April 2025
Spring is here, why doesn't my heart go dancing?
Hello and welcome to another newsletter extravaganza. April brings its bluster and so do I. It has been fairly busy this end, with a little cheeky trip to Naples - which is an amazing place. The one thing I’m taking away from it is that if humanity is annihilated and aliens descend to sift through the rubble in Naples, they would truly be forgiven for thinking that Maradona was some kind of god figure. Maybe he is/was. I wonder what things they will think people in London or the UK revered.
Things I’ve been thinking about
Anyway, I was reading the ever excellent newsletter from Bruce Daisley and was struck by an item that was a Tik Tok of a very earnest young man speaking about the perceptions of generation Z and their work ethic. He explained that the reason that the work ethic may not be as expected from the older generation is because Gen Z cannot AFFORD ANYTHING.
My view is that, with all of these things, pointing to a single issue can hide a world of nuance and complexity…which is obviously worth noodling about. There is a real point here about the breakdown of the social contract whereby we work hard in the hope that we will be better off than our parents and can afford a bigger house and more holidays and all that, and with the real value of wages stagnating and the cost of living going through the roof, that’s pretty much all effed up. But I don’t know if that’s the whole enchilada. I mean does everyone of a certain age feel that “vibe”?
The first thing that struck me was that at all times in history, this bull dust about young people (and sometimes just people) not wanting to work has been fairly prevalent. So there’s that.
But on the other side, the thought that young people have a shitty work ethic is to make the assumption that our work ethic is right. For ever, young people have come into the workplace and, as the world has progressed, been very well placed to point out and voice opinions when things feel off. It’s not so long ago that casual sexism, racism and homophobia was part and parcel of daily working life. And I’m not saying that it’s gone away but what passed for “bantz” in a 1960s office is something that I really wouldn’t want to go back to. Part of that is people coming into the workplace and helping attitudes to change. So when young people are being dropped into a world where people are answering emails at 11pm and putting in 12 and 15 hour days as a badge of honour, should we be surprised when they are pointedly refusing to do it? Maybe we’re the lobsters and the heat has been gradually turning up for years so we just think it’s toasty. But if you get dropped straight in there, jumping straight out would seem to be the best option.
And that’s what I’ve been thinking about.
Employer brand stuff
Aldi is looking for new store managers
Love the fact that they've got it made and it's big and bold. I kind of wish that it said something more about working there other than “work with some of the best in the business” but you can’t have everything can you.
Really like this very strange ad to highlight the gender pay gap
Good interview about how a school is training kids on social media content while, handily, getting them to do their social media for them. A few companies could learn something from this I think.
Employer branding and internal branding is getting traction, y’all
I’m putting this KFC ad in the employer brand section. It’s obviously not intended to be but a company that shows that it has talented people working for them and they are “empowered” to do things outside their normal work and are celebrated for doing so deserves to be here…so there. Also - isn’t it amazing what you can do when you have such a strong visual brand?
Brand stuff
I’m just working my way through Seth Godin’s new book. This interview is good though.
Loved this clever work from Chevrolet and Santo Domingo Motors to use billboards as nighttime traffic signs
Reminded me of this - which was also amazing
This is a beautiful advert. 2 minutes but what a story.
Other stuff
An amazing site
And if you ever wanted to know what it was like to go to a rave in 1989 then this new immersive experience can show you. Not sure if you’ll end up walking out with random phone numbers in your pocket and a promise to meet up in Ibiza but one can only hope.
Right. So that’s me for April. See you in May you lovely lot.