Tom Peters on Passion! from Tom Peters on Vimeo.
I've talked about Tom Peters dozens of times before. He has been influential to me since the early 80s. When I left my first job in advertising my colleagues asked what kind of gift I would like from the proceeds of the whiparound. Without waiting to catch my thoughts or breath I said - "I'd like a copy of In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters'. Bear in mind I was leaving to take a job as a copywriter in an ad agency, you know, a creative job. I got the - well, 'if you insist' look. I hoovered up the book and got the bug for business as a place for ideas and for rattling the cage. I don't find it any surprise that Tom's world and the my world of creativity and innovation and converged over the years. I've never really seem them as separate. I find it hard to understand how the advert sing world is so reluctant to embrace creativity as anything more than an executional craft. In fact one of the few people in advertising I count as a genuine thought leader is Kevin Roberts (even when I disagree with some of his thoughts or feel they don't pass the novelty test), while he loves terrific executions I thing he sees past them - hence The purchase of Act Now and its subsequent rebranding as Saatchi S. The interesting thing is that Roberts doesn't come from the conventional strain of advertising leaders - he's a marketing guy (started out with Mary Quant back in the day).
If you ever get to hear Tom Peters speak live take up the opportunity. I have blogged about my experience here. He is a pro and he his passionate, the opposite of a louche, post-modern presenter. He cares about what he is talking about. I like that he is now posting videos to his blog. It must be hard to transfer the flavour of a live performance to an audience of hundreds (or more) to chatting to a handicam without diluting your brand. I think he pulls it off.
Check it out.
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