Michael Goldthorpe is Managing Partner at Hunch.
As the nation readies itself for a long weekend of hot cross buns and relaxation, Michael Goldthorpe takes inspiration from Easter and points out that facts are largely irrelevant when someone tells a good story.
Michael Goldthorpe was inspired by Steve Bayliss last week when he said if it ain’t good, it won’t work, if it isn’t achieving a sales metric, it doesn’t belong in marketing, and if people don’t talk about it, it’s dead. And if you want to know how to do it, there’s an acronym for that.
Plenty has been written about the passing of Robin Williams in the past few days. And Michael Goldthorpe thinks it’s of relevant interest that one of his last pieces of work was a show about advertising, an industry that, like Hollywood, is pretty good at monetising mania.
The insight that kids are clever is nothing new, but Michael Goldthorpe’s experience at his son’s ‘take Dad to work day’ showed just how fearlessly they come up with new ideas. If you’re looking for genius, unlearn what you know.
When it comes to agencies, is bigger usually better? Or can smaller shops be just as sharp? Michael Goldthorpe reckons the answer to both questions is yes.
The classic ‘work first, play later’ incentive strategy works. But in this industry, Michael Goldthorpe thinks fun works better.
Michael Goldthorpe went along to TVNZ’s new season launch at the Viaduct Events Centre. And he got inspired about the potential for New Zealand to become a branded content powerhouse.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year it’s themed around the idea of ‘Connecting’. It’s when some of the smartest people in our industry do amazing work to help us better understand mental illness. But when it comes to understanding, the real heavy lifting is usually achieved through conversation. So, as someone who’s lucky enough to be relatively successful in spite of mental illness, Michael Goldthorpe has decided to open up in an attempt to kick-start some chatter.
If you get to know your customers, keep them engaged and talk to them occasionally without a hard sell, Michael Goldthorpe believes it will pay off in the long run.
It seemed like such a good idea: Peanuts vs Cashews. Grab a handful, pelt your mates and discover once and for all who’s the real ‘King of the Nuts’. Then things went wrong. A rogue peanut bounced off a lamp-post, caught a cycle courier and tossed him in front of a bus. Luckily the bus swerved, no one was hurt and they only took out a small building. Rogue accident, you wouldn’t read about it (mostly because it didn’t happen). But it could. And the question on the table after a recent Australian Standards Board decision that has put the onus on brands to manage their Facebook pages is where does the buck stop when social goes awry?
My four-year old had a birthday party a while back. Nothing fancy, just a few mates, an obstacle course, a cake, a piñata, goody bags – the usual stuff. But the build up to that birthday was something else. He was so excited that anyone and everyone got an invitation. And it got me thinking: what’s the difference between a four-year old birthday party and a customer loyalty programme? If the boy is the brand, the product is fun and the party gives you double points on Tuesdays; here’s why I think there’s stuff we can learn from four year olds.
“But I had that idea.” Spend any time in an agency creative department and you’ll hear that a lot. It’s usually true. In fact, if I think back a decade to adschool (and communications theory before that) there’s a well-founded, pointy-headed theory that there are only seven creative territories. And, just like the seven musical notes, true creativity is about the song you choose to write. So what better place to explore that theory than through the winners of this year’s Film Lions? I spotted six of the seven core thoughts—same old ideas, incredible craft. Or, to mis-quote Edison, one percent inspiration, 99 percent execution.
Once you get past the Dr Seuss headline, there’s a serious question here. It’s also a hot topic right now. When big business is scouring every budget line to trim a little fat, many of them ask, “Can I save money with an in-house studio?” I reckon the answer is “maybe.” Having worked in big agencies, smaller ones, digital shops and in-house, here’s why I think the answer is “horses for courses.”
“And the winner is… no one.” That was the result for the top prize at this year’s Nexus Awards after the judges scratched their data-weary heads and decided New Zealand’s best data work wasn’t good enough to justify the big prize. There was lots of talk about standards to maintain and excellence required and all the rest of it. But the bottom line is: we went backwards. We all got together to celebrate the best data thinking of 2011 and our standout result was “please try harder”.
So I’m 32, I’ve been an advertising creative for almost a decade and I’m beginning to feel old. Worse still, I’m running scared. It’s the ‘kids these days’. Seems like they can do anything.
Last week I was lucky enough to spend a day soaking up the latest digital wizardry at Webstock 2010. My plan was to get a better understanding of all things digital to help us do even better digital work.