Issue 43: A Bulletin for Big Ideas and Better Business

OPINION/ ADVERTISING 

Missing inaction: we’ve forgotten the big idea

💬 Sir John Hegarty

I no longer work in advertising. Even so, I take a keen interest in the industry’s output. I find a somewhat grim experience. One that is sadly shared by my many friends who – similarly – are no longer in the business, and are asking the question: “what’s happened?”

We can talk about the many reasons, the growth of globally-produced work that neither offends, nor appeals. The fragmentation of audiences through social media. The obsession with data and the over reliance on promotion versus persuasion.

Of course all of these have had a somewhat negative impact on the big idea. But just at the time we need one to stitch all these disparate opportunities together, we’ve retreated to the edges of culture, shouting for attention only to be switched off. Nearly a billion people now employ ad blockers on their smart phones. There’s no question adverting has lost its voice: its power to persuade.

Advertising is listened to when it has a point of view

And this is my point, you don’t do that by creating work where someone has an absurd haircut, does a stupid dance, or employs the latest CGI trick. Our new idea to get noticed is to be whacky. Whacky is not an idea: it is a device. Advertising was listened to when it had a point of view. When it had a philosophical thought. The great Bill Bernbach, co-founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach taught us that the truth – whatever your truth is – is the most powerful strategy you can employ. Just make it interesting. Make it fun.

From that simple belief an advertising revolution occurred that turned it into a vaunted and startlingly effective communication tool. Building brand value and sales performance.

But today I’m not sure what adverting believes in anymore. What’s at the heart of its message, how is it trying to influence and where? Revolutions happen because people yearn for something better. They value authenticity, courage and integrity. They admire daring.

A daft haircut, weird casting or a stupid dance do not add up to an industry that knows how to be taken seriously.

THE AGENDA

✏️ Pencil it in: your agenda for the coming week

1.
The annual GQ Men of the Year Awards takes place at the Tate Modern in London. Readers vote on categories including Actor, Comedian, Politician and Designer. Mastering a field is one thing – looking good while doing it is quite another.
12th November

2.
Reality sets in further this week as president-elect Donald Trump meet US president Joe Biden in the Oval Office. A reminder that the most vital meetings are rarely the most harmonious. Here’s hoping for a smooth transition.
13th November

3.
Olaf Scholz has some explaining to do. The German chancellor’s coalition government collapsed after its finance minister was dismissed. The leader will deliver a statement in the Bundestag this week on how to knit things back together.
13th November

4.
Quincy Jones, the legendary producer, composer, and philanthropist will be honoured at a memorial service in Los Angeles. The musician left a formidable creative legacy, working with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and many others.
14th November

5.
The Museums Association holds its annual conference at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. The three-day event aims to be Europe’s largest museum and gallery event.
12th – 14th November

AZERBAIJAN / CLIMATE

Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 Opening Plenary, 11th November
Contributor: UN Climate Change / Kiara Worth

Creativity and COP

The climate crisis isn’t just the government’s problem. That was the key message yesterday at the kick off of COP29, the UN’s yearly summit on climate change. Mukhtar Babayev, the environment minister of Azerbaijan, the host of this year’s conference, wrote in the Guardian: “The onus cannot fall entirely on government purses. Unleashing private finance for developing countries’ transition has long been an ambition of climate talks.” Indeed, putting grand sustainability projects into practice requires deep coffers. Poor countries are the most vulnerable to extreme weather and rising sea levels, and such nations are calling for climate finance to surge from some $100 billion per year, to a minimum of $1 trillion per year by 2035. Darkening proceedings is last week’s re-election of Donald Trump, a notorious climate science sceptic. The full creative force of the private sector is needed to innovate from the brink.

ON CREATIVITY /

Credit: Sir John Hegarty

NEW YORK / BRANDING

Simple, authoritative, impactful: designed for a global audience
Contributor: Pentagram Design

Guggenheim refresh

The Guggenheim Museum is among the most fêted brands in contemporary art. Each outpost represents a masterclass in how architectural design can be applied to the curation of works. This includes Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic building in New York, Frank Gehry’s in Bilbao and the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice. The institution is now on the cusp of a fourth entry to its ‘constellation’ of locations: a setting in Abu Dhabi is anticipated to open next year. In preparation for the new arrival, design agency Pentagram was enlisted to create a new identity for the brand. Hinging on the ‘G’ logo, the aesthetic is intended to instil a sense of coherence on a global museum with numerous locations. In a world where more than ever is served to us via an algorithm, brands like the Guggenheim matter all the more for taste and curation.

US / MUSIC

67th Grammy Awards to be broadcast live 2nd February 2025
Courtesy: The Recording Academy

Female pop stars headline Grammys

Young women didn’t turn the tide in the US election as Democrats hoped. But the music industry is dominated by them. A quick glance at the line-up for this year’s Grammy Awards – which is scheduled to take place on 2nd February next year – shows a slate dedicated to the creative efforts of female stars. For instance, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are vying for the biggest prizes. But they’ll have to contend with the industry’s two heavyweights: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Both of whom have released prodigiously popular albums in the last year: The Tortured Poets Department and Cowboy Carter, respectively. As females fight for representation in business, politics and in the creative industries, songs for women, by women resonate all the more profoundly.

Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine.

/Alan Turing