This week I have been heading a couple of categories of the Communiqué awards. An honour and delight to sit, chair and discuss such talent. Midst one entry discussion we got deep into the different approaches we take on how we view our audience. Are ‘they’ our targets, inert fodder for campaigns and as such need protecting by our paternalism, or do we feel that they are intelligent enough to spot a ruse, and sit alongside in the quest for better health.
I can’t get into specific on the category or the entry but the room was divided. I feel we could learn a lot from the ad man exceptional; David Ogilvy. Ogilvy was passionate, to the point of dangerous, when he encountered agency folk who felt that the divide between us (marketers) and them (consumers) was huge. Terms like ‘punter’ were banned and a deep level of respect was insisted upon. In his mind our target audience were people to respect and cherish not dumb down and patronise. “The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.” -David Ogilvy, Elements of Advertising. Published in 1983 sums it up for me.
Horst Faas, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer who later was editor of The Associated Press staff in Saigon, died on Thursday in Munich. He was 79. If you are a fan of photography, communication and visual talent this should give cause to pause and reflect on a human being who nailed audience respect better than anyone. Whether that be New York Times readers havig breakfast or Communist insurgents featured in the haunting photographs of the Vietnam War he never presumed to protect or provide anything but the naked reality of the situations he saw.
If you are unfamiliar with his work, he is responsible so many of the images we have of the horrors of war. He managed the transition from field to office as Editor if AP without compromising his desire to educate and inform. “I don’t think we influenced the war at any time,” he said in 1997. “I don’t think we helped to win it or helped to lose it. We didn’t work on the outcome of the war.” Making photographs about the suffering and horror of war, he said, is simply better than not making them. Such talent balanced with such pragmatism.
Slowly getting there with the new office. Lawyers mostly playing golf, and delaying us somewhat - eating into our precious contingency timing.
It’s looking like we should be able to seat 94 maximum which should be fantastic in terms of getting us settled for the next few years. We will kick off with 20 or so less desks than this. Freeing us up to consider new spaces and fun stuff for the teams across Hive, Ebee and Pollen, and give us some space to consider new offers the group can provide to existing and new clients.
In the early days when we had space at Linen Hall (2008 – 2009) and here at National House (2009 – 2012) we threw the door open to anyone who wanted space, it was a great ways of meeting new people who wanted a place to play whilst setting up businesses or doing something cool. I hope that we can return to this as it certainly led to better work from me, and a richer set of suggestions and approaches for my clients. It was immensely fresh to sit and discuss challenges with cartoonists, illustrators, novelists all of whom healthcare was a personal rather than professional thing.
I have been immersed with floor boxes, desk layouts and meeting anatomy, and planning the all illusive but achievable in-house pub for us. This was sent to me by some interested parties, pretty cool eh? More to follow. The Social guys here are planning a launch party. Shout if you want to come.
It’s rare to experience a piece of media that hits you straight between the eyes, providing a level of intimacy that leaves you feeling honoured to have been present. Midst a lonely post wedding journey back from the Peak District this afternoon Radio 4s Omnibus kept me company between the horizontal rain, the storm force winds and the endless M1.
Specifically The Listening Project. A gem of a collaboration between BBC Radio 4, BBC local and national radio stations and the British Library. Tasked with capturing the nation in conversation to build a unique picture of our lives today and preserve it for future generations it’s a brilliantly gentle and real picture of who we are as a nation. If you are ever sat at your desk trying to find a voice for the rich collective of humanity we write for then I could recommend no better time spent than here. For me its a healthy reminding kick to remember the real people that go through life not distant demographic classifications.
Please excuse my poor editing of the podcast attached I didn’t want the whole podcast only the health related conversation. It was this submission by BBC Radio Ulster that left me attempting to wake my catatonic girlfriend up on the back seat to no avail. After years of dialysis and declining health, Brendan was the recipient of a kidney donated to him by his older brother Kyron. They talk candidly about what this has meant for both their lives. Emotional heartwarming treasure.
One to the kidneys
We moved from the Festival Hall to Regent Street in January 2008, October 2009 saw us get into Soho and now June 2012 see us hop again. This growth needs homing. Each time we bolt in space, resources and capacity to get us all set to achieve plan. This is our 3rd move and one that should see us chill for a year or or 5.
Way back when we were on Regent Street we dedicated a wall to the 2,000 sq. Ft we were moving into here in Soho. Asking the 12 of us to input. Well its that time again, except now there 53 or us around and about. We need a bigger wall!.
We are midst the legal stuff, on 7,200 sq. Ft about 200m or 4mins (cheers google) from where we are now. 7.200sq ft is a big area. (Rural folk; 0.16 acre = enough to feed a vegetarian for a year, Greek; half an Olympic swimming pool, Devon; detention centre sized), so we are midst two hackathons to get everyone’s input in the features, fun and stuff our new home needs.
We kick off with a list of problems for the office to solve, and a list of assessment criteria for the ideas we are going to solve these problems with. Last night amidst Princi Pizza and tarts the ideas kicked off at great pace. Dozens of them. From the simple to the extravagant, to the coolish to the foolish, all up there for everyone to vote on.
With one exception all ideas are up for grabs. All of us early bees when looking around offices in the early days noticed one consistent feature. Every office we had visited which had housed an agency that had gone bust had a table foosball. Usually with one leg kicked off as a last rebellion prior to handing the keys in. This icon of misplaced budget and Toy-town business snuck up on us in every dusty, paper strewn depressing office. They are the early warning tremors for clear financial downfall and as such categorically they are banned – never never never.
Once we have got to a list following Mondays final session I will ping it up here to hopefully encourage you to input in the usual way.
