Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Confidence, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, Emotion, Empathy, Imagination, Insight, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Positioning, Resonance, Social Commentary
So we’ve recently had some interns join the Deutsch planning mob.
They’re smart, passionate and enthusiastic as hell.
Far smarter than I was at their age. Arguably, smarter than I am now.
So I met up with them to see how they were going and they told me how they were getting to grips with things because initially, it was so overwhelming that they found themselves going down a lot of rabbit holes.
I get it, it was super daunting to me when I started too but the one thing that concerned me was their belief that rabbit holes were a negative.
As I pointed out to them, if they don’t go down rabbit holes, then they’re no use to me.
Rabbit holes are an essential part of the planning process.
Not just in terms of exploring possibilities to tackle the problem you have been given … nor to pressure test the strategy you have identified … but to also reveal if there is are more interesting ways to tackle the problem than you may have originally considered or identified.
Rabbit holes are as much about opening possibilities as they are closing them which is why if you don’t embrace them, all you’re doing is screwing yourself – and the client – over.
Sure, focusing on what you think the client will buy may get you quicker approvals and client compliments, but allowing your brain the space and time to wander can help you get to somewhere new … somewhere exciting … somewhere that allows creativity to take you to places no one saw coming … places that will attract rather than chase … and even if you don’t end up somewhere more interesting than where you started, at least you can be sure the strategy you’re recommending has been pushed and prodded, which is why I passionately believe rabbit holes aren’t a waste of time, but a key deliverable of what we do and have to do.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Chaos, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Wieden+Kennedy
So next week, I’ll be in Hong Kong.
For the whole week.
Yes, that means absolutely no posts whatsoever for the next week.
But to make sure you don’t get too happy, I’m going to leave you with one final post.
This is about the importance of mistakes.
Now I appreciate the word ‘mistake’ is often viewed as a negative, but I have a very different perspective on them.
Mistakes create standards.
Mistakes open opportunities.
Mistakes reveal who we can be.
OK, so depending on the mistake, some people may feel very differently about the positive effects of them, but in my experience big, small, life-changing or just momentarily ridiculous … they all have a benefit as long as you go into them and come out of them with the right attitude.
In short, if you’re making mistakes for any other reason than trying to do something great, you’re wasting everyones time and effort.
Making mistakes out of laziness or stupidity doesn’t help anybody, especially yourself. But doing it because you went for awesome … had a desire to push boundaries … wanted to see what other possibilities are possible … then each one of those mistakes should be celebrated and embraced by all.
Unless, of course, you’re just doing things for personal and selfish reasons then you’re a bit of a dick.
But that aside, this attitude is especially important in relation to being able to come out of your mistake with dignity and sanity intact.
Dignity and sanity are big words.
You can’t bullshit those.
For me, the only way you can walk out with either is if you went go your mistake with a clear reason for doing it and come out with a real learning from having done it.
That’s it.
And while others may never understand your reasoning, if you are clear on your motivations going in and your learnings coming out, then what others may call a ‘mistake’ may be one of the most important and valuable things you can ever do … something that has the power and potential to change, shape, reveal and create every new path you take from here on in.
Dan Wieden used to call this ‘fail harder’, he was right because whatever anyone says, mistakes matter.
See you in a week …
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Experience, Love, Management, Resonance
I’ve written a lot about getting older because – lets face it – I’m old.
OK, I’m not ancient, but by adland standards, I’m practically a dinosaur.
I’ve talked about how stupid the industry is to look at people like that – but when someone old is ranting, it sounds much more like someone trying to keep his career going than something more objective.
Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent because what this post is actually about is an elderly lady – a truly elderly lady of about 75-80 years old – who I saw walk into Starbuck’s a few weeks ago.
Now I appreciate this may not sound interesting, but as you can tell from the picture above, she was wearing a bright pink beanie with the words ‘thug life’ on it.
I don’t know about you, but when I saw that, I knew there was only one thing I could do which was tell her she looks amazing, pay for her breakfast and walk away with a new hero in my life.
Adland might think anyone over 40 is past it.
Thankfully humanity doesn’t think that way.
Here’s to those who are impervious to conformity.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Context, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Happiness, Management, Marketing, Social Divide
… not just because I’m with a couple of mates I love and respect.
Nor is it that the angle of the pic means my physical horribleness – especially compared to their disgusting beauty – is partially hidden.
It’s because they’re two super-senior leaders, who got to where they are because of their talent and authenticity.
They also happen to be black.
Karrelle Dixon is the Managing Director of Wieden+Kennedy Portland.
Jason White is the Global CMO of BEATS.
Of course the colour of their skin shouldn’t matter – just like it shouldn’t matter what gender you are or what sexual preference you choose – but tragically it still does.
Especially in America.
To get to the top is an amazing achievement for anyone.
To get to the top while remaining authentic to who you are is something truly special.
To do all that and be a person of colour … well, that’s the highest accolade of all.
Of course I hope for a time where this isn’t news – it is just normal – and while neither of them should have to have the additional burden of being a role model, they are and, if I’m being honest, they should be because if you want to model yourself on anyone – regardless of your heritage or background – it’s them.
Smart as shit.
Charismatic as Clooney.
Total natural born leaders.
Tireless in their passion.
Focused on making the best work of everyone’s lives.
A real and proven desire to help young talent come through.
[In both cases, they have personally helped me help people I thought were bursting with talent but were not getting the breaks I felt they had earned, let alone deserved]
In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact I can consistently beat them at table tennis, they’d be perfect.
But the fact is, Karrelle and Jason are still anomalies in this business – and while that should not underestimate the impact they will have on people of colour who previously had little or no role models for believing they could get to the top – it’s also why I’m a bit conflicted with Adcolor’s Future program.
Let me be clear, this is not about Adcolor specifically.
They are an amazing organisation who have done more to promote diversity in the industry than anyone else, not to mention for longer than everyone else.
Their mission has always been to create a community of diverse professionals who support and celebrate eachhother and they have an incredible track record of doing just that … giving people of colour a real chance in an industry loaded with hurdles.
For hurdles, read ‘senior white men’.
And this is why I’m conflicted.
You see recently a couple of my colleagues applied to get in their Future’s program. They are talented, smart, passionate colleagues… who happen to be people of color, but sadly they didn’t get in.
Let me be clear they were OK with the decision.
Disappointed, but OK.
And I can say the same too.
Despite their talent, maybe they didn’t show how good they are in the way they needed to.
But here’s the bit that bothers me.
You see instead of being told what/where they went wrong … how they could improve … they were just told ‘no’.
Now I’m sure there’s a bunch of reasons for the limited response – for example. maybe they’re inundated with requests – but for an organization committed to helping people of colour move forward, a simple ‘yes or no’ seems counter to that commitment.
It feels like they are judges instead of coaches.
Deciding someone’s fate instead of helping it rise.
Now I fully appreciate I am not aware of all the facts.
I also appreciate that Adcolor as an organization is very open and transparent.
But I would have loved it if the people behind their Future’s program had given my colleagues some advice about what they could have done better with their submission, because the fact they wanted to belong to a group who wants to improve the industry means they’re already showing traits adland badly needs to embrace.
But lets be honest, success for people of colour should not just be down to Adcolor.
Nor the inspirational achievements of Karrelle and Jason.
We all have a role to play.
And that goes beyond just talking about it, but doing things about it.
One of the things America has taught me is that if you don’t act, you’re complicit in keeping things the same.
I’d love to think I have always acted on this issue – not just because I’ve spent so much of my career living in nations where I was a member of the [privileged] minority – but that’s how I was brought up.
By that I don’t mean it in a we need to give everyone a chance sort-of way, but in a ‘everyone is equal even when we’re different’ sort-of way.
And while the only way we’ll find out if I’m full of shit is if we ask the people of colour I’ve worked with – both in America and around the World – if I’ve fought for them and shown my belief and faith in them, there’s one thing that is absolutely not open to interpretation …
Diversity makes everything better.
It allows different experiences, understanding and cultural references to open up possibilities and opportunities for everyone and everything. From creativity to culture. Commerce to the potential of creating real change.
But it does even more than that.
It can take our industry to places we might never see or experience without it.
Let’s be honest, our industry has been predominantly shaped by white males.
Hey, some of them have done a brilliant job. I’m not knocking them – or anyone who is white or male – I also happen to be one.
But imagine the possibilities if we let people who had different backgrounds, different experiences, different frames-of-reference to have a go.
Finally we might get to some genuine new thinking in the industry as opposed to the usual old ideas with a different name.
I know for a fact, all my years living in China/Asia made an astounding difference to how I think and who I am. Differences I still embrace and rely on to this day.
[Here’s a talk I gave in Australia on this: Part 1, 2 and 3 ]
And unlike many of us white guys, people of colour [not to mention members of the LGBT communities] have always been generous with their brilliance, talent and kindness, which given all the shit they have had to – and continue to have to – deal with, that makes them the sort of leader we’d all benefit from working with and for.
Put simply, every single person in adland should be pushing, embracing, celebrating and making room for diversity.
Not because it is ‘the right thing to do’ – even though it is – but it might be the only thing that can save adland and make it truly matter again.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Deutsch, Emotion, Goodbye America, LaLaLand, Planners, Point Of View, Resonance, The Kennedys
So today is going to be my last post for a while.
As you know, I’m leaving America and moving to the UK … and that all happens over the next 12 days.
Next week I say my goodbyes to Deutsch and then, 6 days after that, we move to the UK.
Because we have a bunch to do – from packing up to finding a new place to live – I need to focus on my family more than writing rubbish blog posts, hence while I endure a momentary period of maturity pain, you get to experience a momentary period of peaceful gain.
But don’t get too comfortable … it’s definitely going to be momentary as I’ll be back up and running on October 1.
Oh yes. Be afraid, be very afraid.
That aside, I have to say the last few weeks have been pretty hard.
Not in the sense of getting everything together for the move – though that is still an utter pain in the ass, despite the fact we have done it so many time – it’s just that the life in LA is pretty spectacular.
As I wrote once before, I’ve had better weekends in America than I may have had pretty much anywhere in the World and to say goodbye to that is hard.
Of course a big part of it is the amazing weather and that we had cars for the first time in 15 years [and trust me, after all I went through to get my car, saying goodbye to that has been a pain too] but the other key element is that LA is an outdoor city and to be able to spend so much time with my family in the fresh air has been an amazing gift.
Of course London will offer us alternative wonderful experiences, but that sunshine is a pretty addictive thing.
The other hard part is saying goodbye to people.
OK, not goodbye for ever – technology ensures that doesn’t have to happen – but goodbye in terms of seeing you each day.
All of my family have met people here who have become incredibly important to us.
Jill has made friends here that have become incredibly important to her. Friends that will stand the test of time and distance. Friends that have made my wife truly happy and supported … and for that, I send a personal big thanks to Emma, Zoe and Amber to name a few.
Otis is inundated with them – thanks to his magnificent school – but no one will be missed as much as his beloved Elodie.
To be honest, we’re not sure if he truly understands what moving to London means in terms of implications. While technology means he will be able to still see and talk to Elodie, it will obviously be very different. I have to say we’ve handled this move with him very gently. Even though he’s already moved from China, he’s only 3 years old so his World is both huge and small. To try and make him feel as comfortable as he can be, we’ve made sure his feelings have been taken into account at every stage of the process – from creating a book of all the things he has seen and done in LA to showing him pictures of the things he will see in London to asking him to help us decide where our new family home will be.
Despite having moved countries more times than I care to remember, the fact is I never left home until I was 25 and I remember how traumatic that was for me. For a kid of 3, it must be insane … which is why he needs to feel his family unit is stronger than superglue while everything around him is changing.
I wish I didn’t have to put him through this, but apart from it being linked to work [more of that at a later date], part of this move is because Jill and I [and even the cat, probably] want him to be somewhere he can build real, longer-term roots.
As much as we loved LA, it was never going to be our long term home.
It was/is great, but we just didn’t really have an emotional connection to the place because we came here for work more than anything else.
Sure, if we had stayed longer, that might have changed – but England offers us roots. A place with some deep connections thanks to my background and – to a certain degree – Jill’s.
We have old friends there. People Otis knows and loves. And while I don’t think England will be our last stop on our journey, I do think it will be a significant one … a place where my family can build real roots and my son can find someone who becomes as important in his life and history as my beloved Paul is to me.
That is our goal. That is what my family needs. That is something we’re excited about.
But moving on means leaving things behind and for me, I am going to be saying bye to a bunch of people that have become very important to me.
The weird thing about LA is that by the time we moved here, an incredible amount of old friends and colleagues had also moved here. In fact, it meant LA was the place where I knew more people than anywhere else in the World.
Madness.
And as much as I’ll miss those guys, I’ve gone through this with them before so they don’t get to fuck with my heart that badly a second time. However there are a bunch of new people who I am going to hate to say bye too.
From our wonderful neighbours Kim and Dave to the lovely Elena – who Otis adored and trusted in no time at all – to the people at Noah’s Bagel’s who kept giving me free coffee because they found my t-shirts ‘amusing’.
But in particular I want to say a big thank you to some folks who made my weekdays better than I deserved.
There’s a bunch of them, but in particular I need to single out the amazingly talented and beautiful Jorge, the always happy [despite my shit] Zaid, the ‘Bake Queen’ Dana, the brilliant, patient, supportive and precious BCG [you know who you are, what you did for me and how much you mean to me] and – of course – my planning team.
Having spent 7 years with an incredible group at Wieden Shanghai, I didn’t know how I’d feel working with a totally different bunch, in a totally different country with a totally different context in terms of planning and creativity … but I can honestly say, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with them.
They’ve been incredibly good to me.
Putting up with my ‘ways’ and embracing my approaches.
And while all of them have played an important role in pushing the department forward, I have to give a special thanks to Kelsey, Rachael, Maya, Leigh, Heide, Lani, Ben, Mitch and Armando [and Donn, who fucked off for a pot of gold and a Lexus] for simply putting up with me on more projects than anyone else without – as far as I know – reporting me to HR.
There’s a lot of talent in this team, talent that can push them – and the agency – a long way, so I hope they continue being mouthy, opinionated, curious fucks … because as we saw in our brilliant America In The Raw study/book … when you stand for something, it stops the masses falling for anything.
I hope they feel I made a difference.
I hope they feel they’re in a better place than before I arrived.
I hope they can see bigger possibilities for who they are and what they can achieve.
For me, that’s the most important thing, even though I wish I could have achieved more.
For them. For me. For the agency.
[Though I have to say, I’m particularly proud that I got the office billboard changed, hahaha]
In all seriousness, I feel I’m leaving America a better person than when I arrived – which is the best way to leave any place – and that’s why I’m so grateful to all my planning team for what they did for me and helped me do.
Honestly, there’s a bunch of people here I’ve enjoyed working with, but this is already getting into Oscar speech territory, so in the interests of boredom, I’ll end this post with this.
Thank you LA.
Thank you for giving my family an experience we will always remember and treasure.
Thank you for the friendships, the memories and the opportunities we got to explore and enjoy.
I will always be grateful for the time I spent here, however short.
I hope America sorts itself out.
It’s an amazing country that deserves better. Needs to be better.
To do that, it needs to stop fighting as enemies and start talking as friends.
I don’t know if that will ever happen, especially under the current regime, but a united America is a good America and I want everyone I’ve met here to have the opportunities they deserve.
It’s been an honour and a privlidge and we’ll be back … for a visit, if only to prove to Otis that once upon a time, he really did live in [lifestyle] paradise.
London … here we come.
______________________________________________________________________________
Oh hang on, there’s one last thing before I go.
I know … I know … this post is going on forever.
In the tradition of leaving companies with my indelible mark, the good people of Deutsch LA have received 2 things:
Every member of my wonderful planning department have been given a copy of the highly enlightening Ladybird Book Of Meetings [for future ‘self protection/preservation’ purposes] while the rest of the agency have been left with these highly desirable, culturally bold [Ahem!], future collector item badges/buttons.
I think it’s how they’d like to remember me.
Or should I say, how they will remember me.
Look, I know as horrible as these things are, they’re still less painful than the 600 stickers I hid throughout Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, but then Deutsch only had to endure a year of my pain where the lovely folks in China suffered for over 7.
I’m so considerate with my nastiness.
Which is probably why that after all this, they still have to put up with me for 4 days next week.
Cue: Evil Laugh.
It’s been a memorable adventure so a big thank you for everything.
See you America. See you soon England.