Yara Rodrigues Fowler discusses the process behind her acclaimed debut novel Stubborn Archivist, and the more radical themes of burn out, #publishingpaidme and juggling a portfolio career as a writer.
Definitely one for those creative / English grads looking for an honest take on the publishing industry.
“I think it can be quite a radical thing to talk about money, because one of the things that I really didn’t understand was how much money we were talking about.”
Unity and Tom Sawyer Effect’s #FollowtheFairies social listening campaign for M&S has been listed by PRWeek UK among the 10 best campaigns of the decade.
We were briefed to ‘PR the ad’, but instead elevated the creative concept of magic & sparkle into an activation that genuinely delivered goodwill to people, on behalf of M&S. Ultimately, we met people’s needs to create brand love. As PR Week said, our creative response:
“showed the power of an earned-first approach”.
Makes pretending to be the ‘spokesperson’ for the Fairies on the phone to the Daily Mirror all worth it…
For years we have been told that in the workplace, women have to be assertive to get to the top. SMASH that glass ceiling, rather than work out where the entrance might be. But nobody really stops to think about why assertiveness is the standard to aspire to. The writer of this New York Times article argues that is because we still conduct our lives along a male standard.
“The assumption that assertiveness is a more valuable trait than, say, deference is itself the product of a ubiquitous and corrosive gender hierarchy.”
Assertiveness, pushiness, demanding what you want, never apologising is revered. But what if we switched that around? If we aimed towards a more ‘female’ cultural norm, by listening, being kind, apologising - perhaps we’d achieve more equilibrium and importantly, cooperation in the workplace.
I’d not heard the phrase before, but the idea of gender hierarchy is extremely pertinent for me as a mum to a boy. In daily interactions with other parents I notice that being told “like a boy” is usually delivered (and received) as a glowing compliment along with positive adjectives such as ‘brave’, ‘big’ or ‘clever’. Even now at 32 I am guilty of inwardly beaming when someone tells me that I’m “one of the boys”. Yet to be called “girly” is seen as negative, emasculating. This starts early in our society and becomes ingrained until the point that;
Female hobbies, careers, possessions and behaviors are generally dismissed as frivolous, trivial, niche or low status — certainly nothing to which any self-respecting boy or man might ever aspire.
But what if my son wants to be a nurse, or a cleaner, or a secretary? I’d hope that in twenty-ish years time his choice would be respected, unlike now where even men who start off in typically ‘female’ jobs leave sooner than if they had started a ‘male’ job, due to social pressure. Let’s hope that acknowledgement of the issue will lead to a solution, and the media, brands and culture can help us redress the balance.
I’ve written before about how overthinking can damage your thinking. So I particularly enjoyed this extract on Creative Review of an article by Richard Holman, about how stress cripples creativity (and how laughter can diffuse it) making a strong case for indulging even the most laughable of ideas.
So let’s all give ourselves an extra minute to watch some #funny on Reddit (RIP Grumpy Cat), it might lead to our best ideas yet.
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Saying that, this article on creative process by Alex Arlich on The Drum is a good resource if a starting point is what you need.
Increasingly, the business of being good is good for business. Kit Kat recently changed its plastic wrappers in Japan for fully-recyclable, high strength paper, and Coca-Cola has just announced its first batch of bottles made from marine plastics recovered in the Mediterranean. Around 300 bottles have been made using a new extraction technology, and the Kit Kat initiative is predicted to save around 380 tonnes of plastic packaging annually, according to the brand.
These moves from huge global companies are not only good for the planet, they’re likely to be good for their brands too, as consumers increasingly become more conscious about the impact of their purchasing choices.
A 2018 survey published by Nielsen found that 81% of global respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment. This is keenly felt in the UK, as recent Extinction Rebellion climate crisis protests have demonstrated. Over 40 UK firms have promised that their plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable within seven years, while two-thirds will be recycled or composted, (compared to 45% today) a recent report stated.
However, the slow pace of change means consumers are frustrated by a lack of responsible choices. According to Kantar Worldpanel, 70% of consumers plan to change their buying behaviour as a result of how sustainable a product is, so it’s likely that this move by Nestle will have a positive impact on Kit Kat sales too.
Now just make the four-finger Kit Kat a perfect hand-shaped five-finger bar, and that’s it, I’ll never touch a Dairy Milk again.
You’re twisting my melon, man
