"In The Thick Of Things"

http://twitter.com/tumimokgethi

Think Free.

Remember that thing they used to tell us in primary school- there’s no such things as a stupid question?  Silly question, because I know you remember. Think of it this way, as kids, we grow up being taught to be curious, encouraged to be oblivious to was seen as standard and even more so, made to believe that there are many ways to interpret and view absolutely anything. We were given a paint brush to create whatever that was on our minds. So what happened? What happened to being the odd one out, to seeing the little things in the bigger pictures? Our proclaimed personalities have to get the bulk of the blame. They box us into only acting, speaking, and reading, eating, and thinking in a certain way. Let’s forget about having a personality... rather have an attitude. A spirit with no inhibitions, an attitude that allows us to want to experience everything, be everywhere, know a little about everything. We no longer want to be seen as stupid to the obvious, because something’s are just so simple. But I think we should stop our mature driven traits and get in touch with the freethinking, dumbstruck nature that is the child inside of all of us. This is even more so important when you’re in the creative and advertising industry. Yes live a little. When we  live a little, things become easier, solutions to the most complex of problems (briefs) come to you. Most importantly ideas flow because you are in a state of freethinking, and you are able to re-invent and innovate.

The Youth, Arent as Bad as we Think they are..

Creative’s continually get briefed campaign after campaign to find insight on how to connect their brands to the youth market. It’s a daunting task considering the fact that millennial’s change the views and opinions daily, but despite that, core beliefs and values still remain rigid. How do we then find common ground when trying to engage the youth and more importantly keep them engaged?

It’s possible if you dig deep enough and unravel what actually drives the target markets behaviour. Trends, celebrities, technology, opinion leaders? When that’s done, the tricky part is where an idea has to match the key findings. When it comes to social media and youth oriented advertising plans it’s pretty simple. The youth want to tell a story. Marketers should understand that they live their lives offline in order to tell a story online. This is to mutual friends and family and to a life they aspire to. So if you come up with something that will be able to make me tell a story, a story through a simple status update, tweet or online check-in where your brand efforts are strong enough to get mentioned, then you’ve done something right.  

Their  online activity reflects a life that they live truthfully, and that has a ripple effect on brands as that influences others in their respective circles. That’s the same reason that makes viral campaigns and trending topics so successfully. It’s a story that we want to share. It something that resonates deep within us instantly. With the youth market especially, what’s most important is that we have to chuck out all the research(after analysing it) and then see things from their side. The right insight will definely drive your brand from just being another product to being a culture leader.

" Always Remember..."

Advertising : Brilliant Copy Driven Ads

Swiss Life : For all Life Twists and Turns.

Copy driven print Ads. Brilliant execution to illustarte how life can quickly change for the bitter, so its best to have a flexible financial plan.

Credits:

Agency: Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett, Switzerland
Creative Director: Peter Brönnimann
Copywriter: Thomas Schöb, Simon Smit
Art Director: Reto Clement, Daniele Barbiereo

Im Trying To Make It Look Simple

A couple of months in, it has been an overwhelming life stage change for me. As we know, a person’s expectations are forever changing because of new situations we find ourselves in, and promises being made to us. I recently finished my media studies course majoring in strategic advertising and was blessed to find placement soon after. The experience has come like no other. I find myself in an environment that is very pleasing to the unknowing, but like everything else, there’s much more than meets the eye. A place where you have to adapt to being on level ground, never mind climbing from bottom up, you quickly come to the understanding that there is a very complex hierarchy at force here. From who says how high, and who does the actual jumping, I’ve literally been thrown in the deep end.

To be honest, time moves very quickly in a sticky and smudged kind of way. It’s all about the little corporate nuances, where you have to rely on your snap judgment and hindsight to pick up. There’s apparently no room for mistakes in the industry I’m in, but I wrap myself in the warmth of the fact that it’s all about learning for now. I try to quickly and efficiently  grasp working tendencies as smoothly as possible, leveraging my creative and productivity levels but still blinded by the fact that it’s possible to make an error here and there. You see, in fact, it’s only about the learning; I find myself at a point where I’ve thrown whatever it is I interpret as my comfort zone away and now dwell in the ocean of challenge.

I have a vision that keeps my blood boiling. That same vision is what keeps my eye on the ball. My mentor once told me that I have to be patient and that success doesn’t come over night. He sees my ambition and my willingness to succeed, but I could understand where he is coming from. In everything we do, and things we are passionate about, there is a thin line that creeps up to haunt us between being ambitious and being over-enthusiastic. Being over-enthusiastic destroys many intelligent but naive students that enter the real working environment, where you see them trying to be and do everything at once. Us the beginners, have to set our goals relative to our ambitions so we don’t hurry the process and avoid getting lost in the abyss that is “lack of enthusiasm”, just because it’s not happening the way we’ve been planning it in our heads throughout varsity. Like I said expectations are forever changing, the quicker we learn to adapt the better. By so doing, that will eliminate plenty of disappointment.

A couple of months in, all I’m trying to do is sync my drum-roll, the more precise my beat – the more pleasant my experience will be in this new concert I'm living.   www.twitter.com/tumimokgethi

The Little things That count.

Us, the beginners.

"  NOBODY tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone had told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple of years you make stuff , thats just not that good. Its trying to be good, it has potential, but its not good. But your taste, that thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work dissapoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesnt have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you got to know thats its normal and most important thing you can do is do alot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece. Its only by going through a volume of work that you will close the gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than ayone I've ever met. Its going to take a while. Its normal to take a while. You just got to fight your way through.   "

- Ira Glass

The Brand that best represents me.

 Ive had this relationship with Nike for as long as  can remember. It started when my parents bought me my first pair of soccer boats when I was still learning how to tie my shoes laces. The love affair has been going on ever since. Nike, the leading sports apparel brand resonates and reflects a brand philosphy which I aspire to. Just Do It.

Being the unashamed soccer fantic that I am, playing and watching the sport has taught me my greatest life lessons to date. Nike is more than just a brand, it reminds me that theres nothing greater than motivation, to accomplish the impossible, to keep going, keep fighting and to prepare for the unexpected. Its no longer just a pair of highly technical soccer boots or an anit-sweat clima-fit shirt, its that extra thing you need when you've done all you can do. Its the feeling you get, your state of mind. Your attitude.

"I Just do it, because I believe in it."

Morals...

Hands Up if your Ready To Write

Whether you have a black pen that actually works is the least of your worries, you just about to write an exam of earth-shattering importance. It’s your final exam that determines whether you qualify or not. Ten minutes to go you spot your friend with an estranged expression on his "one hour of sleep" face. You come to the realisation that it’s a cross between stress and the surprise that the ash of his cigarette is on his jacket.
He frantically brushes it off, and takes the last drag...inhale.
"Was up dude, are ready?"…exhale.
 “I was having problems with the last three chapters"
This is the part where you caught in the middle of offering your assistance, or actually just saying "I need to go to the bathroom", just so that you don’t get yourself confused with what he doesn’t know.
The aura around the exam room is enough to make you vomit the answers you actually supposed to be writing. But that atmosphere is what I’m addicted to; everyone is so different and unique in that moment.
Seated conveniently around the “do or die” exam hall, are the five types of people who are about to write the exam:

1. The Amazing A student who is not close enough for your to get the last prep-small talk from. He’s up-straight-ready-to-write posture makes you a little envious. 

2. Your best mate, who is late and still in a state of confusion, is seated close enough for you to wish him good luck with your eyes, but is too far away from you to ask if you have an extra black pen. And a ruler. And a calculator.

3. That group of friends that you know but don’t really know. They are the go-to-guys. After glancing at them with acknowledgement, you realise you should’ve went to one of them because they might have something you don’t; like the exam paper itself.

4. Then there’s the group of peers you don’t know; yes you know who I’m talking about. The people who only attend when there are exams, tests or important assessments. You always marvel at the fact that they always make it though. How the hell? But don’t compare yourself to these people; they have mastered the art of submitting doctor’s notes confessing unimaginable sicknesses and allergies.

5. Finally, the last group of students. We can’t really place them in a definite category but their repertoire includes; The rock stars, The pretty girls, The jocks, the teachers pets, the “I’m not supposed to be here’s”, the “I didn’t study the right chapters”, the cool kids, “the loud-mouths because my parents are well off”, the “you know she’s going to fail” and then the average kids. Average in everything they do, their social status is average, average in their marks, average in how they dress and even how they look. They are known for nothing other than just being around.

I honestly don’t want and I hope I wasn’t the average kid in varsity. How you are in varsity usually translates to how the rest of your life will unfold.  Be extra ordinary in something. Be awesome in being average. Be extra confident when you’re about to right your exam or be super stressed. Don’t just be. The average kids have the don’t-care attitude which is the worst of the worst.

The fifteen minutes before your exam is who you are. It says something about how you approach life, the big and the little things. I approach my fifteen minutes of life with vigour and purpose and with the aim of getting the best mark possible.   

As simple as it Gets

We have this pre-conceived notion that when we are in love, its going to last forever.Really?

But in all honesty love isn't like that. Love itself is a free-flowing energy, much like moods and money. It comes and goes as it pleases. It sometimes stays for a day or even just for a few seconds or a month or year.Dont fear it because you think it makes you vulnerable, or be suprised  when it leaves either.

Just be glad you had the opportunity to experience it.

P.s - I know nothing about this emotion.

This Beautiful City

"At night it breathes"

Johannesburg, South Africa

The Art of Possiblity

"We keep looking so hard in life for that SPECIFIC MESSAGE but yet we are blinded to the fact that the message is all around us and within us all the time. We just hav to stop that it be on our terms and conditions, and instead open ourselves to the possibility that what we seek may be in front of us all the time."

Focus is Passe

In The modern world we want to feel everthing we do all the time. There is no point in just taking a walk in the park, when we can rather listen to headphones,chat on our phones, watch a movie. we fail to adorn the passing carnival of humanity.Our choices shout the creed of a new world order: STUMULATION!

Thought and creativity have become subservient to the singulaur goal of saturating our senses. But I'm old school. If you are not prepared to focus on me when you are with me__ conversation, touch, our momentary entwining souls__ Then get out of my face and go back to your 400 channels of satellite television and 32 gigs of music.

Your Life is Your Life

"Your life is your life
Don't let it be clubbed
Into dank submission.
Be on the watch
There are ways out.
There is light somewhere
It may not be much light
But it beats the darkness.
Be on the watch
The gods will offer you chances,
Know them
Take them.
You can't beat death
But you can beat death in life.
Sometimes.
And the more you learn to do it,
The more light there will be.
Your life is your life!
Know it while you have it.
Your are marvellous
The gods wait to delight in you."
- Charles Bukowski

Its amazing how a couple of words carefully stringed together to make a message, to convey an insight or to just put forth a thought can be so inspiring. The images that I will be posting in the blog hopefully influence you to get-up-an-go, wake-up-and-change or to just lift your mood to be the best you can possibly be.

"Live to leave a mark, and a great second and third first  impression" 

What Would I Like to Be Famous for?

This question is particularly ironic because I have a close group of friends that want to be famous for all types of reasons and causes, but I don’t share the same sentiments. I honestly don’t want to be famous or celebrated on a large scale because I frankly believe it’s overrated. Jim Carey once said that everyone should have all the money, fame and fortune the world has to offer so they can see that it’s not the way. If we consider the fact that everyone has that inner yearning, that small flame burning, sparking, screaming for glory, then in that case my fame shouldn’t be short-lived. I’d rather have a legacy, something that will inspire those that follow, the people who want genuine change, in its true form. Of course I can’t better the world, but better that small change than nothing. OK, enough with the cliche, and philosophical blah blah. If I had to be famous, I want a statue in my name with a caption that reads, “The man who put the 1^st Billboard that floats on the moon.” Having a statue might be too ambitious, but the campaign and initiative will defiantly be worthy.