“Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labour, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.”
LEWIS THOMAS (1913-93)
I'm going to the APG evening meeting tomorrow, since I'm in London anyway and it should be interesting .
It might sound like hell on toast for many, but it's also nice to be amongst lots of planners talking about planning stuff. Not too often of course, planners need to mix with others at all costs – or it gets a bit like this:
Anyway, I've a bit if free time late afternoon. If anyone wants coffee etc let me me know.
The APG Panel Debate: Head, Heart or Herd – how do we best understand consumers?
Science and consumer thinking evolve. New models emerge explaining how and why consumers do the things they do, and new techniques arise to better understand them. But there's still no real consensus: if anything, there are more views than ever as to what makes us all tick.
We've assembled a panel to discuss the ins and out of the various ways to understand consumers:
John Kearon – Chief Juicer at Brainjuicer
Gemma Calvert – Founder of Neurosense
Mark Earls – Herdmeister
Rory Sutherland – IPA President
Nick Southgate – IPA Behavioural Economics consultant
The issues that will be debated include…..
Date and time: Wednesday 6th October 2010, cash bar opens 6.30pm, debate 7pm.
Venue: Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury, Coram Street, WC1N 1HT (Booker and Turner Suite).
There is much I could say about Will, about to become 1 year old, but there's nothing less interesting than overly proud parents banging about their children. Even (and maybe especially) to other overly proud parents.
This book is really useful. It's based on the masses of data in 20 years of IPA Effectiveness Awards proves three points convincingly:
The most commercially valuable objective for a campaign is 'fame'.
Increased share of voice leads to increased share of market.
TV is the most efficient medium to build a brand.
Of course, you already knew that, but there's nothing like hard data to prove your point.
"There are two types of people – those who come into a room and say, Well, here I am! and those who come in and say, Ah, there you are"
This is a quote by Frederick L.Collins and I'm relatively sure he means that going 'here I am' is a positive thing, you know, people with charisma, presence all that.
Mostly, he's probably right. If you're a suit it's brilliant to be able to hold a room but if you're a planner, as is usual, it pays to look at this from a different angle.
If you want to work well with suits, clients and creatives they have to know you won't steal their thunder or take their credit.
That also means not holding the room in the palm of your hand, but taking the time to let everyone else talk, listening well, and when you do say something, making them think.
There are many reasons working in Sheffield isn't as good as, say, London, New York or Shanghia.
But they don't have Chris do they? Our chef.
This is today's provender, cooked to order:
"Even though the opportunity exists,
brands have not yet taken it upon
themselves to harness or to store the
moments of interaction they have with
their customers, things like streaming
real time video, live data feeds, personal
images or conversations. All these
moments can be collated, collected and
re-used on our office walls, in our lobbies,
on the sides of our buildings, or in multisensory
installations at our corporate
headquarters. The most ambitious brand
environments will become a homage to
their customers – living archives and
lamps of memory."
Full text in all it's glory here….Download Intelligent Branding by DIGIT (3)
You only have to look at what I wear to see I'm no fashion guru, however I still wear clothes to make some sort of statement about myself, my values and the kind of groups I want to be associated with. We all do, which is why I always think dotcom millionaires with their scruffy clothes and flip flops are funny – that's probably more of a uniform that the dreaded suit.
Anyway, my own personal preference means I wouldn't buy many clothes from All Saints, but I do admire the way they design their stores.
You know when you walk over the threshold what aesthetic values the brand has, you instinctively feel something about it, shopping there is an experience, the clothes blur into the surroundings and vice-versa.
Not enough retailers do this well. Take French Connection. I'm not sure I totally like the 'manifesto' stuff they're doing at the moment, but I do know I like the women's version more than the mens.
But when you go into the store, apart from a bit of POS, the idea isn't translated into a retail experience. It's just a shop.
Too many premium and semi-premium retail brands forget that it's not enough to make great products, the experience of discovering and buying those products contributes greatly to their success…their is an 'All Saintsness' and a 'French Connectionness' that needs permeate every corner of the experience. I guess it comes back to doing rather than just saying.
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:
NORTHERN PLANNER 