The ‘Everyone’s Complaint Department’ series of comic strips began as random doodles and reflection pieces of Alvin Teoh, ECD of Naga DDB Tribal. These little stories featured in MARKETING magazine were originally posted on Facebook and are an ongoing tribute to life in Adland.
It’s 2 in the morning. On a Sunday. And you get a message starts with an apology: Sorry to disturb you at this hour, but this is SUPER URGENT!!… Well of course it is. It’s not a regular urgent text. It’s SUPER URGENT ALL CAPS WITH 2 EXCLAMATION MARKS kind of text. That was my me-time you messenger of darkness. And I was midway through Narcos chapter 9!
Being hounded for stuff is part and parcel of what we do. And that’s ok. But when it’s relentless and constant and perpetually urgent, you’ll never do anything worthwhile. I don’t think ad peeps fear hard work and late nights. They fear hard work and late nights over petty and insignificant things. Like 3 days of arguments over a full-stop on a banner smaller than the size of your thumb that will be ignored by 99.56% of the people. This is a true story by the way. I can give many examples but you get the point. We do spend quite a lot of time on silly things and people just die and burn out from it.
The mind is a wonderful thing and there’s a desperate need for it wander and wonder. Not all the time of course. But it needs a little time out, a little distraction, a little escape. To the layman, this may seem to be an act of laziness. But some of the best ideas happen when you’re not thinking about it. There’s a time for stress and madness, and there is a time for play and distractions. You’ll hardly get the best out of people when you’re constantly demanding the best of out of them. We joke about this saying ‘the work is getting in the way of the work’. And it’s not funny.
I encourage some time out. To watch a movie. To have a latte. To eavesdrop on conversations at a coffee shop. To stare at the sky, the wall, the urinal. To walk around aimlessly. To watch that Solo trailer again and again. To watch it against that Beastie Boy track. To take note of every detail, every line, every hue, every sound. I encourage time outs to talk. To listen. To reflect on epic events taking place in the quite of the soul. To revisit memories, happy ones, sad ones, and to take note of all these things. It is not an escape born out of being irresponsible. But an escape into the self to find the common narrative we all share. We need to reclaim some of that me-time so the masses can get the best of what we have to offer.
When that is allowed to happen, the mind acts like a sponge and it stores all the data from those time-outs, filters them, rearranges them and dishes them back to you when you least expect it to and magic happens.
Is the Customer at the heart of your Digital Transformation?
On 19th of July, MARKETING will be organising a conference on Customer-Centric Digital Transformation (#DTCX2018) to help you answer that question. The conference will be driven by Paul Stewart who authored the best-seller ‘Branded Customer Service’ and currently is the Special Advisor, Strategy & Transformation for TMI Malaysia. Drawing from his 25 years of diverse experience as a Chief Economist, CEO and consulting in organisational change, transformation and innovation Paul will be sharing his learnings and current trends in this realm.
He will be joined by key thought leaders in the areas of transformation, data analytics, customer service, branding, marketing, digital, human resources and more! Some of the key names who will be joining us include:
* Imran Kunalan Abdullah, Advisor/Principal Consultant – Digital Talent Development & Leadership and People Analytics
* George Aveling, CEO, TMI Malaysia
* Laurence Smith, Head, Asia Region, SmartUP
* Falko Leonhardt, Principal Consultant Transformation Strategy and Change, TMI
* Mohd Adam Wee Abdullah, Group CMO & Chief Customer Experience Officer, CIMB Group
and MORE!
Get ready to be inspired by case studies on transformation, honest conversations on driving change and actionable insights you can take back to implement in your organisation.
Date: 19th July 2018
Time: 8.30 am -6.00 pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Center, Bukit Kiara
For more information on DTCX 2018 contact Amira today at [email protected] or Book your spot early to avoid disappointment!
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