Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Cars, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Great Ads In History, Marketing
… and they should, even if it’s about a terrible football team in an outer suburb.
Have a look at this …
How good is that?
No corporate, bland, fake-aspirational rubbish here … nope, just the sort of language a West Ham supporting, Dagenham-residing away-ground visiting fan would spout to their mates day in and day out.
Hell, it even talks about another brand [Persil], cheating the system, pub crawls, beer, alternative transport, violence and derogatory names for the are they come from. [Dagenham dustbin]
All this in a car ad. It’s amazing.
Given we live in an age where data is supposed to be able to tell us everything we need to know about a specific audience so we can create highly targeted communication just for them, this ad is more targeted than anything I’ve seen recently. And there’s two reasons for that …
The first is they acknowledge the role of the car is to transport people to-and-from locations. They don’t claim – as is the current fashion – that owning that car should be considered the pinnacle of their existence and achievements, it is simply a great way to go on journey’s to destinations where something they love takes place.
Refreshing.
The second is because instead of speaking in current favoured style of ‘corporate faceless brand to generic, middle-of-the-road, mass market audience who all aspire to live the same generic, bland aspirational lifestyle as one another’ … this speaks in the voice of ‘travelling footie fan to travelling footie fan’.
Our industry likes to talk a lot about authenticity, but it seems we have forgotten what that actually means.
This ad works because it speaks in the voice of where the car was [then] made and who [then] made the car.
Dagenham.
A proud, working class town where West Ham football club was the central pillar that fed the dreams, community and escape for the area … which is why even the endline, ‘spirit of the terraces’ is brilliant.
Of course it’s too ‘bloke’ focused and linking driving and drinking is never a smart thing to do – let alone the ‘service station fracas’ but when I – a Nottingham Forest supporting, West Ham hating bloke – see that ad, I feel something … imagine something … and that’s far more than I can say for most car advertising I’m exposed to these days.
And while the Ford Cortina was always designed to be a working class wagon, this ad makes it aspirational.
Not in terms of promising you a faceless, sophisticated life of beige bland … but because it owns who it is and is proud of it.
As I wrote a while back, when you own who you are, not only does it mean no one can own you, but you find you attract rather than have to continually chase.
Given the standard of current Ford ad, maybe they could do with going back to Dagenham.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Differentiation, Imagination, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Pretentious Rubbish, Relevance, Resonance, Wieden+Kennedy
Once upon a time, endlines meant something.
They were distinct, explained a brands value or purpose.
And more often than not, were packed with personality.
Then Dan Wieden fucked it up for everyone.
You see his famous JUST DO IT became the benchmark for all brands.
Marketing Directors craved a line that summed up who they were in 3 words.
The number of words was more important than what it said … which is why you now get this …
What a pile of shite.
Bland, contrived, sameness …
Literally doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do.
Designed to appeal to the ego of the board rather than the hearts of the audience.
All because we have fallen into the trap of believing simplistic equates to effectiveness.
It doesn’t.
Simple might do … but simplistic is the lowest common denominator that requires zero thinking because it makes zero impression.
It’s why I sit here and can remember endlines from my childhood more easily than end lines I watched 10 minutes ago.
Handmade by Robots … for Fiat.
Refreshes the other parts other beers can’t reach … for Heineken.
Do you love someone enough to give them your last Rolo … for, ahem, Rolo.
Of course there’s a few modern endlines that work … GoPro’s ‘Be A Hero’ for example [though they went and fucked it up by changing it to utter blandom] … but in the main, companies seems to like endlines that sound like they know what they’re doing but don’t really say much at all.
At cynic we used to call these ‘Yoda Statements’, but what is even scarier is consultants are being paid a fortune to come up with this sort of twaddle.
That’s right, companies who claim to know how to help business grow are coming up with statements that literally make companies blend into everything else.
And yet they still are valued more highly by clients that companies who know how to push, provoke, inspire and capture the imagination of culture through creativity.
If anything tells you how mad the World is, surely one of them is that.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Business, Chaos, Comment, Communication Strategy, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Entertainment, Honesty, Imagination, Insight, Marketing, Martin Weigel, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Relevance, Research, Resonance
I heard a great story recently about the iconic movie, Die Hard.
Apparently in early test groups, viewers were confused why the lead character was pitched as a hero when he “keeps hiding and calling for help”.
I must admit, I laughed out loud when I heard this … mainly because it was a viewpoint that I don’t think I would have ever come up with, even if I was working on it 24/7 for a year.
It also probably says more about where the minds of American men were back when the movie came out than anything else.
And while learning this has ensured I will never watch the movie in the same way again, it does highlight the best and worst of focus groups.
I must admit I’m not a fan of this approach.
To be fair, it’s less the methodology and more about how clients are using what they find/hear.
Treating it as undeniable fact … something that needs to be followed to the letter.
But the reality is focus groups are – at best – a guide, rather than a blueprint.
Factors like group dynamics, vacuum thinking and the focus on answers, not understanding all combine to ensure there are a number of major flaws with this approach, and yet some blindly believe this is pathway to success.
Fools.
To be fair, I feel this way about pretty much all research methodologies.
Not because I’m a prick, but because context and dynamics continually shape our viewpoints and behaviours, which is why I don’t like relying on one form of research but a combination of different kinds … as long as one is spent out in culture, talking … listening … learning from the way the core of subcultures live.
Not just in terms of the specific thing we are working on, but life in general.
The language.
The associations.
The labels they use.
The pressures, laughter, fears and concerns …
Clothes … music … games … hashtags … iconography …
Their thoughts about situations not just their reactions or behaviours …
What they’ve started doing rather than what they’ve always done … the ‘edge effect’ that Martin and I talked about in our Cannes talk on Chaos last year.
But that approach is still seen as the exception rather than the rule.
Interacting with real life is still viewed as a novelty rather than a reality.
Which is why, if you have to use research, I like the way Dreamworks does it.
They don’t care about what people think about their stories or characters … they don’t give a shit about the highs or lows or things they’d change, they ask just one simple question …
Were you entertained?
That’s it.
It’s the only thing that matters to them.
Simple. Focused. Clear.
Because while they want people to enjoy what they do, they don’t want people to decide what they do …
Sure, they listen to what is said.
Sure, they sometimes decide to make changes based on what is said.
But they never do what they don’t agree with because you can’t steer a ship to port when you have a thousand captains all telling you where to go.
There’s a lot of people who could learn from this.
And I don’t just mean clients …
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Authenticity, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Comment, Confidence, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Emotion, Empathy, EvilGenius, Experience, Fulfillment, Honesty, Imagination, Marcus, Talent
For all the shit I get on this blog, it has served me well.
I’ve learned things.
I’ve been put right on things.
I’ve learned my view on things can drastically change over the years.
But one thing I treasure most of all – even more than the daily abuse I cop – is how this blog has brought new people into my life.
One of those is Marcus Brown.
I’ve known Marcus for over 10 years.
It all started when he stupidly wrote a comment on this blog.
And while I’ve only ever met him once – last year – we have talked a lot via email and video.
I think he would agree that we have both experienced some personal highs and lows over the years we have known each other – because life works like that – but through it all Marcus has kept me entertained and on my toes with his infectious, brilliant, madness.
I don’t mean that in a mean way.
In fact, it’s the highest compliment I can give.
Hell, I can’t think of many people who could inspire me to make a crowd of ad students say hello to Sacrum, a character he created or contribute to iPod singing … another idea he brought to life.
Marcus is one of those people, everyone roots for.
He’s creative, dynamic, full of character and compassion … which is why I was so consistently disappointed an industry that talks about valuing creativity consistently overlooked or devalued his talent.
Without going into too much detail, I know this affected Marcus as well.
He had so much he had to offer … so much he wanted to do … but time and time again, his creativity was challenged or questioned. Not from the perspective of wanting to understand things more clearly, but from devaluing what he had to offer.
Which is why the last few years have been so rewarding.
For him … and for me, watching him.
Because Marcus has found his voice … his purpose … his calling.
He proudly calls himself a Performance Artist … because that’s what he is.
Don’t take my word for it, even Forbes – the business magazine – says so.
But not all is quite as it seems.
You see while Marcus is indeed a Performance Artist, he’s also an author.
You see he has written a book called ‘A Wicked Pack of Cards’.
And it’s brilliant.
I’m not saying this because I’m kinda in it [He stupidly asked me to write a review, which is the pic at the top of this post] but because it makes you think, imagine, feel and question.
It’s one of those books that you think about well after you’ve finished it …
I loved it and I fully encourage people to experience it for themselves.
You can buy it here.
Which brings me back to this blog …
You see, by continuously writing my rubbish, I’ve been able to meet and follow people I would otherwise never have known.
In Marcus’ case, I’ve been able to see how life has changed for a talented, kind, generous man. Where once his life was full of challenges, now it is bursting with happiness … from the love of his life to the time of his life … and I can think of few people who deserve it more.
Watching him create, invent, stretch his boundaries and being prolific in his expression is both inspiring and exciting which is why I can’t wait to see what his mind gets up to next.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Devious Strategy, EvilGenius, Innovation, Marketing Fail, Purpose, Toilet
It’s Friday 13th, so what better day to write about the scary subject of ‘brand purpose’.
OK, so unlike Mr Weigel, I believe brand purpose does have a real value.
That said, like Martin, I don’t believe purpose can be manufactured – or changed on a whim – and I certainly don’t believe it can do what governments can’t.
A while back I wrote a post about where purpose is going mad and used an umbrella shop as an example of when it all goes to shit.
Well, talking of shit, I recently was in Denmark.
When I was at the airport, I needed the loo – so in I went and then saw this …
Look at that …
No, not the loo, but the purpose.
Together We Change.
TOGETHER WE BLOODY CHANGE!?
Change what?
I think it has something to do with saving water but … what the fuck?
It’s a urinal.
A public urinal.
Why are they trying to sound like they’re making an Oscar speech.
Let’s not forget, this is a device that has been made to catch wee-wee [don’t say this blog isn’t kid friendly] … it’s an important device but not one worthy of a purpose like that.
And what’s the ‘Together’ part of that statement?
Are they organising men to have a filter placed in their penises [don’t say this blog doesn’t use correct biological terms] to ensure the water they emit is cleaned at source?
All this was going through my mind until I looked around the bathroom I was standing in and saw the state of the floor.
Piss. Everywhere.
EVERYWHERE.
Which immediately made me realise I’d been too harsh on the toilet company and their grandiose purpose because what I think they meant when they said ‘Together we change’ was …
“Hey men, stop pissing on the floor”
… though they would have more luck if they used the genius fly on the urinal trick, rather than another pointless purpose that people laugh at rather than are inspired by.
Purpose has a place in brands.
Purpose can be very powerful for brands.
But the moment you think it can be anything you want it to be and you act like it’s not for commercially beneficial reasons, then the only people you’re kidding is yourself.