Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Ambition, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Brand, Brand Suicide, Career, Communication Strategy, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Delusion, Distinction, Egovertising, Influencers, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Perspective, Planners, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless, Planning, Point Of View, Popularity, Process, Provocative, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Respect, Standards, Strategy, Success
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the most talented advertising people in the whole business. Not in terms of popularity. Not in terms of ‘thought leadership’. But in terms of making the work. Consistently.
Not luck.
Not one-offs.
Not dependent on a particular client.
They’ve made work that has changed minds, categories and possibilities through their vision, talent and creativity.
And while they are all individuals, with their own perspectives and viewpoints – there is one thing that is pretty consistent across all of them.
They’re good people who are immensely talented rather than people who aspire to work in advertising. Or more specifically, live what they think is ‘the advertising lifestyle’.
And what the fuck do I mean by that?
Well, there’s many ways I could explain it but instead, let me show you something that a mate of mine sent me recently.
Now, before I go on, I should point out I don’t know this person and I don’t know if they’re just executing a brilliant pisstake of how some in the industry act. And if it is, then bravo – they’ve nailed the Andrew Tate of advertising schtick that some on Linkedin like to spout, perfectly.
However, if it’s not – and I worry, it may not be – then this kind of shit sums up everything wrong with our industry. All about attitude and fame than actually making stuff that is famous.
Now I appreciate this person may be young and felt this is how they were supposed to act – especially as those ’24 hours with …’ features tend to be a total exercise in ego and bravado. And it’s for that reason, I chose to remove all reference to who wrote it because let’s be honest, we’re all entitled to make huge mistakes.
However, as I have recently come across a bunch of people in the industry who I suspect would write something exactly like this – and be proud as fuck for it – I think this is the point where I remind everyone in the industry that the people we should be looking up to are not those with the name … the title … the pay packet … the popularity … but the ones who have actually made the fucking work.
Not by proxy.
Not by association.
But with their fingerprints.
And if that’s too much to ask, then let’s at least celebrate people like Sangsoo Chong, who wrote the best ’24 hours with …’ I’ve ever read. Not because it takes the piss … not because it’s glamorous and glitzy but because it’s the most brutally raw and honest description of how a lot of this business really works.
Sadly, what you are about to read, doesn’t capture any of that.
Hell, it doesn’t even capture anything to do with great ideas.
But then it shouldn’t really surprise me when too much of the industry seems to value ‘hot takes’ more than making cool work.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Complicity, Confidence, Conformity, Corporate Evil, Humanity, Love, Management
They say you get wiser when you’re older.
I’m not so sure of that.
You just get more efficient at doing the bits you know, over and over again.
The other stuff? Well that hides, waiting to make a grand entrance. To knock you off your feet or grapple you to the floor.
Sometimes you’re aware of what that thing is through the years spent trying to hide or run from it. But some can be a total surprise …triggered by an event or situation you didn’t even know was an event or situation. And then, seemingly without warning, you find yourself suddenly caught between the glaring headlights of others derision and judgement and the bright spotlight of your own despair and mortification.
We are all fucked up in our own little ways.
The failing is not in our inability to be perfect; it’s the energy we waste pretending we all are.
Someone I met recently admitted to me they were “fucked up” … and said it in a tone that suggested they truly feared the consequences of sharing their secret.
And while they didn’t go into detail regarding the burden they carry, I know some of its impact has been the complete rejection of things that made them feel good and alive. I know, it sounds counter-productive … it IS counter-productive … but when you face this level of pressure, the mind works in mysterious ways and you convince yourself you’re doing the right thing even though you are burning much of what could be good, down to the ground..
There are so many people who are in this situation.
Trying to pretend they’re OK while not dealing with the trauma they probably experienced at some point in their childhood and/or are experiencing right now in their adulthood. Often through – and because of – work.
The amount of young people I met in China recently who are literally exhausted is terrifying.
Sure there are a number of contextual elements that have contributed to it.
The first generation experiencing a slowed-down China economy.
The over-reliance on social media for both identity, community and belonging.
The lack of jobs but with the same high filial expectations.
They are all real reasons and the result is this generation of young, talented kids don’t know how to cope, mainly because they never were taught how to cope – both because they were brought up by parents who never had to deal with things like this as they were economically fortunate – either personally or because of the times – plus they weren’t exposed to technology that made the pressure to achieve even greater. Add to that a schooling system that is far more functionally orientated than emotional and you get this horrible, perfect storm.
Anyway, back to this person I met – who is not from China, but reflects the same mindset.
Since I met them, I’ve discovered just how deeply the impact of their situation has been on them and the people around them – and it has devastated me to be honest. They are a brilliant, talented individual who needs help but feels having that would invite failure into their life. Why? Because platforms like Linkedin tell them – thanks to all the bullshit ‘opinion leader’ pieces – careers and reputations are built on seamless, intellectual perfection, which is obviously bollocks but to young people out there, that is all they know.
Which is each and every one of us is complicit in the situations so many young professionals experience. Which is why if I could relive the moment I met then once again, I would reply with a much more articulate answer.
“We all are”.
I hope they read this post. I hope they reach out. Or I hope they let me reach them.
Look after our young … they’re going to run our future and if we want a good one, we need to give them good habits, good skills and a good understanding of emotion not just function.
Given today is Guy Fawkes day in the UK, this post seems appropriate.
Even though it’s not about the UK.
Or someone trying to blow up the houses of Parliament.
It’s about America and the President of the United States – a man who seems intent on blowing up democracy.
Isn’t it funny how it’s always the people who bang on about ‘freedom of speech’ or ‘the land of the free’ who end up being the ones who operate in the opposite way.
What’s happening over there right now is truly terrifying.
Cancelling freedom of the press, comedians, or anyone who has a counter point of view to what is going on over there. And in a classic example of mob mentality, the people who support MAGA or the Republican party are so lost in their bloodlust they can’t even see what they are advocating.
A while back I watched the A24 movie, Civil War.
I really enjoyed it.
Shame I didn’t realise what I was actually watching was a documentary.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Augustine, Cannes, Colenso, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Management, Perspective, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance
So this is another post about Augustine.
I know … I know … haven’t I done enough of those already?
I mean, seriously … wasn’t the over-long, over-sentimental love letter to her when she left Colenso, enough?
Or what about when I used the Cannes stage to promote her to the global ad community?
But apparently that fucker made such an impression on me I’m going to write another post about her.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad it it was about her buck-toothed, ‘Bugs Bunny mouth’ when she was a kid … but it’s not. What it is, is about this:
I stole that pic off Augustine’s insta.
It’s a screen grab she took when we caught up a few weeks ago.
And I have to say, I bloody love it.
Because despite the fact it highlights how my home office always looks green – despite there being absolutely no green in there whatsoever – her smile is brighter than the sun.
And this makes me happy.
Because it means she is happy. And doing well.
And she is. Both very happy and very well … which means, maybe – just maybe – she is starting to realise how good she is and, even more importantly, how good she can be.
Which makes me all kinds of happy …
Because I’ve seen far too many talented people never quite realise what they could be, because they didn’t want to run towards it, they wanted it to run right up to them. And as I wrote about the Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Awonyi, at some point you have to make the decision you want it and will go for it.
It’s why I was so adamant she had to do it.
It’s why we spent 2 years preparing her to do it.
It’s why we all were so supportive about her doing it.
Because while there’s no guarantee it will come off in the way you hope or dream … you can guarantee you have more of a shot of it happening, than not trying at all.
And Augustine is taking her shot.
Not watching from the sidelines, but on the court.
Playing. Competing. Challenging. And most of all, happy as she’s living, growing and learning.
Which is why – even though I had absolutely nothing to do with all she is achieving – the smile on her face makes me feel like we’ve both won.
I miss you Augustine. And I’m proud as fuck of you.
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Love, Loyalty, Mum, Mum & Dad, My Childhood, Respect
Today would have been my Mum’s 93rd birthday.
The only thing more amazing than that is that it means she has been gone a decade.
The irony is that while Mum is always in my life, it’s the anniversaries – specifically birthdays and death – where her absence is more of the focus.
And what an absence it is.
I’ve talked a lot about her generosity, but what was so amazing about it was how she expressed it in a multitude of ways …
Time, patience, open-mindedness, forgiveness, resilience, encouragement … it was all on offer, all of the time.
She had the ability to acknowledge her perspective was always just that – hers – and so disengaging from that allowed her to listen, learn, understand and grow from people expressing their realities.
That didn’t mean she always agreed with what she heard, but she did always give the space, environment and conditions that allowed others to show, share and say what they felt and believed.
It was a superpower to be honest, and one – as I grow older – I feel is even more important than ever before.
She’d be aghast at where the world is right now.
Growing up in Italy during World War 2 – with her family as part of the resistence – her sense of righteousness was cemented early and deeply, but now …
Well, decency has gone out the window.
I don’t just mean in the obvious ways … but the small.
People not bothering to respond to you.
People always having self interest in every action and interaction.
People believing their needs and contexts trump everyone else’s.
But Mum was not like that. If anything, she was too much the other way.
Everyone liked and respected my Mum because she gave them 3 things regardless of situation, context of background.
Time.
Respect.
A desire to understand rather than judge.
This last point is especially important because, as I wrote in 2017, even the military and police have understood the power of nonjudgmental understanding as a potent interview technique.
The point is, we hear all these politicians, businesses, celebrities and Linkedin luminaries bang on about how they have the solution/system to sort everything out … and yet I’ve not heard one of them talk about the importance of time, respect and an environment for understanding rather than judgement.
Which is why I can’t help but feel, one of the key reasons we’re in the state we’re in is because of this decade of absence.
Mum, I love you.
Happy, happy 93rd birthday.
I hope you’re with Dad, holding hands and I hope you’ve never been missed so much and by so many as you are today.
Big kisses and hugs.
Rx