Issue 4: A bulletin for big ideas and better business.

Brand Philosophy. Lawfare. Boeing’s No-show. Russian Cinema. And World Thinking Day.

Issue 4

February 20, 2024

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OPINION / IDEAS

Your brand needs a philosophy

💬Sir John Hegarty

“You can’t have your company name over the door,” said the architect. Nigel Bogle and I exchanged glances. We were about to move into BBH’s new Kingly Street HQ, and a planning regulation was standing in the way of our ambition to house our initials on the front. “You could have a logo though.” This was a problem too. Our agency didn’t have one. Shortly after, it dawned on us. Our icon should be the black sheep.

The campaign we’d created for Levi’s featured a black sheep resolutely moving against a tide of white. It was about chutzpah, difference, freshness. The spirit behind the work was something we referenced frequently. As was the end line: “When the World Zigs, Zag.” This little episode taught me something fundamental about brand philosophy. To find it, you have to learn to listen to yourself.

Philosophy creates culture

Creativity is an expression of self. That means discovering your philosophy involves asking the question: “What do I believe in?” Great brands always have a smart answer. For instance, IKEA’s is about elevating quality of life through affordable design: “To create a better everyday life for the many people.” NIKE’s is about inclusivity: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” These mantras perform a vital function: they provide a blueprint for all that drives a company forward. I’ve found that principles that feature irreverence and a willingness to challenge are always the most effective.

The impossible brief

When your philosophy is about questioning the status quo (and you have a lack of reverence for competitors and incumbents) amazing things happen. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the Mini. In the late 1950s there was a fuel shortage in the UK. Petrol was rationed and the public abandoned big cars in favour of smaller ones. Leonard Lord, head of British Motor Corporation, vowed to launch a ‘proper miniature car’. The brief dictated that the car must be 10ft long, and 4ft wide (which makes it small). But also have 6ft in length of passenger space (that makes it big, too).

Impossible. Or it would have been if the engineers didn’t have the right philosophy. The team led by designer Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, asked a question: “why are engines always facing forwards?” They reasoned that pivoting the engine by 90-degrees would save enough space to meet the brief. And it worked.

Whenever you’re faced with an intractable problem, a moral quandary, or a niggling doubt, a strong philosophy offers something to dial back to. Just listen to yourself.

THE AGENDA / FASHION AND FARMERS

1.
Devotees of the green screen will descend on the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards. Practitioners from Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Last of Us are expected to do well. Spoiler alert: the prize for creative excellence will go to William Shatner.
21st February

2.
Well-heeled folk head to Lombardy in Italy for Milan Fashion Week. This instalment will feature debut shows from newly-minted creative directors of Italian brands – including Moschino, Blumarine and Tod’s. Expect an optimistic mood: Il Sole 24 Ore reports an expected 20% growth in Italian fashion in the next five years.
20th – 26th February

3.
The Republic of Estonia was founded in 1918. This week it celebrates its independence. The small country regularly punches above its weight when it comes to innovation. In 2022 it had the most start-ups and unicorn companies per capita in Europe, according to Atomico.
24th February

4.
Organisers of the Paris International Agricultural Show will be hoping for a barnstorming event at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. This episode of the world’s biggest food and farming show will feature a distraction of equivalent size – farmers up in arms about low food prices and an end to diesel subsidies.
24th February – 3rd March

Credit: Alex Segre / Alamy Stock Photo

UK / CLIMATE

Waging lawfare

Gluing yourself to a road isn’t the best way to get things done. Today three non-profits – The Good Law Project, Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth – will proceed with a more judicious (and judicial) method. That is, taking the UK Government to task over its net zero plans with a legal challenge at the High Court. The trio argue that the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan doesn’t include any real information on what the dangers are if the government doesn’t meet its legally-binding targets. Another complaint is that too much is being gambled on high-risk technologies to reduce emissions. Indeed, the law remains a reassuring ally in holding leaders to account. The creativity and lateral thinking employed by these three organisations is to be applauded.

FROM THE GARAGE / ART SPECTATOR

Credit: Sir John Hegarty

SINGAPORE / AVIATION

No Bo? No show

Credit: Niall Ferguson / Alamy Stock Photo

The Singapore Airshow opens today at the Changi Exhibition Centre. A bellwether for the aerospace industry, the event is Asia’s biggest aviation fair. While over 1000 companies from more than 50 nations will be present, this year the big story is who isn’t coming. Boeing will reportedly not be exhibiting any commercial planes here this year (although it will be featuring its defence models). The decision comes in the wake of a downturn in orders after one of its 737 Max 9s suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel earlier in the year. The absence of the US plane-maker leaves a clear landing strip for rivals Airbus and (show debutante) Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). Boeing’s troubles have been attributed to leadership woes and a shift away from its once-fêted engineering prowess. All this impresses a fundamental point about business: company culture matters.

RUSSIA / FILM

A Behemoth hit

Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel, The Master and Margarita, is a seminal work of magical realism. The novel, first published in 1967, features The Devil, disguised as one Professor Woland, wreaking havoc on Moscow. A wave of macabre (and often murderous) pranks expose the absurdity of life in Soviet Russia. Now a film adaptation of the story is making a killing at the box office there. The New York Times reports that over 3.7 million people have seen the feature in Russian cinemas since it premiered on the 25th January, citing figures from the Russian Film Fund. Bulgakov’s original text was a scathing satire on the brutality of life under Stalin. With Vladimir Putin’s leadership plumbing new and ever-more deplorable depths, it’s little wonder that the story is resonating again.

Credit: Album / Alamy Stock Photo

GLOBAL / IDEAS

Sparing a thought

Good ideas require thinking. Few understand this better than the Girl Guides, who have an allotted day to wrap their minds around the issues ailing our civilisation. World Thinking Day is billed as a moment of international friendship where around 8.9 million young women come together in locations around the world. This Thursday’s theme is “Our World, Our Thriving Future”. The event is a fundraising drive, the first instalment was staged in 1926, when Girl Guides founder Lady Olave Baden-Powell, reasoned that her followers giving in droves would yield a large pot (for charitable purposes). It’s a good reminder that creativity begins with empathy.