“At the heart of an effective creative philosophy is the belief that nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature, what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his actions, even though his language so often camouflages what really motivates him. For if you know these things about man you can touch him at the core of his being.”
- Bill Bernbach
[Thank to El Gaffney for sending that quote]
I just came across Niku’s presentation at the PSFK Conference in London via Punk Planning. I have a lot of respect for Niku. He’s the same guy that gave me an opportunity to work at the Naked London office. Also, put me in an environment and team where I could learn a lot. And I did and I’m still learning from this guy halfway across the world.
Niku outlined a guideline of five universal needs for successful understanding on interaction that apply not just to life but cascade down into winning people over in general social intercourse.
- Need for love
- Need to learn
- Need to give back
- Need for simplicity
- Need for play
Kiva was the next great example of giving back. They are a web interface that allows people to sponsor entrepreneurs in developing companies with loans that save lives. By putting people in touch with specific entrepreneurs a direct connection is made, cutting through the bureaucratic and less rewarding transaction of just giving to charity.
Read the rest of the write-up here and another summary here.
I think this type of thinking [giving back] ties into what PSFK wrote about this morning.
My point is that you have no right to market things you know are harmful or that lead to bad outcomes, regardless of how much you need that job.
Along the way, “just doing my job,” has become a mantra for blind marketers who are making short-term mistakes in order to avoid a conflict with the client or the boss. As marketing becomes every more powerful, this is just untenable. It’s unacceptable.
If you get asked to market something, you’re responsible. You’re responsible for the impacts, the costs, the side effects and the damage. You killed that kid. You poisoned that river. You led to that fight. If you can’t put your name on it, I hope you’ll walk away. If only 10% of us did that, imagine the changes. Imagine how proud you’d be of your work.
Read the rest of the article here and on Seth Godin’s blog here.
Is it time for our industry to become responsible?
View Comments so far ↓
1 El Gaffney // Jun 22, 2007 at 9:50 am
assuming most planners know this, but just want to make sure bill bernbach gets the credit for that quote.
kiva is incredible. can’t believe i hadn’t heard about it.
Leave a Comment