NORTHERN PLANNER

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  • Women and their hair post number 2

    So yes, following on from post 1 about women, hair and stuff…. hair really matters, it impacts on a woman's self esteem, confidence and probably her actual life chances.

    Mostly, brands etc play on women's weakness to hope for miracles and give them unnatainable images and lifestyles to buy into. Some get the confidence thing and make a good fist of it. But there is lots more going on.

    If you're in the 'great brands have a point of view on culture' camp (hope you are), this is where it gets interesting.

    As we've said, a woman's looks have an instant effect on how others percieve her, not just physically, but her talents, personality, the lot. Basically, how a women chooses to look creates her actual identity in other's eyes.

    Thanks to the feminist revolution etc, there are all sorts of freedoms for a woman that were not there 40 years ago. That's not just true of women, it's true of life too. Society is porous these days, there's more fluidity, more open boundaries. There's more to do and more to 'be'.

    So it follows that the 'self' is more porous too. There is no set 'individual' like there used to be, rather there is a series of 'selves' as the person adapts to and explores the possibilities the modern world offers. People create their own identities and assert the right of self-authorship rather than being told who to be, or even being consistent.

    The possibility of altering hair therefore presents opportunity for genuine transformation for a women. Doing more and being more – exploring all the elements of 'self' and what that self can do in the world.

    The more freedom to change appearance means more freedom to change how you're percieved and create whatever identity you want.

    If she wants to be taken seriously as a professional, she can create a no nonsense bob. The big hair suggests the vamp, the blond has more fun etc. The more possibility for hair, the more possibility for women. But………

    All a woman is really doing is conforming to the stereotype that society sets her. It's good that she can now fulfill some those expectations, but they are other people's expectations none the less.

    Let's dwell on this a second and look at it from another angle. How 'free' are women really? She may be doing the same job as a man, but she gets payed less for it. She may be going out to work, but she does the lions share of the housework, she is still the primary carer of the children.  In short, she is expected to carry out multiple roles. Freedom seems to entail taking on more and she can't help herself.

    While men's primary urges are all about things, winning and 'me', women can't help wanting to for, groups,nurture others, create safe environments for love ones, on top of all those personal desires and  needs to do something for herself. She's conflicted.

    But that complexity can be made to work for her. She fulfills many roles, she has many sides. So underneath that business suit there might be the vamp wanting to come out, the vamp probably wants to be taken a little seriously. In short, if she wants, she can play society at its own game and play with her own identity – projecting whatever identity she chooses, become whatever version of herself is required.

    This is far more interesting and more true about what is going on. Rather than help women conform and do what it expected, there's an opportunity to have a conversation about their multiple roles, help them create themselves anew whenever they fancy, possibly even liberate them from the the expectations placed upon them. In short, hair as a source of endless transformation, the opportunity to play how others see you rather than fit in with what they want. 

    A a woman is never 100% anything. Never totally professional, never totally carefree, never just a Mum, never just a wife, never completely naughty or nice. There are shades, degrees, many sides to her. Hair and its accompaniments can enable her to reveal which sides she wants when she chooses.

     

     Put another way, in a world that too often holds them back and expects them to accept passiveley what life brings,women who manipulate their identity to create opportunities can almost seem like rebels, resisting the narrow role life tries to place them in and in many ways, beating it at its own game. But…………

    In the end, that is still acknowledging those stereotypes and reinforcing them. Much of the debates around modern feminism centre on beauty v brains. Is a woman using her looks to get what she wants liberated or merely reinforcing an age old system? Time to move beyond that.

    Only when women are really free from stereotypical expectations of their appearance, their nature and their abilities can they really enjoy their looks. And simple enjoyment is really the point, and something that often gets missed in a froth of over thinking.

    Look at fashion. The intellectuals can debate how much fashion enslaves women and makes them feel bad, the couture designers and Vogue can lose themselves in a world of self importance if they want. Both don't get it. Clothes and dressing up is fun, it's a deep pleasure, a release from the banality of the world.There is nothing to figure out about shoes…it's just fun, it's dressing up, it makes a woman feel good. It's escapism…

    FROCK-LGcard

    It's the same with make-up and, but hair is the most extreme example.

    It's magical, both public and deeply personal, growing out of the body and (hopefully with the right products) moulded to personal desire. Fun, sensuous pleasure, an outlet for creativity. It can be changed in an instant.

    I've read all sorts on women and beauty, on clothes etc. One true story cuts through all of that. It's the story of Belsen. If you can't be bothered to open the link, a genius put some lipstick into the supplies for newly liberated concentration camp interns at the end of the Second World War. The food gave them sustenance, but it was the lipstick that gave them their humanity. The lipstick made them a person, not a number in a way that nothing else could. These emaciated women, starving, barely human anymore, still had a driving desire to look pretty. It brought them back to themselves. That shows the basic, primal desire to look pretty. It doesn't require explanation, it's an end in itself. It brings joy.

    Just as Christian Dior's 'New Look' liberated women from drab postwar austerity, reminding women to please themselves, so simply transforming hair brings uncomplicated joy. Yes, it's playing with identity, but the key work there is 'play'.

    Taking pleasure in playing with appearance lies at the heart of this overlong post. 

    You'll have seen lots of stuff from brands that does the 'ta dah!' moment.

    You'll have seen less of, but much better work about confidence and 'destiny'.

    But there has not been enough about identity creation or the independence that brings.

    I would want to go further than that, rather than reinforcing stereptypes, I'd like to see more conversations about taking simple pleasure in playing how you look. The positive lift that gives, the pleasure in escapism.

    Sex and the City is brilliant. There,I've said it. At it's heart is four independent women who enjoy how they look. That's it. It's not complex, it just captures a certain feminine confidence, independence and the simple joy of dressing up.

    This ad captures all that brilliantly. Women getting dressed up because it's fun and it makes them feel nice. It captures pleasing themselves, not pleasing a man or prescribed idea of what they should look like.

     

     

    For a moment, when a women runs a ghd through her hair, when she steps out of a salon, or even when she's washing her hair for a big night out. She ceases to be a mother, an employee, a wife, girlfriend, daughter or whatever. For a moment she is none of those things. She is herself, but more alive than ever, taking simple, uncomplex pleasure in transforming her looks.

    But it doesn't have to be simple. It isn't simple….and comes back to freedom.

    The more control women gain over their lives, the more freedom they will have to truly enjoy their hair. Appearance, of which hair is a focal point, can become the simple pleasure it should be when appearance ceases to be such a core part of how a women can control her own destiny. 

    When women are evaluated on personality and achievements, it doesn't preclude them enjoying their looks, it frees them up to do that on their own terms. That feels like an interesting place to be in. Going beyond confidence and even identity creation to pleasing yourself a little more, doing things that make you happy and give you pleasure, rather than what it expected or what you should.

    Freedom to do whatever you bloody well like.

    If you're the 'brand out' kind of strategist, all of this is no use of course. It just gives you the context, the fun will be to find something credible for your brand to say about all this, but that's what makes it all fun doesn't it?

    That's a bit about I know about women and their hair. Kind of perverse coming from a bald man with no fashion sense eh?

  • Gaviscon caught rigging the market

    …but if this isn't bad enough, take a look at their advertising…

     

     

  • New job, teapots and irrelevent food news

    So this is the fourth working day of the new job. It's a relief to report there have been no hiccups like this (yet).

    On the other hand,I was mortified to find there was not a single tea pot in the building. This was quickly rectified. I have a picture of my lovely new teapot, but my batteries have run out of power…you'll just have to picture its simple, white loveliness, steam gently rising from its spout.

    To balance this, work has a chef. That's right, a professional cook. Every lunchtime there's a choice of four ridiculously good meals for lunch. For example, it was a toss up today between eggs florentine and tomato and red pepper soup.

    In case you're wondering, I went for the soup, I need space for today's evening meal, which is my burgundy beef (cooked by me)…it's my sister's birthday and Mum's up to stay. Don't know why I'm telling you this, but there you go.

  • Women and their hair

    Perversely for an odd looking bald man with no dress sense, I've spent much of the last two years talking to women about their hair and how they feel about how they look. I've looked at umpteen pieces of communication from beauty brands. I guess you could say that if you need a planner to help think about how women look and feel about themselves, I may be of some use.

     

    I've learned one or two things along the way, lots about hair, even more about women and culture.

    Here's some of them… 

    Firstly, hair and beauty is the one of the most conventional markets in the world. Doesn't matter if you're on about hair care or hair styling tools, make-up or night serum, it's riddled with ta dah! moments. Basically most brands promise to change your life. There is no meekness here, everything is a miracle in a bottle. It says something when there's a big hoo hah over No 7 Protect and Perfect actually proven to have some effect!

    They also pound women with images of perfection to live up to. Air bushed models with airbrushed personalities banging on about science and product function.

     

    How can they manage to make the brilliant Beyonce so dull?

    Even Dove is conventional. Don't get me wrong, brilliant strategy, but it's still a particular image or lifestyle to buy into.

     

     

    Dove also misses the point, women like to look amazing. They're not fine as they are and they don't want to be. That's a contradiction of course, they're reject ing much of the imagery and 'grammar' of the industry, yet still want to be able to hope. What's going on?

    Well….

    First off, hair really matters. Historically, men have always been afraid of women and hair represents that more than most things. It signifies the power to beguile and draw a man from the true path. That's why most religions have an element of covering up women's hair. Of course there's the 'habit' and the Burkha, but their also the 'unveiling of the bride'…quite literally allowing a woman to show her hair to aman for the first time.

    In short, women have power over men and hair is potent symbol of this.

    But there's also a weird magical thing going on here. Hair grows out of the body. It's at once part of and external to you. It's also the one part of a female physicality she can alter at will, instantly.

    Consequently, how a woman feels about her hair directly affects how she feels about herself. It can bring great pleasure but also great pain. That's why a women will spend a fortune on her hair and buy into all sorts of pseudo science and false promises….the secret hope that the promises might be true. Hair is just to too intrinsic to self belief, even self worth to not respond. 

    At this level, hair and stuff is not frivolous, it is important and significant. It always was, in Sampson and Delilah, the choice of hair to be removed was no accident. There's masses of cultural significance for this.

    In todays western society, how a woman looks signifies her identity. We make instant assumption about a woman based on those first impressions of her appearance and hair is a focal point of this. Knowing her hair looks good provides confidence and self esteem because culture and society demands it to be thus.

    That's why there have been some good exceptions to the 'miracle cure' rule. Stuff about self confidence and self belief.

    Stuff like this.

     

    Problem is, this is going to get conventional real quick (it was getting stale for ghd alone), and even this, although better, is only scratching the surface. There's a lot more going on here.

    I didn't expect to write this much, but there you go. Needs another post. This will do for now.

     

     

  • Can’t resist….

    Will

  • All change

    Today I woke up at 7, instead of the usual 6am alarm.

    I had a bath, rather than stumble in for a super quick shower.

    I had a long cuddle with my baby boy, rather than leave him asleep.

    And then drove 40 minutes to start work here. Rather than a an hour to an hour and half.

  • Eating alone is brilliant

    So much brand communication when it comes to food is all about family and groups. Yet about a  third of adults in the UK are single. The obvious point is why this isn't looked at a little more.

    Less obviously, even if you're attached in some way, there's some mileage in a conversation about eating alone.

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    Those nights when everyone else is out, you can do what you want. Might be read a good book, favourite DVD, telly of your choice or even playing music as loud as you want.

    It also means you can eat what you want, make as little or much effort as you fancy (and time allows). The shape of the whole thing is different. There's the lovely, slightly wicked sense of indulgence.

    It might be quick….a naughty cornish pasty, a ridiculously large fish finger sandwich (my record is 12 mashed between two soft slices of farmhouse bread), you can go straight to pudding with a microwave sponge or something.

    Or you can take your time and make an effort on yourself. Personally, I love pottering in the kitchen, playing a CD, or maybe some Radio 4, sipping some wine. Here's a couple of things I like to cook on my own.

    First off is a zingy, tingly pasta. My other half doesn't like food that's too hot while I love it. This only takes 20 minutes.

    Boil a big handful of spaghetti it will take about 10 minutes. On the hob, put a good glug of olive in pan and put on the hob, add a knob of butter and when it's foaming, add 1 chopped garlic clove, a heaped teaspoon of chili flakes and a sprinkle of dried parsley, As soon as you can smell the cooking garlic, add a glass of wine and bring to the boil. Keep it warm until the pasta is boiled.

    Then drain the pasta, tip in your chili wine mixture along with as many big, plump, tiger prawns as you fancy. Toss it together over the hob for thirty seconds and eat. I have at least one pitta bread with it, and stuff spoonfuls of pasta into it, but that's up to you.

    Depending on how long I've got to myself, it will probably be eaten while watching an episode of The Thick of It, or really good film.

    Second choice is a juicy steak sandwich. My other half isn't a steak fan. I love it

    You'll need some good thick slices of bread of course, along with a steak that's at least an inch thick. Sod fillet, it's too expensive and has no fat…i.e tasteless. I suggest good sirloin or rib eye.

    Slowly fry some chopped onions in olive oil, so they're brown and sticky sweet…it will take around 15 minutes. You must keep stirring or they'll catch and burn. Once they're done, fry your steak.

    In pan, put in a table spoon of olive oil and a knob of butter, When it's foaming, put your steak in and press it down firmly. leave it for two minutes, then repeat in the other side. That should cook it medium. You'll know it's perfect when you press a finger onto the mean and springs back up.

    Shove it in the buttered bread with the onions and whatever sauce you fancy. A purist would say mustard, but if you want ketchup or even brown sauce, it's your sandwich, have what the hell you like!

  • New Lost, old Twin Peaks

    I'm not sure it's the done thing to admit to, but I'm really looking forward to the final series of Lost. It begins on Friday. It's gone a little bonkers at times, but I've grown to love the characters, the maddening twists and the endless sub-plots.

    Multi -stranded, multi-platform entertainment feels like the norm these days, and that's a good thing as explained here.

    It's not that new though. At the start of the 90's before things got all clever, there were true pioneers.

    I point you towards David Lynch and Twin Peaks, my favourite telly series ever. It was just so bonkers new and different. Multiple plot lines, working things out for yourself, group debates and conversations..it was all here.

    Anyway, all this is just an excuse to present to you the man in the red suit…….

     

  • Leaving soon and here are some planners

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    Not long until I'm leaving. Funny situation a notice period. Can't start anything, letting go of other stuff bit bit. It's like sloughing off skin.

    There's a lovely symmetry to my time here. It started with women's hair, loosely linked to fashion, very funny in the light of my lack of hair and even bigger absence of dress sense.

     

     

    And that's what I'm finishing with (different brand). Hopefully in style (the project, not my clothes of course).

    There's a few things I won't miss about TBWA, but there's lots I will. By things, I really mean the people, especially, but not limited to the planning department. Might introduce you to one or two in the next few days.

    Here are the planners…

    This is Dawn (or her film lookalike)

    Hudson

    Dawn sits opposite me. If you pass our desk you'll either find her completely zoned out, tapping at her keyboard furiously, or exchanging cooking tips with me. She's a digital guru and one of the most hard working people I've met. She's also an ex suit and despite the best efforts of the planning department, still organised to the nearest nanosecond. Dawn did the best ever all agency meeting, with the possible exception of…….

    Martin, but since he's a part time comedian, he had a slight advantage.

    Muppet

    This also gives him  a slight advantage as a planner, since he able to make natural observations about how people behave. Curiously, he hasn't told me one joke that has made me laugh, ah well. Martin doesn't just do comedy and planning, he's also a regular at kayaking and good enough to teach it too. Loves coffee, but knows how to make great tea in  a warmed pot.

    Helen's the quintessential planning archetype. Brighter than a brain pie, while so absent minded she's lost everything except herself. Car keys, purse, train ticket…she hold the record for number of agency mobile phones (probably)

    Adrian

    An-anna-friel-picture

    She's also very kind and thoughtful and a brilliant planner.

    She's also lent me her entire Haruki Murukami collection, which will take a while to wade through since my baby boy's just started teething. 

    We were in competition last year with our IPA papers (both got bronze) and ended up berating a taxi driver at 2am for failing to find us a bar still open. "Call this a 24 hour city, rubbish!" etc etc.

    Rocky

      Stephen's very dry, arid. Is he joking? Does he really mean it? Who knows. When you know he's joking he's very funny, but don't ever start a conversation about the God Delusion. By his own admission, has developed a pretty good beatnik look – you sometimes expect him to spout post modern french poetry at you. Then it all changes, he crops the hair, trims the beard and looks quite scary. Ridiculous metabolism, eats for England, always stick thin.

    Collectively, these are the people that sit in my corner and manage to make sure every day has some fun in it.

  • Friday morning

    It's Friday morning. One last push 'till the weekend. Can you feel the finish line?

    Here's something to help us along…