Okay it's a cheap trick using a song title to get interest but heh I've done it now. I may throw the video in for those who have been duped.
Anyways, the real reason for the title is that I was in the car listening to this song ("Everything is Average Nowadays" by The Kaiser Chiefs" and thought to myself; "Yes, you are right everything is average...in fact even this song is average".
You can go too far with these trains of thought but there is a lot of average out there across all genres. But Iwhat is more important is why?
Is there more stuff and so the overall quality has come down?
Or perhaps there is the same stuff but we are more aware of it?
Or even the democratisation of media has resulted in all of us having a go so it is inevitable that the average quota goes up?
In communications terms we seem to be exposed to more messages. Most of these are very average and even more wasteful. Where should blame for this rest? With planners, creatives or clients?
I was delighted by Orange's strategy a couple of year's back that bravely communicated that good things happen when you switch your mobile off. The implication being that if people then turned their phones off in their millions they would lose a lot of money. But of course they didn't and were never likley to.
How many of us would be brave enough to tell our clients to turn off their communciations for a bit and just sit and listen for a change. Turn the tables on the consumers and let them become broadcaster.
I'd love to know if there are brands out there that have taken this step. When I find some I'll post them up here over the next few weeks. Until then I'll keep schtum.
Who's to blame? All of us. Planners, creatives and clients. Unlike the Orange example you're cited, the mechanism at work is an amazing LACK of bravery. Hey, we all have a pretty good idea how clients will roll 15 minutes after we've met them. Yet how many of us are brave enough to say "no thanks?". How many of us are brave enough to challenge the status quo (really) when we present to clients, rather than show them something we're pretty sure will get the rubber stamp? Here's a thought: clients can't buy the crap ("safe") bland ideas unless its something you've showed them.
ReplyDeleteI believe this timid streak in society has been boiling for a while now, but 9/11 pretty much made it a staple of our daily lives. So now the few brands and agencies that dare to be bold are the exception. And alot of times they're chastised by the great politically correct masses for doing so.
Put it this way. How bad is it getting when a lawyer has to think up of the line "Life's short. Get a divorce." Man, thats gold!