Author Archives: Paul

Iain M Banks, who died this morning from cancer managed to conquer two literary genres in one career – “straight” fiction and “science” fiction. In both of these fields he displayed a remarkable talent. I read “The Wasp Factory” first. The strange, haunting and disturbing atmosphere that pervades the novel is as powerful a vision, in it’s own way, as Orwell’s, 1984.

I followed it with “Use of Weapons” one of his early sci-fi novels. I was blown away by Banks’s rich creation – “The Culture”. A futuristic, extremely liberal, technologically advanced civilisation forcing it’s own brand of enlightenment on the rest of the universe. An achievement easily on a par with Asimovs creation of “The Foundation”. The novel covers the Culture’s struggles with an almost Medieval, brutal religious civilisation. The juxtaposition of of any present day issue (in this case the US – Muslim world conflict), onto a separate future is possibly where the real power of all science fiction lies. It allows for a more dispassionate appraisal of a situation and an opportunity to re-value it from a distant perspective. He will be sadly missed.

Saddened to hear news of the death of one of my childhood film heroes. Ray Harryhausen’s work fixed itself in the mind of the viewer. To a 10 year old boy the films were terrifying and exhilarating. Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Clash Of The Titans were superb examples of stop frame animation. But my favourite was always the even more surreal “Valley of the Gwangi”.

I loved westerns and dinosuars, and here was a western with a Tyrannosaurus Rex as the main villain. The scene where it escapes its cage in the bullring and rampages through the place, eating spectators, was as wild and scary as anything in Jurassic Park. RIP.

Bowie’s new single “Where Are We Now?, his first in 10 years, was launched yesterday, without fanfare, on his 66th birthday. Once again, the master media manipulator has wrong-footed us all. He hadn’t retired, as we all suspected – it seems he has just been enjoying life and, perhaps, biding his time until meaningful work had been created and was ready to be released.

The single is a nostalgic, elegiac and mournful reflection on his time in Berlin in the late 1970′s when he lived there with Iggy Pop. There is a wistful, melancholic yearning quality about it. Rather sad and rather beautiful. He seems frail and vulnerable in the video, but I hope this is simply a reflection of the songs artistic and philosophical subject matter, rather than his physical state of health (as some have suggested). Either way, it augers well for the forthcoming album. Happy Birthday David, and thanks for the gift. Hear the new single.

PS. Jonathan Barnbrook, who designed the intriguing new album cover (based on the original Heroes album cover art) offers some fascinating insights into the creative process behind its inception here

Yes, I know it’s a bit late to be commenting on the Olympics, but now that the dust has settled we can at least view the games with a little more objectivity… They have of course been an outstanding success. We were all galvanized by the sense of occasion and the almost surrealistic, magical atmosphere that descended over the capital for those few weeks.

Naturally sporting achievements took centre stage (my favorite being Nicola Adams women’s boxing gold). However, for me, the greatest sense of “wonder” during the games was elicited by Danny Boyle’s astonishing opening ceremony. Often described as “bonkers” in the press, it was a work of joyous, anarchic brilliance. It pressed all the right buttons, and was so powerful in its vision that it seemed to unite the whole country in a moment of celebratory self belief. Why was it so successful, so life affirming so breathtaking? Are there any lessons we (and our clients) can take from it’s success to apply to our own creative endeavors?

Firstly, I suggest, the selection of Danny Boyle as creative director was a stroke of genius. He has talent, personality, passion, integrity and energy. He seems his own man and not a party political placement.

Lesson No.1 – Be bold when selecting a creative partner. Look for vision, boldness, opinion, good form and a clear sense of creative direction.

Having selected Mr Boyle, Seb Coe apparently placed a “protective ring” around the whole creative team keeping out any “small-minded” political interference.

Lesson No.2 – Let them get on with it. If you have enough faith in your creative team to actually select them, let them get on with it and trust them to deliver the right results. If you have chosen your creative partner well, the results will be worthwhile.

The opening ceremony was audacious, anarchic, enlightened, intelligent and full of heart-warming human values. It wasn’t aimed at pleasing everyone, It didn’t pull punches. It had a personal point of view.

Lesson No.3 – Don’t try to please everyone. A clear individual vision will always stimulate debate, but it also implies creative integrity, and that resonates with consumers. Whereas design by committee leads to compromise and that can weaken a brand message. I don’t mean to be encouraging creative arrogance here… I mean that every brand has a personality and people buy personality. Therefore don’t dilute the creative message by letting too many people influence the outcome.

The opening ceremony was so much more stimulating and interesting than the closing ceremony. I am not exactly sure why it turned out that way, but my guess is that the closing ceremony creative team tried too hard to please too many people. Finally, during the process, the whole show became a middle-of-the-road compromise, not really pleasing anyone. In these highly competitive days, the bold vision, beautifully executed, surely has the better chance of winning gold.