More Sound Twisted Logic …

More Sound Twisted Logic …

January 31, 2007, 12:35 pm
Filed under: Comment

So tomorrow, I have a new planner coming to join my merry band of ‘folk that think’ … Hari … and I’m very excited about it.

The reason for this [apart from the fact he is a smart, decent guy] is that in Asia, it’s really, really hard to find the sort of planner I like … and in general, the demand for planners is far outstripping supply.

Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of unbelievably clever people out here – probably more than any other place on Earth – however the problem is …

1 How locals ‘gain’ their intelligence.

2 What planning is becoming.

Lets deal with point 1 first …

In Asia, huge, huge, huge emphasis is placed on education … because they believe knowledge is the foundation to fulfil the filial and progression responsibilities inherent within Asian culture.

However this ‘knowledge’ tends to be ‘learnt’ by memory rather than ‘practice’. 

Education tends to be a one-dimensional linear process teaching one-dimensional, linear logic … and whilst this is all well and good … it also means that the ability to think around issues [as well as include different viewpoints] is especially rare.

Of course I’m generalising … because not only are there some brilliant Asian planners [and Asian wanna-be planners], but there are some great people advocating broader views towards education [Professor Mark Chong @ SMU being one] … however all too often information is blindly taken on face value and if you question it [or offer an alternate means how to get it], you really sense an air of confusion, fear or annoyance. 

To be fair, the people I’ve worked/dealt with have been very open to my questioning/methods, but that’s because I have somehow managed to gain a reputation for truly appreciating and understanding Asian culture rather than [as is often the case] simply taking Western values [or Western interpretations of Asian values] and shoving them in an Asian context … but that does seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Now to point 2 …

I’ve written at length about this … planning is fast becoming a [bad] research dominated, management consultantesque role and I passionately believe this is harmful to the industry, the consumer and the client. 

The problem is Agencies have sold creative so far down the river, that the only way they can make decent cash from clients anymore is by flogging them some pseudo-management consultant role.

While that may be all well and good for agencies short term profitability … I can’t help but feel in the long term it’s going to bite them in the arse, because the true benefit of advertising / planning is the ability to connect with people … embrace them, motivate them, encourage them … because when you know what people need/want/fear/desire, then you know how to motivate the masses to achieve our clients short and long term business goals.

I don’t want to work with anyone who aspires to be a management consultant … I mean, I can appreciate [sometimes] what they do but we’re in the people motivating business, not the business structure business … and yet because …

1 This is the way the industry is going.

2 In Asia management consultancy is more aspirational because it is believed to be more ‘intellectual’ and ‘financially rewarding’.

… this is who headhunters try to send me time and time again.

For someone to be part of the team … I want them to have experienced a varied life, have a point of view, have a real empathy and understanding of people, be close to their family and have longterm friends, be smart but not desperate to prove it, believe in the power of ideas and imagination, be media neutral, be open minded, be a teamplayer as well as a leader, be enthusiastic about life and not afraid to show it, inspirational, can think on their feet, be in touch with what’s going on in the World and see how it can affect the everyday, appreciate life doesn’t always operate via logic, be clever than me, have tried ‘stuff’, are entrepreneurial, inquisitive, honest, decent and [abit] socialistic in their values … and whilst this may sound like a massive, complex list, they are out there and definitely worth searching for – because I passionately believe they are the only folk who can truly help make the ad business shine again – something I need and want for both personal happiness and contentment reasons, ha.

Welcome to the madness Hari – lets see where you can go eh!

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