – when they were at BMP and BBH – this ‘unique’ reputation was allegedly shared … however as time went by, Kim started being seen by many people as ‘the nice one’.
While they are both ace, I get why.
Where Tony is loud, Kim is quiet.
Where Tony is chaos, Kim is clarity.
Where Tony is intense, Kim is calm.
Where Tony is random, Kim is considered.
Let me be clear, Tony was – and is – amazing and has always been so good to me, however many viewed Kim as the more approachable of the two … the one you could reason with … the one you could chat to … the one you could have a debate with and it’s this that was his most powerful move.
You see Kim … wonderful, kind, compassionate Kim … is steely as fuck.
Sure he doesn’t shout or rant or gesticulate or throw tantrums.
Sure he doesn’t swear or throw toys out the pram or act aloof.
But he was stubborn as fuck about letting the work win.
He wouldn’t let ideas be killed on an individuals whim.
He wouldn’t let ideas be changed to satisfy personal ego.
He wouldn’t let ideas be diluted to appease a committee.
He wouldn’t let ideas be burdened by politics or agenda.
He wouldn’t let ideas be sold short by timelines or small mindedness.
He wouldn’t let anything win other than the purity of the idea.
I once watched him keep a campaign on the table after a client had spent 30 minutes saying it was wrong and they hated it. Better yet, he did it in a way where the client was OK with him doing it.
He didn’t bully, lie or manipulate to get his way.
He did it by listening.
Intently.
Then he slowly but methodically went through each of their issues and talked about the options he saw to solve them … always ensuring they elevated the idea he believed in rather than diluting it.
It was – quite simply – one of the most amazing pieces of creative negotiation I’ve ever seen.
Actually, negotiation is the wrong word.
Because it was never about dumbing down the idea to keep a version of it, it was always about solving the problems the clients had but in ways that ensured the idea would be able to shine.
[The photo at the end of this post is from that meeting, where Kim awkwardly humoured me and my demands to commemorate the moment of magic]
While Kim was – and is – a brilliant, brilliant creative, one of his greatest skills was the art of listening, because he always saw it as ammunition that allowed him to keep ideas safe.
While there are others that practice this – including a bunch at Colenso for example – a huge amount of the industry simply hears stuff.
Listening and hearing are very different.
Listening is understanding.
Not just the words, but the context and the details.
But hearing …
Well, hearing is simply about sound and that’s why we often end up with divisions.
A battle between ‘what I want’ and ‘what you want’.
A war between creativity and client.
No one wins.
Sure, someone may in the short-term, but not long.
That doesn’t mean you can’t disagree or debate … nor does it mean you will always succeed in convincing someone to change their mind … but listening increases the odds.
It ensures the other party feels they have been understood.
It ensures your response is efficient and focused on the issue.
It ensures you are keeping the work on the table for as long as possible.
[And if he feels the demands being asked of the work undermine the power of the work, he’d just take it off the table and we would start again. And I believe in that to this day]
I have had the great pleasure of working with a whole host of brilliantly talented creative people.
People in adland, music, fashion, gaming and sport.
But the ones I find the most fascinating are the ones like Kim.
Who have the ability to feel like velvet, even when their focus is forged in iron.
Not because of manipulation, deceit or trickery.
But because they know, nothing is as forceful as the power of listening.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Emotion, Planners, Planning, Point Of View
For years I have used song lyrics for creative brief inspiration.
Specifically, the Point Of View.
It’s been hugely useful to me because lyrics don’t just convey a story, they ignite emotion … which is especially useful when you want to capture the creatives imagination.
Mind you, I once used whole sections of lyrics from Bon Jovi’s Blood On Blood as my entire strategy presentation for Jeep and that didn’t go down so well.
Heathens … hahaha.
What’s interesting – at least to me – is when I was younger, I never really cared about lyrics. For me, it was always the guitar and the melody. Hell, I didn’t even know the lyrics to music I wrote myself … which, on hindsight, is probably a good thing, to be honest.
But since I hung up the guitar – or at least hung up playing it 8 hours every day – I have been captivated by lyrics. The stories and opinions they hold … and recently, while working on a project, I got reacquainted with the song Town Called Malice, by The Jam, which is above.
I remember when this song came out and I didn’t like it much.
Well, I loved the title – which I still do – but the rest was, blah.
I was into metal back then so I saw it as soft, sell-out, fancy suit shit.
Hahahahahahaha.
But 40 years later – fuck – I have learnt to love this song, especially for the lyrics.
Specifically, “stop apologising for the things you haven’t done”.
That’s a powerful line.
One that is even more pertinent today than it probably was in 1981.
I have to say, I am over people feeling they have to apologise for stuff they haven’t done.
OK, if they promised to take the rubbish out, I get it. But the rest can fuck off.
Life seems to be a continuous cycle of things we are supposed to have done … a slow force into complicity and parity.
Planning is particularly bad for this …
The books we should have read.
The people we should be following.
The methodologies we should all use.
Yes, there is a lot of good stuff you can get from the names constantly being suggested, but they are not a mandate. They certainly shouldn’t be the people or processes we have to apologise for having not followed.
Our job is to be interested in what others are interested in, not just what other planners are interested in. The naval gazing of the industry is insane.
On one level I do understand it.
Many planners feel they are imposters and so knowing what people they think are ‘real planners’ like, lets them feel a bit more validated to do what they are paid to do.
But here’s the thing, the people who think are ‘real strategists’ also feel like imposters.
Truly.
So what this means is the people who question their credentials are following the words and actions of people who also question their credentials. Which means the whole ‘things you should follow’ ends up being even more ridiculous.
While we should all be investing in our knowledge and awareness – and giving respect to those who keep doing work that tries to push things forward – that does not mean we should all be blindly doing the same thing as everyone else. If anything it means we need to be doing a whole bunch of different things from everyone else.
For example …
Read different books/magazine in different categories from different countries.
Follow people doing interesting things from different categories and cultures.
Be curious about people who make interesting things, not just talk about interesting things.
Learn from people who approach creativity in different ways to your own industry.
[Though I appreciate the irony of me telling people to follow what I do, haha]
All this is another reason why the industry needs to be hiring different sorts of people from different sorts of places and backgrounds … even though I’ve heard on the rare occasions that they do, they then tell them they need to be like the establishment to ‘be taken seriously’.
FFS!!!
While we all need to develop our craft, experience and knowledge … rather than apologising for having not done/read/followed the exact same person/process/book as every other planner – however good they may be – how about celebrating whatever it is you are doing, exploring and learning … because trying to find your own voice is a far more noble act than simply trying to replicate someone else’s.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Business, Comment, Confidence, Corporate Evil, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Devious Strategy, Finance, Honesty, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Money, Relevance, Social Divide, Social Media
Back from a nice long weekend.
Hey, if this makes you feel bad, imagine how my poor colleagues feel.
Anyway …
I recently read the book Hype, by Gabrielle Bluestone.
It is depressingly brilliant.
While it covers a huge range of topics, it centres on the actions and behaviours of Fyre Festival founder [or should I say, scammer] Billy McFarland.
Now I appreciate with worldwide coverage and 2 documentaries on the subject, you may think you know all that needs to be known, but apart from Gabrielle bringing some new information to the table, what makes it especially interesting is how she compares his actions to others who are regarded as business geniuses.
Like Elon Musk.
Now you might think that sounds like the actions of someone desperate to create hype for their new book. But no. It’s incredibly well written and researched … and as you turn page after page, with hustler/liar story after hustler/liar story, you come away thinking the whole world has fallen for the Emperors New Clothes trick.
Not to mention that either Billy McFarland is unlucky to be sentenced to jail or Elon Musk – and countless other business people and influencers – are lucky not to be.
Society loves its success stories.
It loves trying to ‘codify‘ the system.
But while only a few ever succeed, it doesn’t stop people blindly following some ‘proven’ rules. Often losing themselves in details rather than appreciating context.
All the while making the originator [or person who shouted the loudest, quickest] even more powerful and famous … before they end up a caricature of what they once were.
I’m seeing a lot of this in marketingland at the moment.
Now, I am not suggesting these people are doing it to ‘con’ anyone. Far from it. In fact their intentions are pretty wonderful. But somewhere along the line, their perspective has developed into a ‘system’ and that system now has a number of unquestionable and unshakeable rules attached to it which, ironically, is starting to negatively affect the very industry they want to help.
To be fair, they are not entirely responsible.
They are a bit … because they give their ‘system’ names that suggest intellectual superiority when it’s really ‘an educated beginners guide’, plus they conveniently turn a blind eye to how many of their students are executing what they learnt – without context or real audience understanding – so it ends up just being lowest common denominator thinking. But the real reason this situation is occurring is too many companies aren’t investing enough in talent or training, so they send people off to do courses with fancy names so they can all look and feel like they are.
Putting aside the fact this also highlights how many companies lack a philosophy regarding their approach and value to marketing, what this ‘one size fits all’ approach is doing is educating a whole generation of marketer/advertiser/company that talent, standards and creativity are not nearly as important as having people who can follow – and police – process, formats and parity.
We’re in danger of getting to the point where independent thinking is seen as dangerous.
Or weakness.
Or anything other than strength.
And while understanding how things work is important, creating a singular approach and process where building brands and creativity is approached like an airfix model – where the outcome is always the same, albeit with different brand names/colours attached – seems to be more about undermining the purpose of marketing rather than liberate it.
What makes this even more amusing is the brands who are attracting the greatest cultural momentum, loyalty and brand value right now are not following any of these ‘process rules’. More than that, they’re building their reputation and value through the creation of distinctive brand ideas that talk directly to their audiences rather than focusing on brand attribution that aims to be slightly memorable among their category.
[Please note, I’m talking about brands with a real business behind them, not just social hype]
Now I appreciate the context and circumstances of cultural brands and the brands who are adopting a marketing ‘system’ are very different … but what I’m trying to highlight is that we now find ourselves in this weird situation where the ambition for many brands is to not find ways to get ahead but to not be left behind – all the while bombarding the market with claims of innovation, new thinking, new opportunities.
And that’s why I loved reading Hype so much.
Not just because it pulled back the curtain on the hypocritical bullshit of so many self-appointed ‘business icons’, but it revealed where we’re all heading if we’re not careful … even though I know there will be people out there who read it and see it as their goal rather than their ruin.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Otis, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless
A week or so ago, Otis was telling me about a magic trick he saw at school.
He was amazed by it.
Apparently some magicians came in to assembly and showed the school a book that was in black and white and then – at the flick of a wand – turned into colour.
So I said to him, was it something like this …
He watched transfixed before shouting with sheer joy …
“Yes Daddy, that’s it. THAT’S IT!”
So I said to him …
“Well if you like that, you may like this from a long time ago” …
He laughed and laughed and laughed, then asked me what it was.
So I told him that years ago, in 2007 in fact, a group of people did this thing called iPod Singing, which was the latest wonderfully bonkers ideas from Marcus Brown.
He looked at me for a second and said,
“Were those videos Marcus Brown?”
“No” …” I replied, “… they were of me”.
Silence.
Bit more silence.
Look of confusion and amazement on his face.
“But it didn’t look like you or sound like you Daddy”.
I looked at Jill.
“Well your voice has changed over they years”, she said.
Jesus Christ …
And while I would like to think this means I could be James Bond, the reality is I now understand why tax departments in every country I’ve lived give me shit. Because every year, it appears they think the person who has to pay their bill isn’t the person who is stood in front of them saying, “I’ve paid, I’ve paid”.
So thank you Marcus for revealing how my son only recognises me from 2014 … which is handy given all the shit I want him not to see when he’s older.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Culture, Sport, Talent, Youth
This is a real t-shirt from the 80’s.
Not sure who would commission such a thing, but I can imagine skateboarders loved wearing it as they were breaking the law.
But now, in 2021, we can categorically say the people behind it are wrong.
Because as we saw, skateboarding IS an Olympic sport and it was brilliant to see.
To witness someone win an Olympic medal before they are even a teenager was incredible.
Not just for what they achieved, but how they will have connected to a generation of youth who will not only now see sport in a new light … but will also be able to see the potential of what they can achieve.
We need more of that.
Because in a World where everyone acts like they’ve achieved success, skateboarding doesn’t let you get away with it.
Sure you can buy the clothes.
Sure you can hang out in the right places.
But when you get on that board, it makes you work for everything you get.
No shortcuts. No favours. Just commitment, practice and effort.
Which makes every success worth celebrating.
Which is what we should all be celebrating.
Which may explain why the Olympics was still special, when in some ways, it should have passed us by without so much as a whisper.
Here’s to more sport being legitimised by incredibly talented young athletes who some people have wanted to keep in the shadows.