life – Damon's Brain

Advertising. Ideas are easy. It’s the caring that costs.

“The simple act of caring is heroic.” Edward Albert There’s a quiet, persistent mistake the industry keeps making about creatives. A kind of polite delusion. We say “creatives come up with ideas,” as if that’s the job. As if that’s the mountain. But coming up with ideas is not the job. It’s barely the foothills.Continue reading “Advertising. Ideas are easy. It’s the caring that costs.”

Creativity. Can we please have a bit of culture around here?

“Home’s where you go when you run out of homes.” John le Carre We want to be part of popular culture. A phrase that you hear a million times in advertising. It’s one of those phrases. Like make it go viral. There are many phrases like this in our business. They are said so oftenContinue reading “Creativity. Can we please have a bit of culture around here?”

Cannes. The truth is nobody bloody knows.

“We drive into the future using only our rearview mirror.” Marshall McLuhan This one will be a little different. Cannes is normally a mirror to the industry. But this year it was a kaleidoscope. It showed us many possible futures. An endless array of possibilities that will forever change things. It was weird, you couldContinue reading “Cannes. The truth is nobody bloody knows.”

Advertising. How do you rob a bank without going into a bank?

“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push – in just the right place – it can be tipped.” Malcolm Gladwell I will get to the bank robbery question in a second but first baby powder. There is an old advertising story/mythContinue reading “Advertising. How do you rob a bank without going into a bank?”

Creativity. Things we shouldn’t lose.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw Sorry it’s been a while. One thing I have learnt this year is that it is way harder and takes way longer to write a book than you think. But, we are almost done. My book basedContinue reading “Creativity. Things we shouldn’t lose.”