Wednesday 14 October 2009
Tuesday 13 October 2009
She comes in colours everywhere - (Social media metrics)
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Saturday 10 October 2009
Watch This
For one reason or another (bad mathematics and bad people) I ran out of cash recently and after putting down a deposit on my accomodation, I realised I was in a tight corner so I was forced to pull strings I've avoided pulling for some years and managed invoke a vegan diet of roots (like sweet potato), bean sprouts and plantain. Quite a modest one at that too.
But the brilliant learning from this process (every cloud has a silver lining) was that I finally did what I've put off for years which is go a little bit hungry or experience it for longer then I've ever had the courage to endure before. I've realised now that I CAN control my four decade long obsession with Chocolate and Coco-cola and McHashpatties&syrup
Well I'm back on course now so no need to fret, but somehow I'm kind of enjoying even skipping on, or at least moderating my favourite things including those McDonalds breakfasts which I've talked about here with more links in the post.
In any case my parents are the sort of people who brought me up with a number of decent values that I treasure and one of those is that wasting food is obscene and which is one of those values I walk the walk on whatever the context wherever on the planet. I urge you if you haven't given a thought about how cities are fed to watch this powerful TED presentation and recognise the compelling conclusion reached. Rengineering our economies and lives is possible if we use nutrition as the lynch pin, and as I think we'll be compelled to do so, in the not so distant future with the global dynamics such as the impending dollar collapse and rise in oil prices (ergo food prices)
Via Rob Patterson
Thursday 8 October 2009
Timeless Marketing Classics - Charles Frith
I wrote this for Graeme Harrison's post about planners favourite books and it was not only a little late for submission to his blog post when the inspiration finally struck me but it was also written about 3.30 am underneath that nightclub (pictured above and taken on the worlds first 5 Mgp camera "i-mobile" by Samart in Thailand) and hastily bashed out on the Apple Macbook Air that was stolen by taxi 1878 because I can only write from the heart as I need to believe what I'm sharing, and so this took a long time to reach the conclusion I've lightheartedly but with complete sincerity given.
I thought and thought and thought about it and finally concluded I couldn't recommend most business related books as I've learned more from Dostoevsky and Tolstoy then any papyrus dry Peter Drucker or soundbite drenched Seth Godin.
Anyway here is Timeless Marketing Classics - Charles Frith
This is probably going to upset a few people, and I guess it is a shocker of a confession to make, but I've been thinking about what I"m going to write for a couple of weeks since Graeme asked me to share which books have been most influential on my thinking. I'm currently reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin about Lincoln. I bought it because on the back it says that when the Whitehouse Press Corp (the toothless gravy train riders of the last eight years) asked POTUS about what book he'd be taking to the Whitehouse, Barry Obama answered without hesitation that it would be the Lincoln account of how he pitched all his enemies into some sort of forward moving equilibrium that earned him a near deity place in history. The time its taking to conclude on those books is eating me alive because two weeks later and I still cant think of more than one book to recommend.
Well let me tell you folks. I USED to be a prolific reader. I read and I read and I read for consecutive decades of my life. I think I even did the whole bottle-of-rum a day while page turning and inhaling rather thick American political history for a year or so on a tropical beach nearly a decade ago now.
In any case, I urge you if the chance avails itself to carve your way through Kissinger's political autobiographies with the trilogy best captured by the middle tome, YEARS OF UPHEAVAL. It's possible to come away from that book and think bombing ones way to defeat in the Mekong Delta along The Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Laos and Cambodia without a thought for the millions of South East Asians who suffered and died in this political ideology war fought in a proxy country.
Doesn't America always fight it's wars in proxy countries? Did we get stuffed on the Marshall plan with France and Germany accelerating ahead before the 50's had ended?
And you may know I never do capitals so pay attention and bookend that one with say a little Ayn (pronounced Ein people just like Ein, Zwei, Dreis. Jawohl?) Rand's Atlas Shrugged, before maybe dancing around the ballroom with a few odds and sods of Kennedy (does Camelot ever not stop dancing?).
Also. Don't understimate Caro on LBJ (Master of the Senate is good and part of another tour de force trilogy) and for random arcane stocking filler one upmanship, say, a history of British postwar Prime Ministers - Nobody ever remembers Sir Alec Douglas Home do they? It's the curse of being so popular at Eton with his peers despite as they observed, never really having done anything to earn it. That's the British for you.
You've probably clocked me by now as bullshitting wildly on political literature while failing (and flailing) markedly to put forward a single seminal marketing book. And that's my problem. I've been thinking for a couple of weeks about the books that influenced my work the most and the embarrassing conclusion is that I only have one measly offering because if there is one genre of the printed word that is invariably padded to the max, faffs on about irrelevant stuff or convincingly puts forward a good point and then goes on to spend the rest of the book in short gasping breaths excitedly explaining why it's so right. And boy it really does feel right. It's the genre called Business books which include most marketing books. So here goes:
Advertising and marketing books are pants.
I've read a fair amount although nowhere near as much as nerdy pants Rob Campbell in Hong Kong. If you want a big hung like a zebra bibliography of any and every marketing book ever written check out Rob's blog because not only is it impressive. It's so extensive it's bloody funny if you ask me. Trainspotters rule. Aye.
So it's just my opinion but I'd have no hesitation in recommending not placing too much faith in the latest biz book pulp pot boiler of the day. They might seem on the money but they age a little too quickly for my liking and let's face it business is just business so it's not like it changes fundamentally from decade to decade although it is just about to. Mark my words.
However there is one that has shaped pretty much everything I have done and everything I have thought about since commencing the oddysey of pretty much never thinking about anything else ever again without contextualising it within the trade of creative planning - and which I'm not particularly brilliant at but nevertheless love doing 24/7.
So.... some years back, but this side of the millenium while working at BBDO Dusseldorf, the planning library had a copy of Robert Heath's seminal: The hidden power of advertising. How low involvement processing influences the way we choose brands. and which others can't get their head round and I doubt ever will (apropos point three)
This book is like business poetry for me, because what it does is take the most tedious, stupor inducing "last-reason-why-anyone-would-get-into advertising", spittle smeared end of the short straw and lays out methodically how information commutes and computes and thus works. It's only one end of the spectrum because I'm assuming we're all wannabe artists or creative groupies of one sort or another and understand that side perfectly well.
L.I.P. applies to so much of life, from Derren Brown to Information Warfare that if it looks a bit pants on first skim then you might not be ready for it just yet. It's only when stuck for words, in the shit holes of the global advertising parachute-planning gigs that I've taken the odd cheque for, that the same questions keep coming back again and again. I've asked myself repeatedly:
"How does this pants advertising work when ostensibly its patronising dribble, chock-full of superlative people with superlative white teeth and superlative family and friend dynamics?"
Robert Heath's book shed's much needed light on how frequency and repetition in the low involvement spectrum makes it all work. It's not pretty but I didn't make the rules up for that propaganda/fear marketing end of the spectrum (more over here) although I'd love to implement them to change peoples behaviour towards sustainable wealth creation. Easily the biggest business opportunity of the 21st century as "the" John Grant I think would endorse.
So anyway, the other book I recommend?
Ha Ha. I don't. Well I just think marketing books blow chunks as a rule, and I can't champion enough, how valuable it is to be interested in as much as possible. Try everything if you can, and as my politcal mentor memorably said. "Try it twice because maybe you got it wrong the first time round". I've been known to try things I'm not sure about more than that so I know whereof I speak as Ludwig might have put it.
But I work in advertising so don't listen to me in the slightest. I'm sure all the books listed in Graeme's posts are fucking ace. I mean that too because I'll be sniffing over them like the planner afficcianado I evidently hanker to be now that I've quietly dropped the Enfant Terrible of planning USP, that I was gunning for a few years back.
Be careful what you wish for they say.
In any case I will throw a couple of amuse-gule books to be sporting. Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" is a gem and not only for business either. It's where I learned the cardinal rule of listening not speaking and which if I don't know you I'll give you first chance to exhaust your vocabularly.
There is a reluctant second choice though. A book called: "Postmodern Marketing" back in the late nineties when I worked for HHCL which eloquently put forward the case for leaving things to the very last possible moment because *drum roll* we are then aquainted with the maximum amount of information to make better decisions with. Brilliant huh? And so that whole book was a thumbs up with me for that one liner despite the hyper realism, the irony and the humour that signify Postmodernism and indeed pepper this post if we think about the self referential aspect of PoMo which applies to handing this text in so late for Graeme's posts that I've had to post it myself ;)
Update: I'm reading as you know Great Apes by Will Self and unlike when this article was posted POTUS is now Obama and The Lincoln Book was in the suitcase which was in the back of cab 1878 never to return.
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Jet Set Flip Flop
If it's good enough for Alex, It's good enough for me right?
Apparently all the style mags are touting this as the metro sex(ual) beach-look for men come 2010. OK I just made that up but flying coach class in flops is the only way to do it these days. Or maybe it's because Taxi 1878 took all my shoes with the suitcase including a modest but cherised Adidas Shell Toe collection from back here, and this jacket back here.
If I really went to town I think I could find photos of most of my stuff but there's no point really. I'll get that post I referred to earlier up later today (Asia time).
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Helge Tennø
A short while ago in my favourite nightclub anywhere in the world which I wrote my next post under (with you tomorrow), a young couple from Italy got talking to me while I smoked a cigarette outside on the stairway.
The girl asked me what I do. Well there was a time when being a planner was too hard to sound-bite without sounding pompous, but I was fortunate enough on this occasion, to have the company of a writer who implied he wrote copy to keep his head above water, and the girlfriend who worked in advertising as a creative. They were from Milan and so I remembered I'd been there two years ago for the global creative review that JWT takes very seriously and which still takes place I think each quarter. More on that over here if you're interested.
We talked briefly about where was hip and hot, and we had one of those deliciously violent agreements that rapidly settled on South American and specifically Argentinia and Brazil as serving up some of the hottest advertising on the planet. Second choice was that Scandinavia was totally on top of its game, to which I added that it's my belief that the Scandinavians are consistently and coherently pumping out some of the best planning thinking on the globe right now and thus validating the planning discipline.
Arguably this part of Europe is now ahead of London, and New York (with the exception of Lee Maschemeyer and Faris) and in some ways, as is the Scandinavian tradition, is ostensibly chipping away at reconciling what I recently like to call The Grand Theory.
This is the one planners are (I feel) morally obliged to attempt to pull together the unavoidable yet disparate ends of both wealth creation and sustainable consumption i.e. doing the right thing the right way at the right time with the right people, because surely that is the only challenge worth applying our collectives mind to; The unexamined life not worth living and all that?
Let's be candid. The creative community's core skills and output shouldn't be burdened with this Sisyphean task AND the need to recognise the importance and value of awards in our business and more importantly peoples appreciation of communication well thought through. Our account people are, (and should) be too busy getting on with keeping our collective shit together doing the grown up stuff like running our clients business and keeping them happy.
I was thinking specifically of Helge Tenne from Norway, when I talked about the Scandinavian (Arctic?) circle with the Italians, but I could just as easily talk about both the creative and intellectual coherency eminating from Sweden and Finland too.
In any case (don't I just go on?) this latest presentation is a great example of the quality of thinking I'm excited about, and which points towards a much more responsible and less opportunistic role for marketing communications in the future, although that isn't the purpose of Helge's presenation specifically.
And if any of that sounds like rubbish (which it probably is) then I urge you to take a tangential tour to this podcast with one of my favourite thinkers Doug Rushkoff and listen to the raw authenticity of the radio medium uncut and sprinkled with idiosyncratic thought-points worth pausing over two if not three times.
Excellent media in action.
Right. As you were.
Monday 5 October 2009
Human Behaviour
A few weeks ago I pulled an all nighter in a Filipino Karaoke (don't ask) and I was dumbstruck at how effective the stickers on the stairs (no elevator) were at communicating exactly who was in the building. Like local advertising on steroids for me, as by the time I got to the top floor there was no way to forget the company on the second floor. This however is more fun and inclusive and for me works as VW territory.
LG
Way back here in my ChungKing Express post, when talking about the duplication culture of China and Asia excluding Japan, I tried to imply that while not seeing evidence of real innovation there was definitely an emergence of what I now see more clearly as a technology remix culture as evidenced by the solar panel and telescopic lens that came with my mobile phone now languishing in Bangkok storage until my next move is more clear.
Today I see that LG have taken this great idea of solar panel charged batteries and run with it for the launch of the LG GD510 phone which you can read more about over at the Pattaya Rag Blogspot. I knew what I was trying to convey at the time of my own post which was both critical of duplication culture (or copying if you will) but seeing the LG post has crystallized my thinking and I believe that Asia is emerging as a centre of technological remix culture which in this instance is both a smart idea and one that scores well on sustainable living metrics. Although since my own phone was stolen recently (yes, again) I've suffered from inaccessibility for work related communications but also lapped up the peacefulness and lack of interruptions which tucks nicely into my previous post.
I'm also trying to see the cops tomorrow for the identity parade for my stolen life, but the last time I spoke to the investigating team about it they hung up on me. Which is why I'm writing it here. So now we're clear.
Sunday 4 October 2009
Distraction over Interruption in Social Media (Great Apes)
I'm reading Great Apes at the moment by Will Self and came across this ricochet or crossover point (if you wish) in the text of Mark Earls IPA social big picture draft.
Mark writes:
Sociolinguists use the term “phatic” to describe the relational value created by what therefore amounts to the inarticulate ‘grunting and stroking’ involved in this kind of communication : they seem to be a way of keeping communications lines open and relationships alive. Being the Super Social Primate species that we are, we do this kind of thing naturally and gleefully: without prompting, huge numbers of us Brits have taken to texting over the last decade - from zero to 5BN+ texts a month in the UK alone (to put it in perspective £7.8m of donations to Comic Relief this year via short text code). And we do the same with the likes of Facebook and Twitter, to create an even steeper adoption curve. Indeed, the UK beat the US by a few months to the critical point where social media overtook pornography in terms of Internet usage.
Will Self writes:
But perhaps most significant of all is the human attitude to touch. It is this that appears so acutely inchimp. Humans, because of their lack of protective coat, have not evolved the complex rituals of grooming and touch that so define Chimpanzee social organisation and gesticulation. Imagine not being groomed! It is almost unthinkable to a chimpanzee that a significant portion of the day should not be given over to this most cohering and sensual of activities. Undoubtedly it is this lack of grooming that renders human sexuality so bizarre to us.
So where does marketing fit into this picture? Is coitus interruptus the new 'money shot' for interruptive marketing communications or as I've written else where but not elaborated on, is there now a need to explore deeper and further all the dimensions of distraction over interruption? I've got some ideas for this.
One of my main complaints with one of the recent Facebook facelifts is that within the Facebook environment I find it too 'busy' for want of a better word. The distraction quotient was too high and that's not factoring in the interruptive element of the built in messenger service where it's entirely possible to be hijacked from an interruptive experience to a distractive one (or vice versa) and forget completely about the original content immersion (say reading the mail or catching up on all your photos (yes you lot).
I think it's this we need to investigate further and realistically there should be only one aperture for either interruptive or distractive (the two can have a overlapping qualities depending on what preceeded the experience being processed). So there you have it... and I'm way too experienced in telling the truth (you can't handle it folks) to spill the beans where I picked up this thinking on the net but I'll tell you to your face if you ask.
As a more interesting, and humanist aside Will Self informs us (seriously or not I don't know but I do know enough cat and dog lovers to give this thought serious credence). He writes, once again in the Authors Note:
It may even transpire that the behaviours (British spelling) of domesticated humans which reinforce this theory are in fact dependent on some form of morphic, resonant association with wild populations. Wipe out the wild humans and even the domesticated ones who have learnt to sign (some humans have a lexicon of five hundred or more ES signs) may fall motionless. Gesticulation between our two species will be at an end*.
I find that fascinating and it may further explain our enduring fascination with Zoos.
In any case should the gesticulation across our species with each other, 'fall motionless' our nobility (as a species) is eroded no doubt when we losing opportunities to pet, pat, stroke or even yell melodramatic vulgarities at our favourite pets (a dog say) over spilt milk. We know that personal insult to Canines are never really embraced in the same way as canine does to homo sapien when say compared to harsh exchanges between two humans where the sensitivity is markedly more sensitive and infinitely more long lasting. Without this gesticulation across the species what will we resort to when feeling our way around the subject of venting steam? Are we diminished by throttling every other species around us with which we interact through unfettered capitalism? Are the Chimps more important that we've ever suspected?
In any case should the gesticulation across our species with each other, 'fall motionless' our nobility (as a species) is eroded no doubt when we losing opportunities to pet, pat, stroke or even yell melodramatic vulgarities at our favourite pets (a dog say) over spilt milk. We know that personal insult to Canines are never really embraced in the same way as canine does to homo sapien when say compared to harsh exchanges between two humans where the sensitivity is markedly more sensitive and infinitely more long lasting. Without this gesticulation across the species what will we resort to when feeling our way around the subject of venting steam? Are we diminished by throttling every other species around us with which we interact through unfettered capitalism? Are the Chimps more important that we've ever suspected?
...anyway I appear to have been distracted both you and myself by this point. I apologise for that.
* Will Self plays around interchangeably with humans and chimps when reinforcing our genetic proximity.
Update: I've coincidentally stumbled across these two terrific related articles in Fast Forward written by my friend Rob Patterson who is well worth adding to your RSS feeds.
Update: I've coincidentally stumbled across these two terrific related articles in Fast Forward written by my friend Rob Patterson who is well worth adding to your RSS feeds.
Monday 28 September 2009
Demographics & The Vicar of Clerkenwell
Last week I purchased the International Express newspaper to see what it was all about and apart from being stuffed with the sort of Jingoistic journalism trash that one expects from what I presume is a Daily Express sister title I creamed through it in 15 minutes and ripped out the bits that were interesting.
One article penned by the chaste and pious Anne Widdecombe tackled Boris Johnson, , another Tory I don't like much, for suggesting that Ramadam is something the UK should embrace.
I loved the way that Anne resorted to "the British way of life" as if it were an institution that the FMCG consumer revolution hadn't overturned post second world war. They always do make me smirk, although this might be a good time to say I think John Major was the finest Prime Minister we ever had in my lifetime even though he too was prone to making cricket and old maidens references.
Anyway demographics are an important subject because the reality of early 21st century United Kingdom is that while Christianity dwindles to nothing. Under the full flame power of people like Richard Dawkins, Islam will be the predominant religion in the United Kingdom in the future. How ready are we for it?
Now, why we may have not paid much attention to the future, while strip harvesting the British Empire and specifically partioning Pakistan and India (not forgetting our invasion and seperation of Bangladesh) we're now snookered, because we can't talk about having our cake and eating it.
We plundered and caned to death a few Islamic countries and while power will resist any change that means praying five times a day towards Mecca, I see no more interesting solution than all the other UK religions (including the U.S originated Mormons for reasons I'll get into later) from embracing a one month, day only (not the night) period of fasting for what I think are great reasons.
We're obese, we fret over the lack of self control we seem to have lost, we're surrounded by a disenfranchised and fast growing Islamic brothers family. We don't even understand the power of frugality that Islam shares with it's brothers and sisters...and if our manners are out of order we should reconsider them.
Maybe the United Kingdom will end up like some kind of East Timor circa 1975 when the Indonesians invaded Dilli and rounded up the women before flying them off by helicopter to be used by the troops - Using UK, Canadian, US and Australian bullets and guns.....It's just business after all.
Anyway; just a thought. My business is dangerous ideas and I'm always up for debate and criticism. What do you think? Do you even care?
Saturday 26 September 2009
Friday 25 September 2009
I Heart Recession
Via I heart recession AKA the egregiously talented Jason Li of Hong Kong (Currently in Barcelona I think)
Banksters & Economic Simulacra
I didn't want to say too directly back here (Simulacra economy, economic hologram, economic hallucination) but I think this graph from Rob's Posterous says it more clearly. But I would agree with that wouldn't I....... to paraphrase Mandy Rice Davies.
This doesn't mean some of my friends are not Bankers; as Jason Li humourosly cartoons for us back here.
Thursday 24 September 2009
White Boy
I've been trying to get Unilever to do this for YEARS. I've even told a good friend of mine who sells skin whitening lotion at a Global level, that I know how to circle the square (sic). How to pace round the quadrilateral with a menacing stare. Well at least now that I know that even to make racial judgements is in itself philosophically racial as my learned friend Tim once taught me.
Nevertheless the intellectual justification that circumscribes the square thinking of the peasant classes of say late 17th century rural Anglosaxon versus say the emerging bourgeoisie in the cities towards a tendency that darker skin meant working the agrarian economy, in a field contrasted with ladies (and men) bearing parasols, meant wealth and the coveted lifestyle that went with that, thus pushing them into a lifestyle that white was right, or at least admirably better is no basis for assuming that it's OK to encourage similar thinking in the early 21st Century - The field is muddled by other points but let's stay on track with not contrasting the communications budgets of white tanning lotion versus skin block.
I've written about this at great length elsewhere and made my position clear however as, Unilever have failed to embrace my solution for what I've seen in research groups means that I give it to the internet and possibly cover my exposed and vulgar rear should I be exposed for selling whitening cream in the future.
So here goes.
While I really did not enjoy hearing in the focus groups of Asia that lighter skinned Asian bourgeois preferred not to take lunch (or sit at the table) with their darker skinned but equally talented non skin whitening colleagues. I do know there is a RESPONSIBLE solution to any corporation's intent.
Make sure the packaging and the communications on any skin whitening range use the words "XYZ Corp, embrace people of ALL colours"
In this way they make it known that while making a healthy profit on said skin care category is arguably pernicious; intellectually it says what is most important. It's OK to lighten your skin like the early agrarian economic classes of Europe most wished for, but that doesn't mean we as a corporation don't love y'all black assess too.
Word.
Adidas/Y-3
The Y-3 collaboration between adidas and Yohji Yamamoto is one of my favourites. I thought their store refit in the IFC building of Hong Kong was a one off, but it appears they are well coordinated with a coherent campaign using Google Earth as a store locater visual. Pretty hip move. Well mapped out. More please.
Hong Kong Electric
The Hong Kong Electric logo is mostly used alone when I see it out and about, and it kicks ass. But best of all they've got CCTV at the top of their wind generator which is a scientific experiment to propel Hong Kong's energy needs into the future tapping into Typhoon power and erm where my last phone, mobile, keys etc were swiped from the KLEIN.
Update: This is one of my most popular posts please take a look at this post.
Wednesday 23 September 2009
TSIMFUCKIS
Sitting in a bar in Hong Kong a couple of days ago, with easily the most interesting women who had the good grace to sit and listen to my "grand theory" which stretches from renewable resources to wealth creation (along with my latest stolen report to Hong Kong police by a TV Channel runner) and takes sometime.
"Anyways" as the Jamaican bad boys like to say I noticed a couple of publications that I asked the landlord to take with me.
The first had a picture on the front that I found unsettling and yet strangely compelling. It's called ADMARTASIA Magazine and I suppose you could say it's an Asian Craigslist but there were two (actually three) outstanding and compelling points to the publication. The first was the article on Progeria which highlighted once again that for some reason Youtube is the "lets get retarded in here hangout" for comments that are cretinous. It's just the way it is, 21st century acne and saliva or puberty-trying-to-type?
Later I picked the magazine up again and read the founders piece on the publication which are usually vanity puff pieces in Asia but in this case was written with honesty, balls and intelligence. The reason for the magazine? Because as we've all been talking about for some time and two friends are actually doing the future of the internet is print and I've tipped my hat enough times about "transmedia planning" over the years.
Ladies and Gentlemen meet Wayan Chan. Smart smart smart.
Wednesday 16 September 2009
Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom
Obviously I cunningly set this post up by linking it with the title and cultural narrative reference of the previous post.
I got it going on like that sometimes.
Sadly, I've met more "creatives" and seen more "creative" storyboards and read more "creative" treatments like this in Asia than I should ever admit if I didn't want to earn the wrath of the "creative" community. I could also write a swift list of people who I revere as advertising creatives but it's a lot shorter and I always tell them when I like their work.
Drunken advertising put a smile on my face too. Thanks to John for alerting me to them and tolerating the whole bacon abuse situation.
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