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But Kevin, did you read the book? Today I found myself reading a piece in Fast Company about Kevin Roberts, the Saatchi & Saatchi CEO who could easily be described as gonzo. That's what I thought when I started reading the piece. He identifies with the customer. And hey, he sounds kinda like a Cluetrain author when he blows out stuff like this:
Today, you want to know everything -- and you can know anything. Information is accessible to everyone. We didn't know all of that stuff in the past because nobody told us. But now -- guess what? You can't hide anything. I know where your factory is; I know how much you pay your workers in Indonesia -- and I have a point of view on those issues. They influence how I think about your company and about your brand. And today, I also have an incredible array of choices, all of which perform up to my level of expectation. And this:
Take the iMac: the most sensual product since the dildo. It absolutely does not belong to Steve Jobs. It belongs to me. I want to hold the iMac. I want to choose the flavor of it. I want to love it. The iMac belongs to me -- and I get to choose the flavor. And this:
I'm not crazy about everything this guy does — a lot of it just looks like prettier noise — but I get that he's not out to screw over the customer. I get that he understands the conversational nature of markets. And I get that he understands something none of the Cluetrain authors cares much about, which is the very large wad of consumer culture that actually does want to participate in the Matrix-like producer-authored world that television has been pumping into our veins and brains for fifty years. Then I think... wait a minute. Isn't this the same guy who slammed Cluetrain a few months back at some conference in San Francisco? So I look it up. And sure enough, here it is, on the Saatchi (or the Saatchikevin)site. He says "the Cluetrain Manifesto pisses me off." Here's why:
Cluetrain has got a great title, snappy vocabulary and a list of do’s and don’t’s that appeal to lazy people. But it’s so boring! They say markets are conversations, but they’re really talking about typing. Text, 12 point Times Roman. It may be text with attitude, but it’s still just text. What’s missing are the sensual dimensions of sound and light and colour. I guess someone gets off on smiley faces in emails, but I want more. Me, I’m in your face with a great story and point of view about real products that real people buy everyday from real places. I believe in selling, in storytelling, in seduction. He also quotes that awful New York Times review of the book. (See my belated rebuttal.) Anyway, I guess I'd rather have this guy selling, telling stories and seducing us than to continue suffering the dull stupidities of marketing's countless attack drones. But I also have trouble caring, because I'm also sure that as soon as the TV narcotic wears off, the seducing won't go so easy. But hey, maybe I'm full of Physique. Anyway, I gotta get to bed. It's almost 2am. Guess I'm one of those lazy people. Close call Bruce Steinberg writes, This just in on Salon. Great article on the obscure work-for-hire legislative amendment the RIAA successfully slipped in last year with no industry discussion or debate that would have effectively eliminated artists' royalties "on all sound recordings" forever. Fortunately, it got found out and is now likely to be repealed. Worthwhile reading. A sample:
Another log for the fire.
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