The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

I literally cannot comprehend it. It has deeply upset and affected me.

As if it wasn’t bad enough, I now have to listen to extremist groups try and exploit the situation for their own self-serving purposes.

I don’t believe this has anything to do with religion or terrorism.

Those labels are convenient tags used by governments, media and racists.

As I wrote a while back, I am firmly of the opinion that people are inherently good.

That said, I do believe it would help if the millions of good, law-abiding Muslims stood up and said this is not what they – or their religion – condones. That they say they will always warn the authorities about anyone they believe could potentially use their precious faith to justify acts of unspeakable horror.

I know they shouldn’t have to, but if anything, it might help pour cold water on the attempts by the far right to cook up trouble and hatred.

I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe people are already doing this.

Maybe it would have no affect at all.

I am utterly confused and upset.

While I am not a religious man, I do believe that at it’s core, religion – all religion – is about doing good for humanity rather than harming it, which is why I get upset when people try and use these sorts of incidents to try and present ‘good religion and evil religion’.

The Christian faith in particular – or should I say, certain people within the Christian faith – have a very nasty habit of using these situations to try and make themselves look superior, which is utterly contemptible given they have a history littered with incidents that counter everything they supposedly stand for.

At the end of the day, I just do not believe these acts are done in the name of religion.

I firmly believe the people who undertake these sorts of terrible deeds would do them regardless – using whatever excuse they feel justifies their actions at that particular time.

That said, I do think it’s time we had a calm, honest, non-confrontational debate about why certain people use Islam as their ‘excuse’ for these acts of horror [if only to highlight how that has little to do with it] but then I also believe it’s time we stopped automatically going with the convenient ‘reason’ for these incidents – which admittedly is often provided by the perpetuator – and started looking at the other, potentially bigger, causes.

Social depravation.

Social segregation.

Social isolation.

Social inequality.

While there is nothing good that can come out of the incident of yesterday, there was one thing that gave me faith about humanity – and that was the women who shielded the body of the dead man and challenged the attackers about their actions.

Compassionate, dignified and courageous.

A lesson to us all – regardless of where we come from or what we believe.

Without doubt they’re very important.

They can provide ‘clues’ into what you believe, represent, offer.

They can also open or close doors for you in the future.

Names are important … but the one thing we cannot forget is that they are also very dependent on the context they appear in and the standards by which they operate.

One of the things that bothers me hugely is how quickly people judge without context.

I often say to clients that if we brought them the line, ‘Just Do It’ … I’m almost certain they’d chuck us out of the room because they’d say things like:

“Just do what?”

“It sounds negative.”

But as we all know, when nurtured and developed over time, people don’t see it as that, they see it as a statement of action and potential … a statement that is a liberator not a dictator … a statement that is universally liked and revered … a statement that has helped NIKE set themselves apart from every single brand on the planet. Not just in the sports category, but in every category.

Why am I saying all this?

Well because I recently saw something that highlights the importance of context.

There it is, the original iPhone.

Yes, years before Apple’s ubiquitous product came along, there was this big, lumpy piece of plastic.

Sure it wasn’t portable.

Sure it wasn’t very pretty.

Sure it wasn’t very innovative.

But at a time where the internet was still in its mass market infancy, it let you connect to the World in ways that were beyond comprehension just a few years earlier.

So what happened to it?

Nothing. It died on it’s ass.

I have no knowledge why that was the case … maybe it was a lack of distribution, a ridiculously high price-point or simply because it was a crap product … but my reason for highlighting this is because according to some branding companies, a massive contributor to the success of a company is all down to the name they have.

Of course they would say that because it means they can charge huge amounts of cash for [mental] companies to use their ‘proprietary tool’ to identify a brand name that will be distinctive, relevant, powerful and a absolutely, definitely, unquestionably, certifiably dead-set, super-hit.

What a load of fucking bollocks.

Don’t get me wrong, having a good name is important, but to think [1] that is the most important things [2] that the name can affect success entirely independently from what the brand does or makes, is utterly insane.

In essence, devious strategy is the development of an idea that gives your audience something they specifically want, but delivered in a way that also fulfills your own personal – and totally different – set of goals and agenda.

I know that sounds complicated, but it’s basically something the Chinese Government – the undisputed Kings of it – have been doing for at least a couple of centuries.

Anyway, I recently read something that Daniel Radcliffe had done to stop the paparazzi from continually photographing him … and he did it in a way that allowed the paparazzi to continually photograph him.

Confused?

Read this and prepare to:

[1] applaud, [2] have respect for ol’ four-eyes and [3] start wondering why the planners in adland rarely come up with strategies so devious, creative and effective.

Monday. The beginning of pressure, pain, stress and depression.

5 days till the weekend.

Those 2 days where you don’t get to enjoy them, you simply get to sleep off the hell of the previous 5 days.

Or you have to work.

It’s all so bleak isn’t it.

So I’m going to change it.

Not forever – unfortunately – but for this week.

And how am I going to do this?

By simply writing up a story I read in the news last week that made me laugh out loud because [1] it’s charming [2] amusing and [3] the sort of terribly inappropriate decision I have a history of making.

So wipe your eyes, don’t think about the next 5 days and read this:

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When the Women’s Institute in Parkham, Devon, booked a retired sea captain to give a talk on piracy, its members sensed an opportunity for fancy dress.

“Naturally, everyone was aghast when we realised our mistake …” said WI member Stephanie George. “… there he was delivering this harrowing story about how he feared for his life, and we were all sitting there dressed as Captain Hook.

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OK, so ‘better’ might be a bit of an over-statement, but it’s certainly got more cred in being a time machine than listening to TalkSport.

What am I going on about?

A brilliant – and entertaining – experiment on how technology has affected family dynamics.

I know … I know … tech has had a profound way on how we live, but as I’ve always said, for every positive, there is a dark side – regardless how much we like to dismiss it – and while I most certainly wouldn’t like to go back to the lack of comfort gadgets I enjoy today [which recently has been supplemented with this. Don't ask. Just don't ask.], the simplicity of maintaining family closeness is something I think we could all do with a little more of because as I wrote a while back, that’s something even Skype can’t quite pull off.

Anyway, as I know the majority of people who stupidly come to this blog work in advertising, I know you’ll have more than enough time to watch each hour long episode of how we lived – and how technology changed that – in the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s, so with that, sit back and enjoy but as you watch in amazement, please remember the following:

1. This is basically the story of my life, except that in terms of fashion, shoes & music, I haven’t moved on from the 70′s.

2. If you were born in the 80′s, you missed out on an amazing decade. Especially in terms of bicycles because the Raleigh Chopper and Grifter [both from Nottingham] rocked.

3. If you were born in the 90′s, you really shouldn’t be on this blog.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s some very smart people in them, but as an industry – like advertising – they spout an incredible amount of shit.

If I see one more ‘case study’ that implies their new [or let's face it, updated] brand logo is solely responsible for a particular companies “double digit” growth, I swear to god, I might have an aneurism.

[I know ... I know ... they do more than that, but am I the only one who finds it funny they always seem to suggest the development of a new logo is a vital component to making all their hard work, work. Cynical? Me? Never]

Maybe my blood pressure would feel a bit more inclined to calm down if the logos they designed were interesting, distinctive, progressive or differentiated – but no – most of the time they follow the blueprint for blandness and beige.

Now I appreciate that for all the talk companies give about being ‘different’, the fact is many have a compulsion not to stand out [living in fear of that they might alienate potential customers rather than thinking about how it could attract] … but seriously, some of these designs that are created could make magnolia coloured, woodchip wallpaper look exciting.

A while ago I wrote a piece for MTV about what brands could learn from bands, well if I was going to update it, I might call it, ‘What Brand Consultancies Learn From Rock Bands About Logo Design’.

What am I going on about?

This.

Yes, it’s a range of ‘logos’ from a bunch of bands.

Now I appreciate you might not recognise all of them, but I bet you know more than you thought … or certainly more than you’d recognize if I’d put up a bunch of margarine brand logos instead.

However, if you were a Rock music fan – which I know you’re not – I’m pretty sure you’d recognise all of them, even if you’re not really a fan of that bands particular music.

So what am I saying?

Well, in each case, they are distinctive, instantly recognisable and represent a key characteristic of the brands attitude or attributes.

They’re not trying to blend in … they’re not trying to appeal to everyone … they don’t ‘relaunch’ every 12 months … they’re doing exactly what a logo is supposed to be, be distinctive and recognisable, regardless of the category it operates in.

Sure, you could argue some look a bit dated and in need of a freshen up – but I would say most, if not all – are still more interesting and differentiated than most company logos out there, even the ones produced by the amazing proprietary tools that Branding Consultancies love to bang on about.

While the music industry is dying, bands are very much alive and many, arguably, can look forward to a more prosperous future than many of the uber-researched, mass-spending, brand-onion-or-pyramid-loving brands out there.