Week Notes // 15th January
The parakeets in The Boy and the Heron (Dir. Miyazaki, 2023)
Last week was somewhat of a ‘null result’. It was always going to be that way though, right? Most people weren’t fully back up to speed. The same cannot be said of this week. The world, especially at work, suddenly accelerated. Projects and questions and queries entered the inbox with gusto.
It feels weird to say we’re midway through January already. Before long we’ll be one month down and into February. It’s hard not to wish the time away, especially when it’s so grim out there. Some consolation is that at least we’re in a season. Not that sort of generic autumn/winter thing which it feels like we’ve had for the last few years. Its cold. And frosty. As it should be in the UK in January.
Working (new projects, reflections on work this week, look ahead to next week)
Working with colleagues in preparation for a workshop next week. It’s for an interesting brand in a new category of product, so there are lots of opportunity to ask interesting questions and deliver some interesting thinking in the process. In researching and building case studies and references for the stimulus was genuinely struck my how the concept of challenger brands has proliferated. At PHD we’ve been fortunate enough to work very closely with Adam Morgan and Eat Big Fish. Whilst Morgan is arguably the leading authority on ‘challenger thinking’, it’s wild how many agencies and consultants now stake a claim to this sort of thinking. One might ask that if challenger thinking is so common, how challenging is it in reality?
Some new projects starting to materialise across planning and strategy and research. Hoping for further updates on some of the significant projects delivered last year. Haven’t quite got my head into the swing of ‘trafficking’ the work yet and I await an inevitable snarl up of several demands being made on the teams time at the same time.
Next week largely will revolve around delivering the workshop above and making a dent in some of the newer briefs.
Thinking and Doing (what have I been thinking about, who did I meet, where have I been)
Met Charlie. Discussed his new fashion project and how that is going.
Met Garrett. Discussed podcasts and his holiday plans. Plus golf. And perhaps this is the prod I needed to get the clubs out again and start hitting balls.
Met Batty. Who I don’t think i’ve seen in about 5 years. Good to chat about her work at TikTok and how we (planners in agencies) could use the platform more effectively.
Newsletter issue 4 went out. Subscriber growth is slowing (which was always going to happen) but was slower than either of us had anticipated. Linkedin is important for the distribution of this - but as per last week’s weeknote, it’s interesting to try and unpack what drives the algorithm on the platform. There is a definite ‘throttling’ in effect, it would seem. As a result, the time for a testing matrix is here. Data in substack platform is pretty comprehensive, so have transcribed the most ‘important’ metrics into a table. Test next week will be to try and establish the base. No Linkedin or broader social sharing. Whilst ‘eyeballs’ are important - we are media planners after all - feedback has been good and people seem to the like the format and the things we’ve put into it. So that at least is something.
We have merch coming. Stickers. May need to re-activate the illustrator account and start churning out more designs for ‘sticker packs’.
In the office 3 days this week. Not sure it’s working perfectly. My role means I need to work with various teams who might not be in on same days I am. As a result, I have to go in more than perhaps the business would like me to. Space is tight.
Personal writing - beyond the week notes - has been a bit slow. Aside from the torrent of trends that landed across the last 8 weeks or so… the other ‘evergreen’ article format is the ‘year ahead for xxx’. Thinking about taking the opportunity to write my own with a view to formalising an opinion on the year ahead of communications strategy.
Using readwise to help develop a bank of pictures for presentations. In particular found ‘Flickr’s commons’ a very helpful resource. Desperately trying to avoid unsplash. You can notice an unsplash shot from a mile away.
Reading, watching, listening (the things I’ve found interesting this week)
Have taken a pause on To Paradise. Found the second book a bit of a drag. Approx. 50% of the way through the book and before undertaking part 3, going to read Yellowface.
A big week for films in the Darlington household. Had the pleasure of going to the cinema twice this week. Once with Lisa to see Poor Things (Dir. Yanthomos, 2023) and once on my own to see The Boy and the Heron (Dir. Miyazaki, 2023). Both were excellent, though Poor Things is perhaps the best thing I’ve seen in some time and both Lisa and I came away bouncing.It’s like a steam-punk Wes Anderson epic. The quality of the world building, the formal components of the film and the story and ‘moral’ landscape it operates in were awe-inspiring. The script is super sharp. One line in particular felt worthy of noting down and keeping for a presentation or document soon (below).
Watched Three Colours: Blue (Dir. Kieślowski, 1993). Like The Boy and The Heron the set-up or the ‘defining’ incident’ which sets the plot in motion happens as the film opens. No exposition. No preamble. Bang. A useful reminder about how to structure stories. Haven’t seen this film in about 15 years. Had forgotten how wonderful it is. Binoche is incredible. Studies this film at university. Never got to watching the other two.
Also watched The Holdovers (Dir. Payne, 2023). Enjoyable.
Finished fifth series of Fargo. It’s underrated telly. The format - a consistent theme (underbelly) and consistent setting - but a refreshed set of characters is a compelling idea for how to structure stories.
Gave my brother a copy of Marr’s Guitars for his birthday before Christmas. Indirectly, this has been responsible for a minor-wormhole event this week. Have watched in-depth videos with both Marr and Noel Gallagher on their guitars and the tech they use in their set up. I’m not a guitarist, but thoroughly enjoyed both videos and watching two people whose music I admire a great deal talk about their process is always interesting. In particular was struck by the fact that both of them have picked up new guitars for the first time and had the tunes to some of their most famous music ‘simply fall out’. They both believe that the instruments has the music in them. It’s up to the player to extract it. A lovely thought that feels like it might kinda translate into a comment on context and culture, agency buildings, teams etc.
Slowly building out the 2024 Spotify playlist. Enjoying music again vs. Podcasts, which seemed to take up a significant chunk of my time last year. Suggestions most welcome.
Readwise as a RSS subscription tool is now starting to function properly and isn’t quite as overwhelming as it was at the start of the trial (it adds the last 5 entries to any new feeds you subscribe to). Some brilliant articles and newsletters doing the rounds. Have especially enjoyed becoming reaquainted with Mat Muir’s Web curious. Enjoyed this piece on challenges with a ‘frictionless world’ by Thomas Klaffke. Slowing making a note of the longer-form things I need to read.
Not running enough. Been too cold. Need to strap the shoes on and start plodding through the ‘hard yards’. Refusing to visit the gym until mid-february. Our local David Lloyd (i’m not a member) was mobbed when I drove past this morning. They’ve had to open a new overflow car-park and some of their members appeared to have abandoned cars on the pavement nearby (helpful and community minded).
