Spicy, Sweary and Searing! LBB’s Hottest Takes of 2022
Maybe We Do Need Experts After All
TBWA\NEBOKO’s Natalie Gruis suggests that the ‘fail fast’ tech chutzpah of the 2000s and 2010s is starting to show cracks, within the tech world where multiple uncanny, glitchy chickens are coming home to roost. But it’s particularly true in marketing too, when it comes to strategy - one seemingly small crack can soon become a major faultline.
Write What You Know: Opinions and Arseholes
Snap London’s Liam Wilson is so funny that it almost doesn’t matter what point he’s trying to make, you’re guaranteed a chuckle. But he does also make really good points. In this case, he wonders just why we’re so happy to just let the dysfunctional cesspool of online comments shape the industry.
Strategy Needs to Stop Pretending to Be Rocket Science
Strategy fucking loves a big complicated proprietary framework, dunnit. And it’s really bothering Rob Campbell. Here he makes a case for a simpler approach to strategy that isn’t about trying to bamboozle clients or convince your colleagues you’re an academic.
Mixed Feelings: The Opportunity Gap vs the Talent Gap
Lammas Park's Mia Powell confronts the cycle of sameness that's keeping the new generation of diverse directing talent from breaking through in commercials. Production companies can seek out, mentor and develop talent but if agencies and brands see directors from diverse backgrounds (and new directors generally) as a risk rather than an opportunity, the industry will remain in a deadlock.
Advertisers Don’t Understand Mainstream - And It’s a Problem
While the ad industry is desperate to unearth the fizziest, fringiest subcultures, it’s positively allergic to the mainstream. From income to values, there’s a disconnect between the marketing tribe and everybody else - so how can we bridge the gap? Arabella Saunders of Recipe explores...
Sustainability x Advertising: “Without the Work the Ad Industry is Doing on Behalf of Fossil Fuel Clients, It Is Much Harder for Putin to Carry Out This War”
In Amelie Lambert’s interview with Clean Creatives’ Duncan Meisel, part of our Sustainability x Advertising series, the dots really start to join up. And the pattern they reveal is truly shocking.The Russian war on Ukraine, the energy crisis and the cost of living crisis trace back to the fossil fuel businesses, and those, in turn have been boosted and greenwashed by the advertising industry, argues Duncan. Time for some New Years’ Resolutions?
COP27’s Historic Failure Puts the Planet’s Future in the Hands of Brands
With a sense of frustration we can certainly empathise with, Cheil’s Global CCO Malcolm Poynton expresses his despair and dismay at the plodding reluctance from governments and brands alike to make the changes we need to save the future of the planet.
Sue Higgs and Susie Innes on Sharing Champagne and Lifting Women Up
The sheer combined Queen energies of Dentsu Creative’s Sue Higgs and Susie Innes might be too dazzling to bear but their insights into the intersection of ageism and sexism form a rousing argument as to why agencies would benefit from hiring more older women.
Neurodiversity Breeds Creativity: I Am Autistic and Fucking Proud
Daniel Robey, CEO of ReMake opens up about his personal experience with autism and how supporting his son while running a business has made him consider what a business that truly harnesses neurodiverse creativity might look like.
Finding Your Funny in the Age of Blandvertising
TBWA\Dublin’s ECD Des Creedon plays the straight man and argues that the reason that advertising rarely raises more than a half-hearted ‘huh’ rather than a full-throated ‘hahaha’ is that it’s trying desperately to be all things to all people. An ad is not a wedding speech.
SOS: Meta’s Metaverse is Sinking
Is Mark Zuckerberg a farsighted visionary or simply locked in a ‘walled-garden innovation death spiral’? It might be too early to tell but when it comes to Meta’s own adventures in the foothills of the metaverse have proven to be an expensive experiment, with the company’s value and Meta Labs’ profits plummeting. It’s all a very different picture to the choo-choo metaverse hype train of January 2022 - Amy Chen, director of experience at Siegel+Gale delves in.
Here’s Why It’s Not a Good Idea to Listen to Consumers
The customer is always right? Err… perhaps not. Thinkerbell’s Adam Ferrier suggests that being in thrall to consumers can leave brands with nothing to their core. When brands are too obsessed with following, they’re not leading and reframing.
Mental Health is on Every Screen, Things Look Very Different Behind the Camera
When it comes to mental health, the worlds of advertising, media and entertainment have certainly made progress when it comes to sharing stories that have historically been taboo and normalising representation. But the truth of the matter is that the culture of production can trigger the very problems that the PSAs are trying to prevent. Long hours, uncertain job security, emotionally fraught environments and burnout are common but, argues producer Jonny Kight, we’re not having the conversations we need to about the mental health fallout.
Pucker Up Marketers, Recession Means It’s Time to Find Your Lipstick Moment
2050’s Ben Tan finds creative and strategic opportunity in challenging economic times as he dives into the old insight that lipstick sales sky rocket in a recession. It’s a piece that encourages marketers to give their products the kiss of life by finding inspiration from the deceptively simple tube of lippy.
Main Photo by Alex Alvarez on Unsplash
