I will invent a better wheel

Mediocrity is tempting. It is effortless and widely appreciated. It is actually easier to achieve than the state of being absolutely crap at something. So why not embrace it?

I recently had a pleasant conversation with a great ad man about the importance of being different in advertising. Of course, being the Lady Gaga of advertising is probably not the way to go (sounded much better in my head), but having a point of difference is paramount. And not just in advertising.

At the moment, it seems to me that most people in advertising are trying too hard to be different or creative, hence some ad campaigns that overlook the main purpose of advertising - that of selling happiness - and whose main aim is to be awarded some Lions in lovely France. If perfection weren't so boring, I'd say I'd want Leo Burnett's creativity and David Ogilvy's salesmanship. In lovely France.

Great advertising requires good people - I retract that. Great advertising requires great people, people who see things differently without having to wear some magic glasses. Advertising is changing rapidly, and what might have worked five years ago might be inefficient today. I'm no retired ad man, but I'm going to say this to myself: Take roads that haven't been travelled before. Invent a better wheel. Fail like hell. Then get it right. Be amazing.

One Crappuccino, McPlease

Ordering coffee these days feels like a personality test and takes almost as long as walking your dog. You cannot go to McDonald's and order a cheeseburger, but asking for a McCheeseburger might get you out of trouble. So just how happy is humanity about having so many products to choose from?

First of all, I don't think the problem here is the great number of options available to consumers. Within the basic context of democracy and that of a free market, having choices is good. Having more choices is even better. The problem, then, is that advertising creates what seems to be new products. That's why you need an Italian dictionary to order a coffee in England.

However, this situation is more than the result of advertising creating products that only seem new. Brands such as Starbucks use Italian names for their coffee for the simple reason that Italian coffee is widely appreciated as high quality coffee. Therefore, Starbucks plus Italian quality equals brand quality. Surely, there are more reasons as to why products today seem so complicated, but the bottom line is that behind any frappuccino there is the old-fashioned coffee.

What Next?

Success. To a certain extent, we all know what success is. It could be working in an office that has walls and more than one window, or being recognised on the street, or being more annoying than Simon Cowell, or not having a clue as to what treasure lies behind the digits of your account number(s). But what happens once you've reached that ridiculously perfect social and professional status?

I have no idea. I am but a 21-year old middle-class dreamer whose greatest success was not even paid in real money - even though, come to think of it, I did get paid in gold (sort of). Anyway, I guess there is always something greater than what you are and what you do. So if you are successful and need ten accountants to sort out your fortune, that doesn't mean you cannot have twenty accountants for the same purpose if you suddenly find yourself overwhelmingly and dangerously successful. In other words, having everything is technically speaking impossible. 

However - and I'm saying this without owning an island - I don't believe success necessarily involves having a lot of money. Maybe success is not even a corner office. Maybe success is having a job that you love, true friends, one wife, some kids and a dog. So what if this is a cliché? Societies are based on clichés by definition. That said, success is certainly perceived in different ways by different people, and no definition in this polluted world will be able to objectively portray such a subjective concept. Better yet, no post on this blog will risk boring readers to death by technically analysing the notion of success. Be successful.