badges of rank

Inspired by the Order Of The Science Scout badges Anthony has created these splendid badges for those who went to Faris's Beer Evening. I wish I'd gone now, I love a good badge.

And it reminded me of a pet stupid theory of mine, which I thought I'd written on here, but which actually I think I wrote up on a long defunct homestead page I once had. It's this;

Agencies should have uniforms.

Everyone should have boiler-suits and the different departments should have different colours. Or maybe the planners should have white coats instead. (Because we might as well embrace the stupid cliches.)

There should be a system of stripes on your sleeve to signify your rank, so clients don't have to waste time talking to anyone too junior. This would make meetings shorter.

And you should have campaign medals on your chest indicating what you'd worked on in the past so people would know if you knew what you were talking about. An independent committee could be appointed to rule on any disputed cases and finally determine just which people are entitled to say they worked on Wonderbra.

This is the kind of stuff the IPA should be working on. Not mucking about with remuneration and 'the future'. Come on. Let's introduce agency uniforms. Get a bit of discipline back in the business.

Comments

[amelia]

Maybe in addition to the seniority stripes on the arm, we could also revert back to a Brownies and Cub type ranking so you could earn badges not just for a blog but that you would have to wear. That way you know straight away the skill sets that people have.
I remember many years ago being awarded a Brownie badge for making my mum a cup of tea which I was extremely proud of!

[gemma]

At a previous agency I actually had to talk my boss out of proposing that we all wore only black and white to fit in with the new identity.

I said I'd only do it if it came with a Wardrobe Allowance to cover all the monochrome shopping I’d have to do…

[Rafakir]

Love the idea of uniforms!!
into creative dept. it would be pretty much asi if art director were gunners and copies were the ammo supliers. so, you can distinguish them as you see them by the colors in uniforms. Besides, it would be very confortable wearing jumpers for pitch's long weekends!

[Brett Macfarlane]

Labels and badges of accomplishment would be a great means of credibilty, but they should be perishable. I.e they only last for a specific number of years on your sleeve, and then old awards/recognitions go on the shelf in your bathroom. Just to keep everyonemotvated. That's all.

[David MacGregor]

Yes,... medals...uniforms...symbols of hierarchy...

Don't they already exist?; awards, latest looks for departments - suits in, well, ..suits, creatives in whatever; car parks and cubicle/office/office with a view etc...

I assume your tongue is firmly in cheek?

Or are you nostalgic for the time when the agency was 'the smartest guy in the room' and 'the consumer owns the brand' was just a cool thing to say instead of a reality?

[David MacGregor]

Can I suggest suits in French maid uniforms?

[John Griffiths]

I once suggested to my MD of the time that we presented in rugby shirts in the house colours - hardly original since Microsoft have been doing this for year. And he sniffed and said He'd rather wear his Paul Smith suits - which wasn't of course quite the point. I think uniforms would be a great way to create instant ethos and like school kids the troublesome ones would quickly develop their own way of subverting it.

And while you're talking rank - I've always had a secret desire to be introduced a client as Wing commander. the great thing about titles is that they can be obscure and glamorous - simply denoting rank is such a bore - and doesn't actually say very much - director and manager and executive are meaningless words which require qualifiers. Tallyho I say.