What a night in a pub tells us about the need for humanity in agencies

I went to a pub quiz last night. With my in laws. A small pub where they serve good beer, they don't have Sky and they don't play music. That's right, I'm approaching middle age.

Anyway, I had a chat with the landlord. He's leaving the pub and new tenants are coming in. He's not retiring, he hasn't got anything else lined up. He's, to quote him directly, 'running away'. This is a man who doesn't want riches, he just wants run a nice pub  that's like they used to be, and be able to afford to live.

The pub is thriving, but he can't stand to work for the brewery anymore. He used to love it, but since they were taken over by a bigger group, they've made his life impossible. So he's leaving his life's work, not much but it mattered to him.

Why am I telling you this? Because out there in the real world, beyond our fake world of NHS rimmed glasses, 'brand innovations' and aching coolness is an extraordinary world of very normal people that's full of more passion, drama, romance, tragedy, heroism and importance than most people in adland can imagine, if they even bother to try. That's what great stories are about, that's what great communications are about.

It's not just ads and stuff though. Most of the movie's released are big on 'talk value' and low on heart. Take the sci fi genres. Compare Transformers bollocks:

 

With ET:

 

I think people miss the point about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Both may have great special effects and stuff, but they're stories about people you care about. People in cinemas for the final Harry Potter film are actually cheering and crying.

This is one of the problems with even the best campaigns. agencies create So many of them are high on talk value and low on heart.

The stuff people actually care about. I'm not saying that shouldn't be done in an entertaining way, quite the opposite, it needs to be jaw droppingly great, better than the stuff it's interrupting. But like ET was insanely great, but also a story about a lonely little boy (and so was Harry Potter) our work needs the beating heart of humanity at it's centre, not just influences from German cinema or the latest fad for brand characters (what the competitors don't get about Compare the Market is that people respond to humanity of the character and the way he doesn't know he's funny.

 

There's a story about misunderstandings and the fierce pride humans have in things they've built themselves, no matter how irrelevant it is to everyone else...that's where an annoying Opera singer goes wrong. He might be a brand icon, 

 

but he's just, well, annoying).

This spellbinding work for Chrysler is about people, specifically, the deep romance America has with the values of hard work and perseverance and the right for everybody to live with dignity (or that's what I think).

 

One final thing about my friend in the pub. He's like lots of people who work in agencies. Most of them want to do great work, they want to work somewhere they feel pride in. They want to work with interesting people. They don't really care about their face in Campaign or doing a TED talk. They just want to do what they love with a level of security and fun. Because let's face it, if working in an agency isn't fun and stimulating, why else would you do it? But most of them work very, very hard in spite of the huge groups most of them now work for, you know the ones to whom they are just a number, where their livelehoods can be taken away from them with the flick of a pen. The ones that do their best to extinguish every flicker of originality, personality and spirit in everyone who works for them.

You wonder how many people take the decision of my pub friend. Not because they're retiring, not because they're off to something else great. But because they've lost all the joy in something they should love.

Comments

[Desertlandscapes.wordpress.com]

Brilliant, and very true – I hadn’t thought about why Compare the Market works in those terms before. When you look at fiction, music, films, art – anything that lasts past the moment and becomes a ‘classic’ - you’re looking at the ones (more often than not) that deal in real emotion; that capture or say something about how real people think and feel.

It’s strange that it seems to be something that is harder to put into communications, when it’s probably something that should come more naturally to people...

[Rob]

This is a great post with a brilliant point.

I've always said empathy is a far more important 'tool' for a planner than the ability to quote the latest planner blog theory and you've beautifully articulated why. Lovely.

[Martin]

Wise and true words. Wholeheartedly agree.

There are too many of us disappearing up the collective ass of the industry's new consensus as to what's current and cool. And too few of us bringing the (real) outside world into our agencies, minds, and work.

Your post reminded me of this brilliant scene from Spike Jonzes' 'Adaptation':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHVqxD8PNq8

[northern]

Martin, you always come back with better examples, you seem to be annoying like that. Even when you're not intending to, the video has a pre-roll trailer for the new Conan film, which made my heart sink.

[Tom]

Urrrrgh, lets all give up.

The crashing displays of negativity from some of the very best people in this industry is making me think I want to sack the whole thing off and go and work for IDEO.

Actually I do want to do that, off to the job section!

Thanks!

[Tom]

Actually that's really unfair, all the APSOTW stuff shows that's really not the case. Just seems to be so much negativity about...maybe I'm too new to the industry and naive...or maybe you're all getting old and jaded :-)

[northern]

Hi Tom
First I presume you refer to Rob, Sarah and Martin as the 'very best people' in this industry.
But anyway, that's a fair point, the older people in this industry do need to take care when they throw their opinions around..and they often forget people actually sometimes pay attention to what they say.
For the record, I think this is still one of the best jobs you can do, but like all industries, your experience of it varies greatly depending on where you work. An unfortunate development in recent times is that working as part of a big group can be a little demoralising, but on the other hand, it would fair to say that even at a place like that, one should count one's blessings, it really doesn't equate to working at Tescos.
I'm glad you find the school of the web stuff useful, I did hope that all the other might be useful too, thanks for pointing out when it's not the case.
There are many fantastic places to work, there are also many not so great. My conceptual audience for this blog are people who care about what they do..they want to great stuff with great people and don't see that conflicting with also being nice, decent and honourable. Rob often says that anger is energy and sometimes I personally get driven by what I don't want to do or be as nearly as much as what I do. I did, and do hope, the people I want to write this for will respond in the same way, but again, thanks for showing that it's a fine line between provocation and moaning.
(incidentally, when you get to my age, if you don't still want to change the world, you might as well give up, which means looking for battles wherever you can)

[Tom]

"But most people in agencies despise the people they create their ideas for and only really care about influencing a small community of peers who tend to work in West London."

Is this really true? I hope not.

[northern]

I fear this is closer to the mark, 'despise' (but might be right for the creative department)might be too strong a word, but they certainly don't admire or make the effort to empathise with them enough. Like you can tell when someone has enjoyed making and ad and stuff, I think you can tell when they really care about the people they are trying to communicate with.
On the other hand, when so many in the media, of which we are a part are happy to use the term 'chav' you do wonder how appropriate the word despise might be.

[Tom]

Oh I wrote another comment that doesn't seem to have shown up?

Anyway, I wrote that I have learned all sorts from this blog, for which I will always be very grateful. Between here and the canalside view there is everything you could hope to learn as someone starting out in this industry - an amazing resource. It just seems the bashing of "NHS specs" and the like has become such a cliche now and writing entire posts berating different hues of planners seems weird. Something peculiar to advertising maybe.

anyway

[Mens Suits]

Wow, it was a great post that it caught lots of comment.
Great thoughts.