Easy Mondays的动态

Leading by Example I’ve always been slightly nervous around corporate entertainment. I’m at my happiest when I know I’m getting business because people recognise I’m good at my job, and I don’t owe any ‘favours’ to suppliers because they’ve taken me to a footie match. I’m literally the kind of guy that will buy an all-inclusive holiday and feel guilty if I go to the bar more than twice in an evening! This doesn’t mean that I don’t get involved in corporate entertainment at all - but as the saying goes – ‘everything in moderation’. If my team feels that I’m never about because I’m at race days, golf events and football matches every 5 minutes when they are in the office grafting, it’s not a great look is it? Not if I then start trying to push performance and get more activity out of them. I really hope that Sir Keir Starmer cleans up politics – like he said he was going to do. I think we all agree it’s much needed. However, he must be waking up to some very uncomfortable headlines this morning. Over ￡100k in free stuff over the last 5 years – clothes, glasses, endless football matches, Taylor Swift tickets…the list goes on. For context, the next MP down the list has received less than half of this amount over the same period….crikey…. There’s nothing ‘against the rules’ in this (you can make your own mind up as to whether you feel the rules should be changed) but if you are setting yourself up as the sober face of serious politics – ready to clean up shop, you have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Like I said, not a good look, is it? #sirkeirstarmer #leadingbyexample #corporateentertainment

* This Here Round-up * - Finally kicked off the research phase of a talent project after a several month build-up to define the strategy and make the business case.?Personal highlight is setting Shona Sterland the task of predicting who would be nominated for the Mercury Awards by studying past nominees and the indicators that lead to this. The nominees were just announced yesterday, and guess what, she cracked it! #charliexcxftw. - Briefed in a mega update to our showreel, dropping next week, which will be a much better reflection of the mix of clients and work in the studio of late. - Re-building the client interface to our talent project management interfaces on Airtable with Dave, and seeing some 'newness hesitance' fade into gentle positivity from team and clients... Give it a month. - Successfully arming up with lawyers to battle our freeholder who landed us with some extortionate service charges of questionable legality. Still in progress, but after 4 months of brick walls, the little people seem to be winning. - Putting some further finishing touches to our new space on Broadway Market, so definitely ready for a studio warming party - watch this space. - Re-organising our hybrid Talent & Client Services teams roles and job titles to better differentiate these two weirdly similar skillsets into clearer divisions of labour and career trajectories. - Shoots for Jansport and The North Face, Alongside organising and hosting performers for the amazing inaugural Climb Festival for The North Face, and getting a text well past my bedtime to approve a decent bar tab as the after party rolled on. - Campaign Launches - just go and check out Under Armours European Homepages to see our first campaign drop - #Unstoppable - more on that next week. :) Personal highlights - Goodbye Tories! ??♂???? - Hello Summer ????

A bit of a vulnerable post here but I feel with all the positive 'I'm smashing it' posts, it's important to ground ourselves every now and then - and not to compare with a highlight reel. After watching Mark Cavendish's new #Netflix documentary where he details being nervous on his comeback - Imagine that, at the time 31 stage Tour de France winning Cyclist, being nervous!- it's inspired me to do the same. This week has genuinely been difficult. Things falling through that looked certain on the candidate side, and quietness where things looked busy on the client side. Missing out on some value where I definitely could have added some (and seen the financial reward), and struggling to get transparency or movement on things which were once transparent and moving. But there is positives, the consulting desk has some fantastic relationships with top candidates and clients where we are already adding value. Building a practice out in this market has it's challenges and the same as training in high altitude, when you come back down to earth it'll seem a walk in the park! Similarly, in recruitment and sales in general, things can flip overnight! As a wise man once said, #trusttheprocess. Time for a weekend berating Gareth Southgate in the pub and moving into the new flat. We go again on Monday. #managementconsulting #recruitment #consulting #sales #Altumconsulting #recruitmentconsultant

Yes, it's because we’re jelly. But not for what you think. The fiscally responsible reason for #canneshate is the outrageous cost of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In an era where #holdingcompanies can’t afford to pay vendors in the same quarter, or even in the same year, this is the most bilious of bitter pills. But if we’re indulgently honest, most of our graceless envy is about #opportunity. Every year there are 3 dozen assignments where the clients are smart enough, organizationally aligned, and have enough money and time to make something profoundly unforgettable. Of those, 11 will be #superbowl projects. The rest will be from the same 22 brands (worldwide) spread between the same 11 #cretiveagencies, where the same 7-9 #creativeteams generate the most work. In total, that's less than 100 people. But most of #CannesLions wins are NOT from a client-generated assignment. They’re the result of #adagencies and clients working together or #creativeteams generating their own opportunities. Here the numbers get ick though. Maybe 13% creatives have the necessary experience to make and present work that will win at Cannes. Over 75% of which don't work at agencies that support developing #awards opportunities or know how to sell them. So only about 3.25% of creatives have both the experience and the support for Cannes.?And they are all 1000% engaged in an endless pitch grind or are consumed by corporate frippery. A tiny % of these will sacrifice what non-existant personal time they have to focus on a #Cannes effort.?Maybe .8%. And that's most of our winners. 99.2% of #advertisingcreatives feel like they never had a chance. And they never did. This makes some of the work and topics discussed at Cannes feel hugely out of touch, and even irrelevant. Because #winning at the most prestigious festival for creativity isn’t just about “being a great creative.” It's about having access to the support you need to be a great creative. And that support doesn't just happen. It exists only because a brave few insist upon it. These are the ones who weather the constant bullying, career-murdering debates with global overbosses, and fiscal bean herders; which will inevitably result in most of them being fired in the next 36 months. THAT deserves Brobdingnagian recognition. And while every #Canneswinner isn't the result of some epic battle, the majority are.? And we are jealous of those whose allies fought hard for their creativity. We are jealous of the ones who made good use of their creative safe spaces, not only for the opportunities they earned but for the opportunities they were permitted to create. We are jealous of the gorgeously brilliant minds who fully deserve celebration, especially with the anti-creative numbskullery of our industry, And of course, we are #jealous of the brilliant work we did not do. And are hungry to best it. Even if no one wants to let us.

Coming off a week of being OOO! I didn’t do anything particularly special. To be honest, I was feeling a bit tired—maybe even a little burnt out. So, I took my own managerial advice and booked some time off to hang out at home and reset my routine. I also celebrated a birthday! If you’re a fall baby like me (shoutout to my fellow Libras ??), maybe you think of fall as a reset, too. While enjoying a staycation at home, I took some time to reflect. Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about: ? Working in comms/marketing for ten years! ? Celebrating 5 years at Brandish | A Creative Agency marking my transition from non-profit comms to #AgencyLife. ? How much my first comms job taught me about people. ? How fun it is to see my peers grow in their careers. ? Is the art of the commercial coming back?! And hopefully more thoughts I can flesh out in future posts. Stay tuned!

When starting out in my career, I was the person who would shy away from the camera.... But now, I love the challenge of featuring in video content and presenting Bonded Agency in an effective way. Being visible online is a commitment I made when we launched the business ?? I’m still learning and loving the process of challenging myself to constantly improve. A key focus is confidence – which doesn’t happen overnight. ? Confidence comes by reassuring yourself that you CAN do the things that worry you, by pushing out of your comfort zone. ? Next time you feel uncertain, remind yourself that the previous time wasn’t so bad! ? Step by step, celebrate the small wins ??. Over time you will overcome your fears and naturally improve. And remember, everyone gets nervous sometimes…it’s healthy and shows you care ??. How do you overcome your fears and anxieties? I’m of the opinion that it takes work and a willingness to be uncomfortable. Sometimes we need to push ourselves to do the things we least look forward to in order to progress - and who knows, you might end up enjoying it - do you agree? ? Below is the behind the scenes venue content we shot for our upcoming Future Trends in Advertising Festival at the Everyman Cinema in èdinburgh What are your thoughts? #BondedAdFest

?? Reflections from Glastonbury I took a step away from my usual job to dive into the vibrant and chaotic world of Glastonbury, Europe's biggest festival, welcoming over 200,000 attendees. This experience is always special to me – it's a time to be present, to focus on the now, and to be part of a massive team effort that makes this incredible event happen. The atmosphere at Glastonbury is electric, and being part of this big machine is exhilarating. It's a chance to bring teams together, to implement lessons from previous years, and to elevate our performance. Every shift, every interaction, every step (and there were a lot of them – I averaged 38,000 steps a day!) counts towards creating an unforgettable experience for the festival-goers. Of course, not everything was smooth sailing. Dealing with challenging individuals reminded me of the importance of empathy and effective communication. Sometimes, it feels like people haven't heard the saying, "you catch more bees with honey." It's key to approach teamwork as a partnership and focus on collaboration rather than pointing out flaws. Transparency and honesty about motives when asking for help can make a huge difference. Every action, no matter how small, contributes to the overall customer experience, especially when thousands are pouring through the gates. It's about bringing people along on the journey with you, overcommunicating, and motivating them to go the extra mile. A key takeaway: never talk down to people – whether they're punters or colleagues. It doesn't make you a hero; in fact, it does quite the opposite. Sometimes, amidst the whirlwind, it's essential to take a step back, breathe, and centre yourself to plan the best course of action. It has taken me a week to recover, but I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I can’t wait to do it all over again next year! Here’s a picture from the last shift at our gate with the amazing security team that made it all possible. #Glastonbury #FestivalLife #Teamwork #CustomerExperience #Leadership #EventManagement #Reflection

They don't call MAD//FEST the biggest UK marketing festival for nothing! We had an amazing time meeting incredible people and learning new insights from the top leaders in the industry. Elliot Nedas, our Director of Business Development, shares his key takeaways from MAD//Fest in our latest blog, revealing the top trends in marketing and advertising. From strategic partnerships to tech investments, investing in the right talent to market expansion strategies, find out which companies are shaping the future. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/grMpEarh #Madfest #blog #marketinginsights #advertisinginsights #InnovativeCompanies #agencies #brands #marketingtrends

Connection to culture matters more than ever. This means that you if you have a genuine connection to the culture of the people you are aiming to reach. In our case, we know them because we are them. When you’re deeply connected to culture, you can move much faster and more effectively than those who are not. We don’t need to spend six months immersing ourselves in a company to help them reach their goals. We fly in like a hit squad and get quantifiable results ASAP. Large ad agencies are feeling the pain, laying off hundreds while we’re steadily growing. Why? Aside from the fact that Oscar Pena and I are two charming mofongo-eating New Yorkers, we believe this is because of our relentless transparency and effectiveness. Our connection to culture is our superpower. “This is the best campaign we’ve ever had,” said by all of our clients. That means the money they spent on us turned into a hefty ROI for them, and that’s always our #1 goal. Talk to us(Luis Guzmán voice) Original image of freestyle, time-traveling Luis Guzmán by us.

Next up in our (un)natural habitat series is: Jasper Diks and Billy Witbraad, a creative director duo working at TBWA\NEBOKO. “???? ????????’?? ???????????? ???????? ?????????????????? - ?????? ?????? ??????????????, ????????????????????????, ?????? ?????????????????????? ???????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ??????????????, ???????????????????? ????????????????.” ?? ???????? ???? ???????? ???? ??????? “More than anything it’s just a fun thing to watch and keep up with. But there was a time when Ajax almost made it to the Champions League and I was strongly debating leaving my friend's wedding to find somewhere good to watch the match.” ?? ?????? ?????????????????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ???????? ??????????? “We are quite different but that’s what really helps our dynamic. Billy generally tends to be more rational with our ideas and better at brainstorming, while Jasper can get more emotional and is the better salesman of the two. We’re just better as a duo.” Jasper likes how Billy is always positive because it helps him get into a similar mood, but his stubbornness can get in the way sometimes. Equally, Billy has a love/hate relationship with Jasper’s chaos. ?? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ?????? ????????????????? “Our advice would be to not get too stuck into an idea - it’s good to keep your options open and build on it or move forward. The job is never done because there are always better ways to make an idea stronger. We also think we should celebrate the end of shoots more often. Having drinks or some form of smaller celebrations as a team is common in other countries after a wrap, but in The Netherlands, we tend to wrap up and move on too quickly.” ?? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????????????????? ?????????????? ???? ?????????? ???????? ????? “We know of the only McDonald's in Amsterdam that sells a triple cheeseburger. We know what we’re talking about.” ?? ???? ??????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????????????????? ???? ???????? ????????? “Not necessarily imposters, but it can feel a bit out of place sometimes because the job is essentially to sell people things and influence their behaviors. We like to say that 80% of the job is being a salesman because it’s one thing to come up with an idea, but another thing to pitch it well.” Full of life together, this creative duo has a lot of great energy to give, and this fun definitely comes out in their work.