NORTHERN PLANNER

 

I've always liked Victoria Wood. She's funny, very funny, but it's more than that. She has a very rare gift to be both accessable and clever. That's a rare thing as far as British comedy goes, wher, mostly, it's either rather crass, or you feel it's very arch, edgy and knowing.

There's nothing wrong with either of course, but she's one of those rare commedians that manages to make intelligent stuff that doesn'gt talk down to anyone, isn't too pleased with itself, or conversely, treats you like an idiot.

Two Soups is a classic:

 

 

As is this:

 

 

I think there's something for people in the brand communication game to think about. Most ads and stuff you watch or twiddle with online tend to treat you like an idiot, shout at you or just too clever by half. Some might call them knowing your audience, and for a tightly targeted brand that's mostly fine. The problem is when a big(ish) brand treats people like idiots, or thinks everyone lives in West London, The Village or the equivalent.

In popular culture, when someone bothers to do populist stuff really well, it's still very successful, Look at Lord of the Rings,  look at Harry Potter, look at Outnumbered.

There are plenty of agencies that made lots of money churning out lots of tosh that thinks its audience is stupid, that's been stategised to death and Millward Browned until the pips squeak.

There are less that produce amazing work that is just too clever by half.

A few produce consistently great work that most people like and want to talk about. Step foreward AMVBBDO as probably the best in the UK. Walkers is a great example:

 

 

BMB are successful (in my view) for doing a similar job, like the Mcain stuff:

 

 

And then there's Adam and Eve's John Lewis spot: