Surprise and Delight

I was running today(I don't do it so much nowadays due to a dodgy knee), and apart from thinking how brilliant Nike + is, I found myself clicking through some of my favourite ever songs on the Ipod; "Uptight" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder, and "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. It occured to me that with the download culture I had listened to them so often I have become too familiar with them. This is in marked contrast from when I was a kid and the songs would appear on the radio when you didn't expect them and they were all the more brilliant becuase of that element of surprise. I am not quite old enough to remember them in the charts (ok, perhaps just the last one) but there was genuine, spontaneous excitement when they came up on golden oldie slots, and I would wait with my old flat tape recorder, fingers poised over the 'play' and 'record' buttons, hoping the DJ didn't talk for too long over the intro of the song I was going to record onto my C60 Cassette. Now I can get the song when I want on youtube, my Ipod, my phone. Even the 'I can't wait to get home and play the record' feeling has pretty much gone.

It is way more efficient - I get my music when I want rather than waste hours waiting for it to come on the radio or save up and go down the shops for it- but boy does it take away that sense of surprise and delight.

Perhaps that is why we need to do what we can to put the surprise and delight back into what people are buying.

Pressure

"You have to learn how to use the pressure".

Gianluca Vialli, the great Italian football player said this, or something very like this, when interviewed on Radio 5 Live this afternoon about the pressures of managing in the Premier League.

It made me think of a manager, of any kind, being able to take on significant pressure that the team is facing and be a vessel for and yet somehow transforming it into positive energy for everyone around. Perhaps Obama has been able to do that. I wish I could.

Pork Chops at $4.99 or Brand Anthem?

There are clients who want to sell pork chops for $4.99, and are only ever going to creative work that sells pork chops for $4.99.

But of course the agency decide it is an excellent opportunity to create an amazing new brand campaign.

99.9% of the time , this scenario is going to end in a mess; too much time wasted, too much agency resource pointed needlessly in the wrong direction, too much course correction needed. It all smacks of irresponsible fiscal management and ends up with demotivated staff who don't feel confidence in what they are being asked to do ("here we go again").

Why not just recognise that this client wants to sell pork chops at $4.99? Wouldn't be better for the agency to devote its resources to answering the brief spectacularly well? Selling $4.99 pork chops can be done very creatively. Save the big brand anthem effort for the client who wants it.

Agencies are usually to blame for the mess. They really should know better. But clients aren't exempt from blame. By pandering to the agency's desires or not being clear about the task they are quite capable of bluring what should be a simple brief.

There is a very powerful lesson in this. Understand what the client is asking for, and what they are going to buy.

I mean if you asked a shop assistant for a yoghurt you wouldn't expect her to come back with some broccoli, would you?

Moon

After the post about long shadows it didn't feel wrong to post a night shot. This shot of the moon was taken almost a month ago (11/11) with my 'real' camera, not the trusty blackberry. The definition in this shot is a nice complement to the 'inexactness' of my previous moon post, here. Another time I shall take two shots of moon at same time with different cameras and post both for a true comparison.

Long Shadows

This picture was taken at 12.24 p.m yesterday (with trusty blackberry camera). The long shadows - and low sun - so soon after noon got me thinking about the the length of the day at various latitudes. Here are some comparisons (for 6th Dec):

Reykjavik: 64 Lat, Sunrise 11.06 am, Sunset 3.30 pm, Daylight 4hrs 24 mins
London: 51 Lat, Sunrise 7.53 am, Sunset 3.49 pm, Daylight 7 hrs 56 mins
New York: 41 Lat, Sunrise 07.07 am, Sunset 4.26 pm, Daylight 9 hrs 19 mins
Singapore: 1 Lat, Sunrise 05.54 am, Sunset 5.57 pm, Daylight 12 hrs 3 mins

Hammerfest, at 70 Latitude, in Norway, didn't have sunrise and sunset times for 6th December. I can only presume the sun didn't officially rise yesterday.

DEMOS

DEMOS is a think tank. It was launched in 1993 by Geoff Mulgan and Martin Jacques as an independent and fresh thinking anditidote to short-term, aligned, dull and Whitehall-centric think tank culture prevelant at the time. At the time, I read an article about DEMOS' intentions , got excited, got myself invited to the launch, and became a paid up member, receiving articles and going to meetings but staying perpherial and anonymous.

My involvement changed in 2002/3 when I saw colleague at RKCR/Y&R involved in DEMOS work. It transpired that my boss at the time, MT Rainey, was one of DEMOS' trustees. I waded in and took the work on. Work that culminated in presenting a strategy document to DEMOS at their annual weekend offsite.

I have tried to retain links with the organisation, offering insight where I can and providing a base in the US for visitors from the UK.

Yesterday evening DEMOS held a meeting for its Assoicates. I am lucky enough to be included as one, I presume for my work five years ago, and I am keen to contribute to such an excellent and inspirational organisation.

DEMOS have a new director, Richard Reeves, his website is here. He was excellent yesterday evening; thoughtful, authoritative, and eloquent. After a couple of difficult years including changing management and financial concerns, DEMOS seems rejuvenated and back on track. I look forward to being a playing a part.