Marketers, the secret to happiness has been staring you in the face all this time. Copywriter Gem Strang explains how big campaign thinking can also help in the pursuit of happiness.
Often, work is the primary source of our stress. I believe it was the philosopher Tom Delonge who famously said, “Work sucks, I know.”
But recently, when I was pondering a bout of ennui and ignoring my to-do list (send invoices, collect child’s constipation medicine from the pharmacy, do uni assignment, send invoices again), I had an epiphany. Work – specifically the marketing sort – may actually hold the secret to happiness. Wait. Hear me out, I know it is also the bane of our lives.
See, when I was staring glumly out of the coffee shop window, sipping too-strong coffee, and thinking, “Is this it?” I suddenly realized my life was too BAU-heavy.
Let me back up for a moment.
When you really think about it (while procrastinating your poetry assignment, say), the three core components of the campaign decks many of us tinker with until our eyes hurt also map quite nicely to our lives.
This includes the school run, the commute, back-to-back meetings, silly little coffees and pastries to get you through the day.
Time off, holidays, big life events to look forward to. All the moments worthy of a carousel on your otherwise abandoned Instagram grid, basically.
Unforeseen or spontaneous moments that divert your course. “Ooh, our mates are passing through – shall we get lunch?” “The guinea pig’s dead,” etc. Just like a campaign, having the wrong balance of these ‘buckets’ in your life rarely leads to a good outcome.
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Too much BAU in life, and you’re bored. Too much BAU in your campaign, and the only reason you’re stopping thumbs is because you’ve sent your audience to sleep.
Too many Tentpole moments in life, and you’re broke and shit out of annual leave. Too heavy on the tentpole moments in your campaign? You’ve blasted the budget and have to make the team thumb-war it out for their jobs.
When life gets a bit too Reactive, you’re more stretched and exhausted than this metaphor. You’re too reactive in campaigns and giving yourself a migraine figuring out what in Christ your brand will post on National Hammock Day. It only comes around once a year!
My take on it is this – finding the right balance in the campaign of ‘life’ will probably make you happier. I can’t say for sure as I’ve only just had the idea and pitched it to John [Editor’s note: that’s me, hi] during my caffeine high.
Who’d have thought the secret to staving off the gloomies (the melancholic cousin of the zoomies, obvs), could’ve been hidden in plain Slides all along.
I should probably mention I am not a doctor or philosopher. If you’re feeling clinically gloomy, do chat with a GP or therapist. Personally, I’ve had (and continue to have) enough brilliant therapy to keep my therapists stocked up on Diptyque candles until retirement – and I’m talking the three-wicked ones. (Like setting fire to my money, only more aromatic).
Writing this piece takes me back to a time I was working at ASOS, and our then-CEO Nick Beighton mentioned how important it was to always have your next holiday booked. The unmuteable cynic in me initially thought, “Well, easy for you to say, Señor Moneybags.” But, of all the wise things Nick said, this has rung truest of all. We are happier when we’ve got something to look forward to. Particularly a break, be it in the Bahamas or Butlins.
So, I’ve added some more Tentpole moments to my campaign rollout (aka future). A couple of pop-punk gigs. And most excitingly a trip Center Parcs in Belgium, where I’ll be trading copywriting for careening round rapids until I have to ask Google how to say ‘do you sell plasters?’ in Dutch.
All being well, life is kind of the longest campaign there is. Perhaps if we plan it more strategically – hell, many of us are sitting on the skillset – we can achieve the ultimate ROI: happiness.
So, how’s your campaign shaping up? And which of your buckets needs a top-up or a tip-out?
Read more from The Drum Opinion and talk to Gem here.