Lewis Beaton – 17th May 2011

Advertising and Mouthy Mancunians

All in all, my favourite band is probably Oasis. The first two albums are comprised solely of absolute belters. Some of my closest bonds have been cemented by howling out the chorus of “Champaign Supernova” at the end of a night out. A drunken brit-pop sing-along is the mark of a proper house party in my opinion. They have also been a great comfort in times of sadness, “Half the World Away” is a particular favourite of mine when staring into a glass of gin, I also recommend Noel’s live version of “Don’t go away” if anyone fancies a little cry.

http://www.4shared.com/audio/CqfWu2fJ/Oasis_-_Dont_Go_Away__Noel_liv.html

At the height of their success, Oasis were everywhere. They were, and are engrained into British culture.

Although there is no doubt that the basis of their greatness is in the songs, part of the reason they were such a favourite with the media arguably has a lot to do with the extra curricular antics, the arrogant interviews, the scuffles with reporters, the deportations from Amsterdam.

As communicators, our ultimate goal is to infiltrate the culture in which we communicate. We have to cut through the streams of 90’s one hit wonders and slap down a ‘Wonderwall’, followed up by a fully integrated ‘Definitely Maybe’.

Paul Gallagher, the older, more anonymous brother of the family, once described Noel as shrewd and calculating, and Liam as a nutcase.

This is kind of the mix I think is needed for great advertising.

I’m not saying that all creative teams should start publicly cursing each other, punching Campaign magazine writers, or getting themselves ejected on pencil night.

What I’m saying is that we need ideas with balls. Big northern hairy ones.

You need to have a shrewd strategy, a calculated thought that leads to a great idea – but then you have to sprinkle on a bit of bat-shit crazy.

We need to cut through all the mediocre messages cluttering our lives. We need to get people’s attention, get them to engage with, and hopefully interact with what we are trying to say. Our ideas have to stand out, it’s not enough for them  to be ‘good’. We need to be the Sex Pistols in a sea of forgettable, ‘insert any name because I don’t care enough to research’ RnB music that we seem to have at the minute.

Oasis would have been a great band if they were two shy boys from Surrey, but it was that sprinkle of arrogance and the MADchester attitude that made them really great. They had songs full of empathy, emotion and insight, but they also had the ballsy execution that got them heard.

If you’re reading this blog, I’m assuming you are in the communication industry in some shape or form. We have all heard the stories of the ‘golden age’ when creatives were paid six figure sums to sit in the pub all day. The days of the rock-star lifestyle may be over, but hopefully our ideas can throw a few TV’s out of some hotel windows.

Mad for it.

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