Yes, woof woof Ollie, an important team member, is quite a character. He does not give a damn about brands and the people associated with promoting brands – he simply goes about his business, which is leaping at all and sundry, barking at clients who come up with silly objections, chewing anything, including the latest idea with gay abandon and on occasion pissing on work that simply smells good.
But Ollie, god bless him, performs an important task in a creative organization. He reminds us every day that over used words like creativity, strategic design, research and oops! I forgot the favourite- key consumer insight are mere words and nowhere near the real McCoy, which is life, warts and all rushing by with children screaming, couples necking in the park, vegetable markets , stations, airports, tearful goodbyes and a million other situations and emotions that one can capture as life happens. So what is the blooming point you are trying to make, you may ask – the point is this: many creative people are in their air conditioned cocoons trying to figure out an idea that will emote with the general populace and give brands under their custody a push in the market place.
My thinking is that creative people should park themselves at these highways of life, when they are thinking and ideating for a brand, so that they have a better chance to observe real people, (not an insipid psychographic profile) and maybe ideas that have a warm human touch will emerge.
This brings us back to good old Ollie, whose goofy presence reminds us that no amount of jargon and threats of Big Data can produce the faintest feeling of warmth and a good massive lick on your face is all you need to make your day.
