NORTHERN PLANNER

  This story from the Guardian is about Vanessa Redgrave’s speaking out at the Transylvanian Film festival about a new mine in Rosia Montana, Romania. "Our planet is dying and we have no right to destroy an ecosystem," she said. The issue has divided the community.

Before you decide your point of view, take a look at this ad that ran the same day. I liked it at first since it made me think and  it showed another, believable point of view. I began to get on my high horse about celebrities who pontificate without thinking about what effect their do-gooding might have on real people.

Then I was disappointed when I wondered who has payed for the ad. Gabriel Recources,a sponsor of the film festival have apparently,but the grumpy, cynical side of me wonders if it wasn’t the mining company, and if so, how did they get the signatures?

Even if it was, it was useful to see both sides of the story – the points in the ad are still valid. It’s also nice to see an ad that makes me think. What’s your opinion?

Right. I wasn’t supposed to be blogging today, I’ve got  loads on so back to work,

Doing loads of groups, this week. One thing I’ve learned that I didn’t expect:

It doesn’t matter how old you get, you always feel younger in your head.

I for one sometimes feel like Tom Hanks in Big in  meetings sometimes.

Anyone agree?

                                                                           

      

Loads on this week, so there’s little chance of blogging ’till Monday. In the meantime, here’s a nice idea and a thought for the weekend.                                                                          

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I’ve spent a lot of time in train stations this month. It’s made me wonder why train companies don’t work harder at making this part of the experience better for their customers, since it’s the beginning and end of their journey.

Two observations have revealed themselves.

1. It’s annoying when you’re desperate for the loo and you don’t have the right change to get into the toilets (I still can’t believe they charge you).

2. It’s really hard to get a seat unless you’re going to buy a drink or something to eat. Why can’t you pay a small fee for a plain, simple seat. Better yet, wouldn’t it be nice if some company that makes things to sit on, or maybe sells relaxation or just wants to show it cares, provided some extra seats for tired commuters. I’d thank them for that far more than polluting my plastic coffee cup with irrelevant, intrusive ads.

I really liked the new Mini when it was re-launched with it’s cheeky, adventurous personality. Driving past this garage last week reminded me what changed my mind.

I don’t like BMW. It’s conservative, boring and obvious. They may be good cars, but not for me. So as soon as I discovered that Minis were actually BMW’s with a different shell, well, forget it.

This tells you a bit about me, but also reveals a lot about the wrong associations and not being authentic. I’ve been going on about back stories for brands and being real and human; as soon as I found out that Mini was pretending to be something it wasn’t it lost me forever.

Rob at the The Ad- Pit shares my weakness for ‘so bad they’re good icons’ like the Hoff. He’s posted has posted a classic ad just for me, not to mention some useful shaving tips. Enjoy.

Thanks to Russell Davies it seems clear that coolness is hard to define, which is probably what makes it so cool…

But when it comes to the dreaded question, "How can I make this brand cool?", is it something most brands should aim for, since it’s so hard to define and even harder to sustain?

Coolness is fleeting and fickle. By definition, if your ‘in’ , eventually you’ll be ‘out’. Even worse, by the time you get your ‘cool idea’ to market, the they’ve moved on to the next thing . The only thing that you can be sure of is that today’s tastemakers will reject whatever people liked before them (unless it’s retro, but don’t go there). Anyway, original, die hard fans tend to reject you when you go mainstream.

Instead of chasing cool,  I think we should be looking for cultural gaps to fill. Sometimes people have a need nobody is addressing (and in a few cases, they don’t even know they want it yet), then someone comes along and fills that gap. True. there may be a brief surge of newness (cool?),  but as more people discover it they interact, add to it and pass it along; they develop into a movement which is as much theirs as it is yours.

And the root of it all is need, not the latest trends. For example, Ikea is for people who’s taste exceeds their budget, Ebay creates a sense of community in an era where people feel isolated and I suppose Friends was the social group you wished you were a part of.

To evolve organically with your audience, rather than push marketing at them, you have to find ways of involving them. This means being multi-faceted and a bit rough around the edges; relationships deepen over time, thanks to shared experiences, they get more meaningful as people discover more about each other. Not all your relationships are the same either, different people like you for different reasons.  For people to make you into they want you need to be complex with a host of meanings, not just one.

This means eschewing reductionist propositions and rigid brand frameworks in favour of a rich story that will grow and mature over time. It means lots of different ways of telling the story and growing numbers of participants to enhance it and pass it along.

Above all, it means something that feels like it’s come from  real people, imperfect, unfinished and unpolished. Remember Agent Smith talking to Neo about the first Matrix? It was a disaster because it was perfect; no one believed it. No one believes in perfection; it’s our limitations and eccentric flaws that make us who we are, that’s what makes us, and brands, individual, endearing and human.

So I’m not cool hunting, I’m looking for cultural gaps. Since we’re in an ever more sceptical anti-hype world, I’m not looking for polished brand onions, I’m looking for imperfection.

It was my turn at the bar when Beckham scored the one and only goal of yesterday’s England game.

After making sure I saw the replay, I began thinking – what’s the most important part of watching football in England? The beer or the game?

Saw this on the walk to Leeds train station.

Waiting for the train I noticed that apparently cork isn’t Jose Mourinho’s only passion; apparently he he’s so keen on the Bond films he’s bought a phone that doubles as 007’s gun.

We were running  a bit late when we got to Kings Cross and rashly decided on a taxi. I was strangely grateful for the traffic jam since it’s not very often you’re made to feel affectionate towards The Tube.

After the meeting, we had a drink in the hotel bar, making the mistake of letting Garth get them in. Every sip of my G and T was accompanied by, "Enjoy it, that was £7.20!". He made me eat my slice of lime to get  full value.

It was back to reality the next day, going through masses of quant results in Sheffield.

By the way, I love the fact that WH Smith understand that I don’t want to queue to pay for a paper,and trust me to pay up.