A blog for the New Zealand creative advertising industry, now at www.campaignbrief.com/nz. Email news to: michael@campaignbrief.com

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

ARE YOU PRO OR CON THE BLOG?


Dear bloggers,

Below is an article written by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney ECD David Nobay about the CB Blog, opinions that no doubt he would have if he lived in NZ with the NZ Creative Circle blog.
If you have an opinion about the NZ Creative Circle blog (or the CB Blog for that matter) you can either email me (michael@campaignbrief.com) a brief paragraph or two, or if you have more to say, either for or against, feel free to elaborate at length.
I know there will be quite a few against, but if you have an opinion PRO the blog that is especially welcome to counter the argument put forward by Nobby.
Opinions will be published in Campaign Brief magazine first, then later on the blog at www.campaignbrief.blogspot.com (unless you specifically request otherwise) to encourage more attributed, and less anonymous, comments.
If you want to contribute to this (no anonymous comments will be used), I need your spiel by the end of the week, Friday 27th October.

Regards,
Lynchy

PS: There are many things for which the CB Blog, with about 1100 hits a day, has played a central role: increasing AWARD and The One Club membership to record levels, getting OZ/NZ jurors on international award shows, promoting events with spectacular results, getting NZ into the Caxtons, informing the industry of news and people movements, showing and discussing good and average work, links to most TVC production companies, discussing issues (like AWARD judging recently) and keeping expats informed of what's going down back in OZ. To a lesser extent, some of the above may apply to the nz creative circle blog.


***


Anon-imosity

I’m not a big fan of the CB Blog. There, I’ve said it. Actually, a lot of
people in the business say it. But, like the Blog, it doesn’t matter. Because they’re essentially anonymous. I guess they’re not keen on drawing the Blog’s invariable fire: rather like outing a bully in class, only to get your head kicked in once the bell goes.

I suspect some in the industry at this point may suspect my motives are wholly Saatchi-centric. Sure, it’s true that our name does feature heavily on the Blog, but I accept that. We make more news than most, and with that news rightly comes opinion; good and bad. No, the reasons behind my point-of-view are (at least I’d like to think) more objective.

Firstly, in my opinion anyway, the CB Blog celebrates cowardice and, worse still, positively encourages bitchiness.

Rather than the veil of anonymity protecting the innocent, it allows anyone with an axe to grind – but no experience to back it up – full rein to vent their spleen. While I concede this may be mildly cathartic for those sorry souls who carry their chip on the shoulder (“I never got the good briefs/good job/right salary/fully formed penis/trip to Cannes”) like a heavily laden rucsac, I question how this ultimately makes our industry a smarter place to work. Worse still, it opens the door to targeted, professional sabotage. Don’t like the look of the competition at a particular agency? Forget the boring, old-fashioned method of trying to out-write and out-think them by penning a better ad. No, these days all you have to do is seed the notion on the Blog that the competition’s latest ad is a scam, and leave the rest to the good online townspeople of Salem. By the time the accused has rebuffed with sworn affidavits from their client, it’s too late, and the bonfire’s familiar crackle can already be heard (trust me, I’m still trying to get the smell of smoke out of my clothes!).


Before anyone suspects that the gallons of mint tea I consumed on my recent, annual detox has made me all mushy and holier-than-thou, hang on: I like a good stoush as much as anyone in this business and haven’t yet completely lost my sense of humour, (especially now I’m off the wagon at last). Actually, I admit about 1% of the Blog is a fucking hoot. But it’s also a very expensive, little joke: at a time when our industry is finding it harder than ever to be taken seriously by clients, the Blog is fuelling just the kind of catty, superficial crap that got us marginalised by big business as “adwankers” in the first place.

What do I mean by catty?

Well, look for yourself. How much of any issue on the Blog is debated with objectivity, wit or constructiveness? An easier calculation would be how much of it is puerile, misinformed, inarticulate ping-pong, played out by a lucky few juniors, unencumbered by the necessity to work more than 2hours a day? And it goes far beyond inane, but essentially harmless banter. Six months ago, the tone and content of the Blog dipped so frequently into homophobic, racist and legally slanderous territory that Lynchy decided to step in and pre-edit every day’s offerings before publishing them, in fear of being marched off to court. (Which begs the question, is a pre-screened, pre-edited blog even a real blog?)

Ironically, I’ve always held that one of the best things about working in Australia is the lack of anonymity in the business. At the expense of sounding a bit Californian, we genuinely boast an “Advertising Community” here, and that’s not to be taken for granted. When I worked in the States, for instance, you never had a clue who was doing what, let alone enjoyed the chance to meet up regularly over a beer, play fooseball and catch up with guys from rival shops at shows like Caxtons. Working in a relatively small pond should be a good thing. Admittedly, the proximity should make us more competitive; but surely not at the expense of our basic social skills. Sadly, these days when we do converge as an industry, you can tangibly sense the room eyeing each other up; deciding whether the guy grinning at you over his beer is also the bastard that called your campaign unmitigated shit, your dress sense laughable and your mother a she-goat on the morning’s Blog. Mass Paranoia! Cool, eh? Like it wasn’t enough when we just suspected it was the clients and research companies that hated us. (Speaking of folksy, little communities, I’m told the issue is even worse in NZ, where their Blog makes ours look like an online puff-pastry discussion group.)

My second and more pressing reason for discounting the Blog is arguably more selfish: it doesn’t add any value to my day – a day, which like most of you I’m sure, is sufficiently busy to expect that a ten minute online distraction would at least reward me with some nugget of useable knowledge beyond “I hear so and so is a twat and works for a crap agency, so there!”.

On the other hand, would I profit from a daily, online update on what the broad industry thinks about my work and that of others I respect? Absolutely. As creative people, perspective is our lifeblood. Without it we’re rudderless, (hence, the importance of international awards – but that’s another subject for another day!). Problem is, that’s my whole issue with the CB Blog: what value are all those hundreds of perspectives to me without any evidence of where they come from?

As the late, great John Webster skilfully illustrated in his legendary TV spot for the Guardian newspaper back in the eighties; a story told from different angles has very different meanings. Think I’m talking bollocks? Indulge me in this simple exercise: I’ll take a classic entry from today’s Blog, but credit it with four different authors. Is the insight the same? Is the impact consistent. If the subject was your work, would you care?


“I’ve seen this idea a hundred times before and the execution is crap”
David Droga

“I’ve seen this idea a hundred times before and the execution is crap”
John Singleton

“I’ve seen this idea a hundred times before and the execution is crap”
Trish Jones, AWARD SCHOOL student

“I’ve seen this idea a hundred times before and the execution is crap”
Howard Draft, DM Guru

The issue for me isn’t that one opinion is more worthy than another. All these hypothetical cases have a valid perspective to comment on a piece of creative work. The point is; the significance of each perspective changes with its author. And, as such, if I was a Blogger, my rebuff would change accordingly. Without knowing the source of the opinion, the CB Blog really is “the blind leading the blind” and as such pretty worthless as a source of information. Does that stop it being titillating? No, of course not. I have no doubt that, regardless of content, the site appeals on some level to the voyeur in all of us. But then so does roadkill and Chinese bear-baiting, so is that really a reason to exist?

Before I come off overly righteous here, yes, I admit it: I have cruised the Blog myself from time to time. I am a user; if infrequent. However, like President Clinton, I never inhale. As for the Saatchi creative department; I’ve instructed them to stay off the Blog unless they have something sufficiently mind-blowing to say that warrants including their name. To my knowledge, only Luke Chess has since regularly contributed (which suggests he’s either very profound, or that I need to talk to Traffic about giving him more work).

So, for the record, that’s my opinion: my perspective on the CB Blog. Granted, you may not agree. But at least you know it’s mine.

Nobby

46 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree, look at the slagging WRC has got.

1:04 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Agreed.

This blog shows how many bitter people there are in our industry. It also shows how many young inexperienced people there are. I'm personally embarrassed to read some of the crap that gets posted here and would hate to think that any clients, or anyone outside the industry, thinks of us all.

1:28 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree. If clients saw this site they would be sick.

4:27 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The ad industry is a soap opera. It always will be, this site is a true reflection of the nature of it.

Lets face it, how many industries have awards to stroke their egos like the ad industry has.

I think most people would like to think otherwise but they are kidding themselves. The CB blog is good; it keeps people on their toes and makes them think a bit more. It also brings a lot of creative's feet back to earth.

I think there are a lot of CD's and CEO's who would not like it, but they have to move on and stop been such boring old farts. They should see what their wives are reading (NW mag I bet), turn the TV on and watch all the reality TV shows or else go online and see the hundred of community sites around the world.

If you don't like it don't read it.

Simple.

4:38 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who really takes this business seriously any way? It's a good job MP's don't have a blog site and they run the country. Who really gives a shit, stick and stones will break your ego. YEAH RIGHT.

4:51 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My mate went to the plastic industry awards a while ago. Only difference is, he thinks about making money all year, not winning an award.

9:07 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The people that go out of their way to be anonymous in advertising usually get their wish.

10:22 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Campaign Brief is inordinately powerful in the creative community. "Power corrupts, absolute power..." you know the quote.

This business is based on subjectivity. Opinion. Not fact.

A person's opinion can affect an outcome. An award, a perception. A career.

Through the Blog those people who are mobilized enough can influence the industry in a disproportionate way. Like political branch stacking, it doesn't reflect the mind and mood of the constituents.

The Campaign Brief Blog has been one of the worst things I have ever seen in the industry. It is bilious, it is slanderous and it is designed to protect the wrong people.

I have had disgusting things written about me. The words have stung. The assertions have been wild and varied...and more importantly they were designed to hurt. And they have. They have hurt me deeply and have made me less trusting and more guarded than ever.

Some epithets come to mind. "Play the ball, not the man"
And "two side to every story". But the Blog celebrates the venal, the axe grinders and the jealous.

I don't have a victim mentality, but the Blog victimizes people. Like a cowardly king hit from behind. It's sexist, ageist and elitist.

Personally I like a good debate. I love wit, intelligence and above all humour.

Very few times have I seen anything written in the Blog with any thought, panache or flair.

It's like watching drunks in a fist fight. A lot of flailing arms but little connects.

An opinion is only an opinion if you put your name to it.

This anonymous ranting is just, as David Nobay beautifully put it, cowardice.

I shudder to think clients may see the Blog. I really do.

That’s my opinion. And here’s my name.

Sean Cummins

7:34 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nobby +1. i vote for continuing the website that champions work and news and losing the comment posting option. if anyone feels strongly enough to write something let them publish it on the site along with their name and their agency.

cheers,
andy mckeon jwt

7:37 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sent to Lynchy via email....

Trouble is I reckon you're both right. (There's a first...)
Yes, the blog is a cowardly, snide way of making underhand comments and yes it is a useful forum for spreading information and gauging opinions from the far corners of the community. As I've said before it's the equivalent of a bunch of pissed blokes talking shit in a pub. The ill-informed bitterness used to piss me off so I stopped reading the blog entirely, which I've found helps. The boys tell me I've been getting some stick recently for my pink shirt so if they don't shut up, the green suit is coming back. You have been warned.

8:06 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you visit it, to read it, you are no better off than the people writing the comments.

I don't think it is the place to be expressing opinions, write an article for NBR or admedia. These sites are chat rooms.

You lot should see some of the ones for the sharemarkets around the world. God...if you thought the ad industry was bad.

If you don't like it don't go to it. As i said in the beginnning if you visit it to read it, you are no better off than the people writing the comments.

Sammy.

9:34 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If everyone registered their names then posted their comments, this site would be way more diplomatic and constructive.

9:52 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This blog is a good thing.

Not as a forum for objective criticsm of work because it seems that quickly breaks down into a slag fest with people from rival shops calling good work shite in the hope that someone across town doesn't get another rung up the award ladder and their snout further into the well guarded trough.

The real purpose served by this blog is that cuts through the veil of bullshit and press releases about people "leaving to write a children's book and work on their memoirs".

It also allows the truth to come out about the way certain CDs run their departments,which agencies fist juniors with promises of full-time work and $20 a month, who is a prick to work for and why etc. Let's face it, this is a pretty nasty business we work in and a lot of power is wielded by a small number of people who generally act in their own best interests. Occasionally the comments get vitriolic and personal, and the fact that Lynchy now edits them is a good thing.

However it seems that when someone gets slagged (ie Simon Collins) it's not by just one blogger and there's a chorus of agreement from people who have had an unpleasant experience at the hands of said individual. You never see the good bastards being slagged so if you treat people well then you have nothing to fear.

In my opinion this blog serves a purpose and it's clearly one that the big boys aren't happy about.Tough.

yours anonymously

10:01 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

10:01 - am in total agreement.

This is the only forum where the truth regarding power abuse, unfair practice, and generally
cnt-ish behaviour can be freely discussed.

Maybe the REAL problem is that some people in this industry have begun to think their power spreads so far as to be able to censor a blog that is, for some, the only outlet available.

As said above, if you treat people fairly and appropriately it will reflect in forums such as this one.

If not, then maybe it's time to look at how you're dealing with people.

I think banning the blog or the ability to comment is outrageous. If you don't want your work to be critiqued then don't post it. If you don't want your agency to be talked about in any other terms other than glowing, then do your PR elsewhere.

Proudly signed,

ANON.

11:10 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"In my opinion this blog serves a purpose and it's clearly one that the big boys aren't happy about.Tough".

- exactly. Putting up a promotional posting (as did WRC, for example)openly invites responses.

If these responses reflect matching negative experiences in a particular agency, then it's probably time that the 'big boys' looked at their behaviour, rather than blog posters.

11:21 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The people who write crap on the blog are as bitchy as the ones who read it and complain about it. It's everyone playing on the same pitch.

It keeps people on there toes. Be nice and fair to people and people will love you. Be a bad boy and your career goes down hill faster than it arrived in the post.


Sammy.

12:35 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The blog should stay. It's informative and funny. If you want to feel the unhealthy pulse of advertising in NZ, then this is the place to come.

I agree with previous bloggers - this industry is controlled by an elite ego/money hungry few who only act in their own self interest. If you act like a decent human, then you've got nothing to hide.

There's been alot of people shafted in this industry by alot of unethical players - both on the creative and suit side. What goes around comes around as they say.

But anyone who puts their work up has to have their head read.

12:36 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with 11:21. The blog is not a self promotion tool. I think WRC has learned the truth about how it's view in New Zealand by the people that matter, the workers. If Nigel thinks it's unfair then don't use it as a pr tool.

Dave

12:52 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When we enter our work in awards, how many of us put “anonymous” in the credits?

Cheers

Connan

2:00 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's not just disenchanted juniors that vent their spite on this site anonymously, is it?

2:36 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I still like the freshup ad. Sue me.

Cheers,

Scott.

2:42 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I doubt it, I know loads of people who post and they're more mid weight to senior. Anyhow, juniors count too.

2:46 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sent to Lynchy via email....


Dear Michael,

I love pretty much everything you do at CB and the support and dynamism you add to the industry is very much appreciated.

My mother taught me that if I hadn't got anything constructive to say, not to say anything at all.

But here goes.

You probably already know that I am wholly against the blog in its current form.

I hear nothing but bad things about it which reflect badly on our industry.

It's embarrassing, childish, and at worst slanderous.

No one in my three years here has given me a good reason to go to the blog other than to read deeply upsetting anonymous postings.

My advice to my department was to ignore it and get on with producing great work.

Would the above opinion change if the author's web signature was attached and validated by CB?

Probably.

Whether I'd become a blogger would remain to be seen, generally I'd rather share my opinions with people I know and respect over a few beers.

Nick W

2:58 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who cares, ban it and someone will chuck another one straight up. It's easy.

Think back to how boring this blog was right after it was reborn - Christ I thought I was going to top myself. Luckily it got back to its good old bad self.

3:03 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sent to Lynchy via email...

Hi Lynchy,

I think Nobby is right, all blog entries should have the author's name attached.

Anonymity encourages the lightweight losers of our industry to bitch about their superiors without due thought, care or respect.

It gives the bottom rungs of the industry too much say.

I am happy to hear anyone's opinion, if they have the courage to stand by it with their name.

I must say that when i occasionally look at the CB Blog, i am always amazed at the vitriol.

These people may work in a Creative Department, but they are not creators, they are destroyers.



siimon

3:04 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sent to Lynchy via email...

I don't sodding care really. But I do agree with Nobby. I have personally been bludgeoned by the Blog. And whilst stick and stones etc - even the most inane insults from idle Mac rats have a certain ugly stickiness to them.

I think that if people want to have a say, a pop, a spit or a spat, then they should do the bloke thing, and look people in the eye when they point their typing fingers. No-one likes a coward.

It's not the Aussie or Kiwi way.

3:31 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Boy that's some reading to do!

A lot of it is quite valid, but one thing I objected to is Nobby's comment
"...played out by a lucky few juniors, unencumbered by the necessity to work more than
2 hours a day..."

I don't know what juniors he's been hanging around but I doubt you can get very far in NZ as a junior if you slack about, everyone knows stories of juniors getting abused and used, and most will go to some lengths to get a foot in the door.

At the risk of being just as pigeonholing as I am accusing Nobby of, this comment makes him sound like a typical 'ivory tower' ignoramus out of touch with his troops.

But maybe nobody cares. This feels too much like talkback radio, I'd better go do some work.

Bryce
Sugar

3:37 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Take away the right to anonymity and this blog will be deserted in minutes.

It will be populated by the priviledged few who are established enough to say whatever they want and not risk their jobs.

i.e. shareholders and cds.

3:44 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Haven't checked the blog out for a couple of weeks, how exciting to come back to it and see a wee ethical debate going on

At the risk of turning the blog into a behemoth of server-busting proportions I'd like to make a suggestion:
1. either put your name with your comment or;
2. in order to comment you'll have to post your own (best) work and see what it feels like to
a) get slagged
b) get stroked

Personally I'd like the blog to continue cause I don't have a telly and there's not so many places to catch-up with what's new in advertising except when I go to my parents to watch the league on sky.


glen@yukfoo

4:39 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This makes me laugh.

No really.

A few of the people who made some of the comments above should take a good look in the mirror and practice what they preach.

A good start would be to stop shagging other women and be honest with their wives.

You know who you are. And we know who you are.

And the people working you work with know who you are.

As for my opinion on this thread? Get some balance in you lives, all of you.

Do charity work, no not a scam, but stuff in the community.

People in other professions laugh about the petty nature of advertising. Could you ever imagine doctors, scientists, firemen, police... having these sort of petty arguments?

No of course you wouldn't. And you wouldn't expect them to either.

8:43 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Perhaps the blog serves a purpose to those disgruntled juniors that Mr.Nobay seem to think only works 2 hours a day, while in fact they put in 14 hours..They'll need to vent somewhere, let 'em.

Leave the fairly democratic blog alone and don't read it if you can't handle it.

For the people who likes swearing, slagging off people they do not know and using sexual references for everything, do it elsewhere please, it is immature.

10:12 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sent to Lynchy via email...

Lynchy, much though I admire all the good things the blog does for the Australian and New Zealand advertising community, in the last six months the good deeds have been completely overshadowed by the hordes of bitter and twisted individuals who've used it to savage anyone they please. I'm sure they think they're funny, but the reality is there is little wit or cleverness in what they write. If their ads were like their blogs, I certainly wouldn't hire them. Sure, I understand it gives everyone a voice, but do they really deserve avoice if this is what they have to say? Like Paul Catmur, I now try and avoid the New Zealand blog (we Poms are sensitive creatures you know). But when you asked me to respond to Nobby's piece, I did revisit it to see what everyone had to say. To my genuine surprise, there were some eminently quotable comments. But very few, I should add, from the anonymous contributors.
The best blogs were from people like Sean Cummins who attributed their names to their comments. It added so much more meaning when you know who they are. Nobby's right. Context is everything.
Let's give the anonymous blogger complete anonymity and ban the fucker for good.

Toby Talbot
Creative Director

11:17 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Opinions seem divided right in half between the mature crew that sees it as a futile exercise in negativity and the youngsters claiming it as the only space they have to voice their opinions without fear of retribution. Sign of the times? Generational change?

8:15 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good point Toby. Double your salary.

9:05 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Let's give the anonymous blogger complete anonymity and ban the fucker for good".

-says the underpaid, hard done by cd of s&s.

11:18 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you've got a clear conscience, you've got nothing to worry about.

This blog is just the equivalent of pub gossip which just happens to be online.

With or without the blog, the gossip/slander won't stop.

1:31 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello, good point Toby.

Surely posting as a registered user is the right thing to do?

I run the muckmouth.com forum and since we made it compulsory to post under your name the site became way more diplomatic (albeit ludicrous still).

This site would be great if this system was put in place. All the negativity and insults would disappear and it would basically encourage creative criticism rather than childish insults.

from Leighton.

11:48 am NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No Leighton, it wouldn't.

Some other person would open another blog. And almost overnight this blog would become irrelevent.

You can't stop free speech.

12:51 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That whole underpaid CD thing makes me laugh. Exactly what relevance has that got with anything Toby said? It's exactly why we should do away with anonymous bloggers. No more friggin' axe grinding! Let's move on guys.

7:30 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

at the end of the day i do believe in the freedom of speech and if you don't like what's been written, make a response or take it with a grain of salt.

it's interesting that the biggest critics of the site are CDs in prominent agencies (i.e. the establishment). hmmm.

i'm against personal attacks in these forums - unless it involves Gordon Clarke - but there needs to be a vehicle for debate. and as other people have already noted - what people say here is just he same thing they say at the pub every day of the week.

SO GET OVER IT!

3:24 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's nice to see that there is finally some sense of balance in this industry. Nice to see the elite club of high-powered previously untouchable admen quake in their ivory towers. Good to see that such a passionate debate take place about the relevance of a seemingly harmless blog. And what's funniest of all, is reading how much relevance all these high-powered people (who happily post their name in with their comments) seem to place on this blog. Most comments from them so far would seem to dismiss it outright. What crap! If only they all did the jobs they get paid mighty salaries for, without paying attention to this blog. Because then it would loose all it's power then wouldn’t it? But they pay attention to the goings on in here and we all know it. The only reason they want the ‘Anonymity’ of the blog removed is so they can use it for their own self-glorification. And we’ve all fucking had enough of that! Now, thanks to this blog, they have to be very careful. Careful about that next scam ad. After all, their best pal in the next office could anonymously spill the beans on them. Oh how sad. Oh how scary. They now have to be careful how they treat people. You can't just go about shitting on everyone... because it may come around to bite you anonymously – oh how very hard it must be on you poor guys.

The 'animosity' Nobby refers to at the beginning of this blog comes around to bite (generally but not always) those who need to be cut down to size. And it's nice to see that no amount of salary can protect them. They now have to be careful how they treat people. You can't just go about shitting on everyone... because it may come around to bite you anonymously – oh how very hard it must be on you poor guys. Practice 'nice' and you'll be just fine - at least on the main. Look around at the blogs so far and you can easily glean who the good guys are and who’re the jerks. So stop all your whining, you are not the be all and end all. Not anymore. Oh how scary.

All hail those without backbone. All hail the anonymous blogger. For unwittingly it would seem, he/she has put some much-needed checks and balances into this industry. And boy has it needed it. Good on you Lynchy, you’ve really saved us all. An it’s been really refreshing seeing the powerful whine and vent for a change, it’s good to know this blog works as an outlet for them as well.

5:47 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sent to Lynchy via email...

The thing with the blog is it’s not going away. Nor should it. Just about every single subject out there seems to have a blog nowadays – so one on our advertising industry, in theory, is a good thing. And in the subjective area of ideas, we all have strong opinions about what we like and what we don’t. That’s why we’re employed to do what we do.

I guess the thing for me is that we work in a creative industry. And the nature of creativity is about trying new or different things and sometimes we get it wrong. The blog is only a year old and what it ultimately becomes is up to us as an industry. We can choose to hang shit on each other and pull apart each others’ work. That’s the easy bit. And judging by its popularity, the fun bit too.

Alternatively, dare I say it, we can look for the positives. In an already cut-throat and marginalised industry, it would be great for the creative community to support what others are trying to do. I’m not saying we have to celebrate what we see as mediocre. But the way the blog seems to be working now is that everyone is out there ready to shoot they’re fellow creatives down at the first opportunity. Shouldn’t we be using the blog to champion creativity? More than anyone else, we’re the ones who believe in the value of ideas. So why do we spend all this energy on slagging them off? We seem to think that every other creative or agency is the enemy, when in fact, we’re all on the same side.

Through the blog, we have generally been re-inforcing the thoughts that many clients and their trusted researchers already have – that most of the ideas we ask our clients to trust us on, are crap, and that the billions of dollars that are invested in them would have been better spent elsewhere. Anywhere in fact.

Doesn’t it seem ridiculous to you that we are constantly talking down our very own industry? In think it’s fucking stupid. Imagine if we stumbled on a blog for the marketing industry that spent most of its time slagging off the ads we make. We’d be outraged wouldn’t we? But for some reason we think we’re clever to devalue our own craft.

Also, on a personal level, creativity has a lot to do with confidence. It takes confidence to back our ideas. To try new things. To experiment with a new approach and see what happens. By creating a climate of fear through our scathing negativity, I suspect we’re making it less attractive for creatives, especially the younger brigade, to really want to go out on a limb. What happened to that old adage about it being better to fail gloriously rather than not try at all? I worry about the damage the bitchy and anonymous comments, directed at named individuals for the rest of the industry to see, is doing to them, and their careers.

So yep, I think it’d be fantastic if it was mandatory to put our names on our comments. And when we’re making them, let’s think about the bigger effect it’s having on our industry.

6:43 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Craig Love said...

Andy Lish wrote:

"It's not the Aussie or Kiwi way."

How would you know you pommy bastard?

- an anonymous coward.

Only kidding mate. You are right this place is your basic snake pit. Anything that gets thrown in gets bitten.
Cheers,
Craig

12:26 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Isn't it interesting that the people who want the blog banned the most are the people with the worst reputations for stealing ideas/shitting on people etc. These reputations were earned well before this blog came along.

Put another way - I don't think I've read a "personal attack" that was unjustified. (This excludes work posted of course).

The blog just reinforces what people know - but this time it's in print. I agree with previous bloggers. In its own small way, this blog keeps people honest.

4:55 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yea 4.55, in a sad way you are right.

9:41 pm NZDT

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Russell Brown has the right idea:

http://publicaddress.net/system/

"You'll need to register to post, our preference is for people to register and post under real names, and we will be moderating for quality. I'm keen to expand the pool of people engaged in online discussion and I think an atmosphere of respect is vital to that aim. For the time being, only our bloggers will be able to launch new topics, but I'm open to suggestions for those. As we proceed, I'll make a practice of inviting in people with knowledge and experience relevant to the question under debate."

12:13 pm NZDT

 

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