Progressive Conservatism

I attended a DEMOS event last Thursday. It was the launch of DEMOS's three year project on progressive conservatism. It was an interesting afternoon. David Cameron, above, talked about the desired 'progressive' 'ends' of fairness, equal opportunity, sustainability/green, safety and he talked about the conservative 'means' of how to get there; de-centralization, govt. to strengthen institutions that help that eg. family, economic growth and living within our means.

To be honest, my view of him was a media friendly, young, energetic, Tory version of Tony Blair, though not as good (though I never saw Blair speak at such close quarters). He had presence, though not charisma, and isn't someone I would readily warm to even if what he said made good sense. 

The interesting stuff came later. Philip Blond theologian, philosopher, and self-proclaimed 'red conservative' who is heading the DEMOS project, was provocative and interesting. He spoke of the poor being progressively decapitalised, of the market state and the welfare state being insufficient and advocated a 'civic' state, where the end result isn't monopolies or oligarchies (as he sees in the market state) where ownership is for all and there is equality in participation. 

After the break, there was a panel discussion that included Will Hutton , Oliver Letwin and John Gray . It was excellent. It started to throw up issues like the extend and duration of government involvement in the markets (and therefore society at large), whether Margaret Thatcher was really a Conservative at all and belonged to the traditional Conservative lineage or whether she was really a free-market liberal and Conservative outlier, how did progressive Conservatism differ from compassionate Conservatism (or even, to my mind one nation Toryism) or liberal Conservatism. 

The Cameron speech was well reported in the press, though more for his comments on Labour's handling of the recession than anything else. 

The photo was, as you can probably guess my now, taken with my trusty blackberry camera, and on zoom this time, just to add to the grainy quality.

Alastair Campbell: The Blair Years

Alastair Campbell was officially Blair's press secretary, but in reality was so much more; adviser, strategist and 'spin doctor' and often claimed as the second most powerful man in Britain. It is a great insight into government, and particularly No. 10, from what is essentially the perspective of a strategic communications man. It is fast-paced and compelling reading, and though Campbell is not without flaws, I was rather taken by his straight talking style, touches of humour and emotion and his insights.

Not surprisingly, Blair himself comes out of the book rather well. One of his skills is to be able to move fluidly between policy areas and still keep hold of the overall strategy. And though that is clearly part of a PM's job it is still eye-opening the number of really important issues that a PM may have to deal with in a day: an meeting on peace in Northern Ireland, cabinet reshuffle, Middle East, National Heath Service, Millennium Dome, etc

My favourite single passage of the book described the time when Clinton visited the Labour party conference in Blackpool and fancied a walk back to his hotel rather than the car. A little coterie, including Kevin Spacey, and Campbell ended up having a bite to eat in a McDonald's and chatting away to the other diners. Commenting on the incident, Campbell writes, "He was like a man replenished, not because of the food but because he had been out with real people, and got something out of it".

It's Absurd

The notion of have an "on the go meal", which I thought was meant to be a portable meal you could carry with you, served on a tray, with all the trimmings, 20 mins into a 3 hour journey on the Eurostar.

Tasty Medicine

One thing I love about Stevie Wonder's 'classic' period (early 1970s) is that songs about oppression, the underclass and the uselessness of those in power - pretty heavy subjects - can sound so joyous. And because the music is so unfailingly upbeat and danceworthy, it makes the juxtaposition with the social commentary all the more pointed.

I had a creative director once who used to show me to his office door with such grace and charm that I felt terrific that he had personally taken the time to show me out. It only occured a few minutes afterwards that he no longer wanted me in there. He delivered a rather brutal message with such panache.

It just goes to show the how you say it is just as important as what you are saying.

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.