Northern Planner

Kate Moss, lingerie and dull CAN go together in one sentence

Films of Kate Moss in sexy lingerie for Agent Provocateur.....and I can't be bothered to watch them all the way through. Either I'm over the hill or these are really, really bad.

Come back Kylie.

This morning

6am.

Leap out of bed.

Sing in the shower.

Hum to myself all the way to work.

First in, on goes Prince full blast.

Tea brewed, smoothie downed, time to start work.

Summer makes getting up a joy.  (Prince turned down).

Unpredictable sport, suprising brands and pink tennis shoes

I've never been a football fanatic (but don't wind me up about Leeds United's stolen 15 points), but it's hard not to appreciate this year's Premiership, it's a doozy. It's gone right up to the last day of the season, the momentum has moved between teams, you really haven't been able to predict what will happen.

This is the beauty of sport at its best...despite rigid rules and elegant predictions with stats, endless variation and nuances in form, luck and fate mean every event will be slightly different. I'm sure that's why football is the maybe the world's most popular sport - anyone can play it to a decent level of fun, and there's so much room for variation between every single game. Even hot favourites lose.

Mens' tennis is a little dull right now, basically, if it's not clay, you kind of expect Federer to win everything. You can only admire inhuman levels of talent and sheer artistry for so long. Eventually, there's little point when you already know the result.

As a child of the 70's/80's I was obsessed like everyone else with Star Wars, but there's only so many times you can watch it. I'll never get the thrill of that pivotal moment when Vader tells Luke he's his father in the same way again.

Just like I'll never feel alternately hot and cold at hearing Sign 'o' the Times for the very first time. The great thing about sport is that it reinvents itself with every game, with every race.

That's the beauty of video games of course. Which brings me to brands and the obsession with simple. linear stories. We watch films and TV to because we like to not know what's coming next, like sport. We watch repeats as long as there's enough depth to reward a second viewing. Isn't that how brands should operate? Opinion is divided, but I love the Budweiser work. Feels like a story I want to follow (and makes sense of the American heritage and dedication). Whatever you thought about Cadburys Gorilla, there was a true element of surprise and delight that's missing from the dire trucks thing.

By the way, they've re-issued these tennis shoes.

 

They're from Agassi's daft pink cycle shorts period. And I WANT them. I know I'll look daft, but when I wore those 15 years ago, I felt like a could do anything. I took the ball earlier, hit the ball harder..all at a time when an impressionable teenager was feeling hemmed in by 'all white' rules and stuffy old England attitudes. I WAS him. In my head. It would be nice to feel a little of that thrill again.

This ad captured it all for me. What is sport if it isn't about being able to dream of the impossible?

Fresh work

I'm an enigma apparently.What are you?

You can't always do it alone

The APG Training Network was great exprience a few weeks back. Half of that was learning, half was peering at other agencies and meeting other planners. That said, the coursework was tough.

You put in big groups and if you ask six planners the same question, you'll get seven answers. It took ages to get anything done. But on the other hand, pairs seems like a good idea. Double acts are not a guarantee of greatness......

But when it works, it really works..

It's no accident that creatives work this way andI'm increasingly finding that better thinking comes from lots of conversation, bouncing things around and generally shooting the breeze with a trusted partner. More than two becomes a bun fight, but someone to keep you sharp and work things out with is invaluable.

The job is far more complex than it ever was. When planners first emerged there was one commercial TV station, press and posters. Most stuff was mass market and attention was guaranteed. We all know it's not like that anymore (was it ever really?).

Is these days of timesheets, the amount of man hours is rigorously checked, offocially, you're on your o your own a fair bit, but if you're officially allowed a partner, find one anyway. It might be a suit, creative or planner, it doesn't really matter as long you enjoy each other's company, respect the other's opinion and listen as well as talk. Everywhere I've worked I've found a non-threatening sounding board to talk to, swap thoughts and work things out. You should too. No one is perfect. They can save you from something really dumb, and sometimes show you the wood rather than the trees.

Good job Angus

Just in case you wondered, I'm not sulking at the loss of the Beverage Bracket final. Simply no time to post this week. A good clean (ish) fight..and close too. Well played Angus.

Tea needs your help

Right, tea needs your help. Red wine is winning. I wanted to keep this friendly, but Angus has awoken the Kraken with needless jibes at everyone's fabvourite little drink.

If you must, read Angus' post here, but then read the below.

First off, Angus reckons tea drinkers do some fey thing with there little finger like this...

Have you ever seen anyone do this? I don't know the circles that Angus lives in, but this seems like a red herring. And anyway, all that lame stuff when waiters pour a little into your glass for you to try - as if anyone is going to send it back. Not to mention the objectionable sniffing..

And those ridiculous descriptions ..... "Wonderful notes of toasted plum followed buy a long finish edges with a faint taste of sauted tarmac. I love red, but totally reject all that fey bollocks.

And as for those bogus claims that red wine is better for you than tea. Let's be clear, red wine can be good for if you only have one glass a day. ONE GLASS - what sort of horrific self denial is that? One smidgin of a taste and that's yer lot guvnor. PULEEAAASE!!!

When it comes to the bare facts, wine gets you drunk, which gets you into all sorts of bother; from thinking you can dance to telling your boss how much you fancy them. And it knackers your liver.

Tea on the other hand can be drunk pretty much like water. And it contains theanine. Theanine both relaxes you and keeps you alert. Now red wine drunk sensibly can be relaxing, but alert? I think not.

And finally, wine is loaded with calories. 119 calories per glass. That's about 15 minutes on the treadmill per glass. That's two slices of toast. So bottle is like eating a loaf of bread. That's right, red wine makes you fat, bloated and slovenly. Tea keeps you thin, makes you alert AND relaxes you.

Tea wins, so show red wine the door. And vote tea. 

A perfect tea moment

I think you should vote for tea in the final of the beverage bracket. Every cup is little dash of simple joy in your day. We don't appreciate many, but sometime tea gently taps you on the shoulder and reminds us..

I did a bike ride to a local butchers and back this weekend (garlic and Guinness sausages if you must know).

It's a ride past fields, woods and every country cliche you can imagine. Since it's over and hills it's bloody hard too.

I stopped when I got back to our village to pick up a Saturday Guardian and finally pedalled up the drive to put my meaty prize in the fridge. After swiftly changing into comfy sweats, and stowing my meaty prize in the fridge I put the kettle on.

The legs are burning, quivering every time they're asked to move, but it's a delicious feeling, hot, cold, heaven, hell all at once. The satisfaction of managing that hard ride makes the molten lead in every fibre a painful joy.

Then the boiling water is poured over the tea bags, in a warmed pot and it's the five minute wait for brewing. It's tempting to pour too early, or give it a good stir to speed it up, but the tannins will ruin it.

And then finally it's ready. The tea goes into the mug, over the milk, slightly warmed by a little drop from two minutes ago,  waiting for it.

I taste it and it's one of those cups that is just perfect. Every cup is good, but sometimes the fates make one or two absolutely sublime. You never know when.......

But you know what? Nothing tastes quite like tea after a good workout. It's even better than the first cup in the morning that brings the world into some kind of focus.

I sit on the sofa and begin going through the paper, Mrs Northern can be heard pottering upstairs, the cat pads in and jumps onto my lap, happily purring as she settles into a furry little ball. Good cuppa this.

Simple pleasures are often the best, tea is one of them. That's why you should vote for it over red wine. Do it here. 

Hard hitting strategy

I've always liked the story if how Andre Agassi learned to play tennis. Basically, his Dad made him hit the ball as hard as he could; Mike Agassi reasoned that eventually his son would learn to get the ball in.

He did of course, few players have ever hit the ball so hard and so accurately...his power just blew opponents away. Now for the forced link to planning.....

I used to work as a suit in place where the head of planning was brighter than a brain pie. His thinking was intimidatingly elegant, his briefs Wittgenstein-esque. In fact, his briefs were so beautifully constructed that no one could work from them, most people couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Most of his thinking was elegantly wasted.

There's too much of this about. Great strategy that's impossible to work from, and it's not just brand consultacies that are guilty - although how the hell can people so divorced from execution get away with the unusable stuff they spew out?

Anyway, all you need is a really well thought out objective and a good observation. It can be an insight, a user truth, a brand insight - whatever suits the objective. But it needs to be interesting, it needs to  be engaging, not just right.

In your thought processes don't look for what's 100% correct at first, look for what's 100% interesting. In other words, learn to hit the ball really hard first.

When it's something you really want to talk about, craft it, post rationalise it, make it work, make it go in.

Write things down, write a manifesto, write a film script, whatever works for you, but make it intuitive. Once it's good, craft it. If it refuses to be crafted, start over.

Like most things in life, the more artfully something is carefully put together, the more likely it is to fall down. Find a great solid foundation and then make it work.   

Strange things are afoot....

..like twisted new fairytales that are not entirely innocent, or guilty. Nothing to do with me of course, I can verify that I'm pure as freshly fallen snow.

Tea wins again

The humble tea has triumphed over the mighty hot chocolate in the Ultimate beverage bracket semi final. 

The final is already underway, we're taking on red wine. You can vote for tea here. This is going to be tough, even an avowed tea face like me needs to stop and pause over the joy of good red wine.

People

It was lovely to see Russell published in the Guardian on Saturday. How come I was so pleased, since he publishes some writing pretty much every day? It was published in a proper newspaper. There's something that still sets work that's has been filtered by proper, professional editors apart.

And on the subject of people you know publishing stuff, James Boardwell and Rob did the site for Interesting 2007. It's a joy. Lovely to see the speakers again, and if you're remotely bothered, you can even waste 3 minutes watching my bit.

If you ever need some web development done properly, and by that I mean proper information architecture based on how the user REALLY navigates around, properley, rigourously researched, you couldn't do a lot better than James. And he's generally too clever by half, so you can thieve his thinking and pass it off as your own.

Vote tea again

Thanks to everyone who helped tea beat Diet Coke in the ultimate beverage bracket.

Now it's the semi finals and tea will be taking on hot chocolate. And the mighty Raymond. Now Tom LR is both cleverer and funnier than I, so if wasn't for the innate brilliance of tea, I wouldn't have a hope. But that's sort of the point for me.

As far as I'm concerned, tea should get your vote as one of those universal, humble little things that make up the fabric of most people's day to day. Nothing too fancy , nothing too clever or flashy. Truly useful, brilliant stuff that just works is actually invisible. Tea likes it that way, so do I.

Tea is one of those quiet little unsung heroes that gets us through our day. It's here for us morning, noon and night, yet it doesn't for much in return. It doesn't want any glory, it's not macho like coffee, or it doesn't require us to indulge ourselves like hot chocolate. It's just there. All tea wants in return is a little respect, to be made properly, with due care and attention like George Orwell suggests.

This makes tea truly universal, across borders and generations. Every cup is a little dose of positivity to get us through the day. This blog shows the universality of tea (and all men should vote tea since it's given a perfectly valid reason to look at lots of pretty girls).

Every cup is a little dose of slowness in an increasingly frantic world, a reminder that there should be time to think, time to reflect and let thoughts just bubble around.Like this charming little blog shows.

Vote for tea here. For something that gives us so much asks for so little in return, it's the least you can do. 

Guess what I'm doing Monday?

I get to see this and you don't. So there.

 

Shopping fodder

Craig Elston from Integer, part of my network, runs this blog. Looks like essential fodder for anyone who wants to know what happens when people go shopping.

Gis' a job

Paul wants to work where I do (sensible chap).

He'fully aware that it takes a lot to gain the attention of busy creative directors. This was found outside our office this morning....

The beauty of ordinary things

I enjoyed seeing the the Rose Hilton Exhibition at Tate St Ives last week.

The Beauty of Ordinary Things shows a style I like that resides somewhere between abstract and a figurative, but what I really like is the way she brings the things that we everyday back to our full attention, capturing the the brilliance and beauty in everyday life. We gloss over too many perfectly brilliant things that happen to us day in day out - like the sheer joy of a good cup of tea.

That's sort of why I like missing Mrs Northern when either of us is away. Reminds me how I couldn't manage without her. Or watching her affect on other people, how they can't help being affected by her sunny disposition (in sharp contrast to my grumpy one) - I forget how lucky I am to be around her everyday. 

I'm devouring Clay Shirky's 'Here Come Everybody' which to gets underneath what's really happening as a result of our new online social tools. He mentions that internet stuff is becoming like mobiles - we're forgetting it's there.

I like the idea of technology only becoming interesting when the technology itself is no longer novel - when it's so ubiquitous everyone uses it without thinking. That's what's happening with online social tools for the young - it's just how they go about things. Maybe ordinary stuff is only truly great when we forget it's there, but that's a shame. That's how those paintings at the start of this surprisingly rambling post - that started off as quicky - made me feel. 

How could I forget Claire?

A couple of weeks ago I was appreciating being surrounded by a great team, but I forgot to mention the fragrant Claire Wilson who was also there that day. She may have been watching, rather than presenting, but despite some questionable web practices we can't go into, only an idiot wouldn't mention her;Claire's brilliant.

You won't find another account director who looks after their team more or fights more fiercely for the right work. She's the voice of reason in meetings that have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous ('is it just me?' will soon be legendary) and when it's one of THOSE difficult meetings, you know exactly who you want to be there running the show.

And she likes Darjeeling.

Holiday musings

I was sat enjoying the best cup of tea in the world last week in Mum and Dad's garden, overlooking the beach. We'd been there for five days and the rigors of the long stretch between Christmas and Easter we're beginning to wear off. It's relentlessly cold, dark and wet eventually get a bit much and this year and Christmas is never much of break with the usual relations duties and so forth.

So this annual spring pilgrimage to Cornwall is always welcome, but this year it's on the back of three months getting used to a new job and adjusting to even earlier mornings and later nights.

The first 100 days in office are now over and the report is in. Like most places these days, there was a three month probation that's now out of the way. It's good to know you're being kept on for sure, and nice to be told you're doing well. It's not that surprising to be asked to say what I think a bit more, and good to know.

The biggest challenge for a planner is to be wanted in a room in a first place, so it's nice that people do. It's also ironic that holding back a bit while you get a feel for the place and its people makes them value what you say. Jonathan pointed out that this blog has become a little muted of late. Funny how writing your own long tail reflects your frame of mind. Expect a return to more bolshiness.

It's been nice to be part of a planning department, I've always liked being around creatives and suits, but they're not planners. I'm doing one or two things for the first time, and other bits where I was 'stirring the soup' I'm getting the chance to do really well.

On the other hand, being part of a big group means proprietary models and sometime one or two barriers. The trick is thinking around them and them post rationalising for whatever you have to conform to. Anyway, everyone has a process really. Even W&K sticks to its 'find the voice first' schtick pretty rigidly (is Fallon's 'give it to Juan?).

It's lovely actually having to hold creatives back and throw in the odd steer. The enthusiasm and commitment is intimidating, from the bottom up - not least my ghd team who work do hard with unbridled passion every day.

So far I've:

• Been involved in winning a client of Mcann's London.
• Written the most exciting  brief I've ever done.
• Had the Church ban my ad.
• Fainted in a hotel.
• Spilt tea only once.
• Acquired two perfect mugs.
• Taught everyone to warm the pot.
• Briefed a transvestite performance artist.

Mostly, I've felt like I was beginning to belong, and like I was moving forward. Learning, and hopefully adding some bits of my own.

Good this.

Vote tea for round 2

It's the next round of the beverage bracket. Tea is up againts Diet Coke. Since Coke is so fake, new, devoid of true heritage and ritual, it makes sense to simply link to this, which shows how the depth of ritual, heritage and beauty that is my favourite beverage.

The voting booth isn't up yet and I'm now off on holiday. Go back here and Kaiser will show you where to vote.

See you in a week or so.