According to BBC news, today is 'blue monday'(12 inch mix), the most depressing day of the year, which makes me wonder if yesterday was 'gloomy sunday'.

Wikipedia says:

This date was published in a press release under the name of Cliff
Arnall, at the time a tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, a
Further Education centre attached to Cardiff University. The Guardian reported that the press release was delivered substantially pre-written to a number of academics by PR agency Porter Novelli, who offered them money to put their names to it. The Guardian later printed a statement from Cardiff University
distancing themselves from Arnall, whom they described as a 'corporate whore'.

Dr Arnall says the date was calculated by using many factors,
including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt
accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since
failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling
of a need to take action. Writing about the calculation, The Guardian
stated: … the fact is that Cliff Arnall's equations … fail even to make mathematical sense on their own terms.

So it would seem that the whole thing is a fabrication of mendacious marketing. And as such we can dismiss it and be as positive as we like here at Welcome to Optimism.

Despite this revelation, at Wieden + Kennedy's palatial East End offices, there has been concern about the whole 'blue monday' thing. David Stevens suggested that if anyone had the ‘Now That’s What I Call Music: Volume 1’ 25th anniversary album we should put it on the in-house radio now. This seemed to many like the perfect soundtrack for a miserable day. None more so, perhaps, than Kevin Chesters, who said:

From memory NTWICM 1 contained "Clouds across the moon"
by the Rah Band. This was playing on the school bus at the exact when
Tracy Davis dumped me aged 11.  I was pretty miserable as I recall.
Crying into my Um Bongo.

Have  a nice day.

We had our first agency meeting of the year the other day at which we discussed the planned objectives for Wieden + Kennedy London in 2009.

In the spirit of open source management and at the risk of being made to look very stupid by the end of the year, here they are. Obviously, W+K employees will be printing these out to blu-tack to their bedroom walls as a source of guidance and inspiration in the months ahead, while banks burn and gangs of feral children roam the streets.

Our core ideology, values, purpose and long term goal remain unchanged. We're still here to do the best work of our lives and to create strong, provocative realtionships between good companies and their cutomers. There may be a recession going on, but this is still wieden + kennedy, goddammit!

We recognise that in order to achieve these things in a turbulent environment we may need to change our structure, our skills and the kind of work we do. Adaptability and agility will be important.

Some, er,  draft goals for 09, then.

1. Continue to try to do the best work of our lives, across all clients

Still job number one. Partly because great ideas are what businesses need in tough times. Partly because to build our own business we to be seen to do work that is talked about in our industry and in the wider culture. Partly because it what we choose to do.

2. Make ourselves indispensable to our current clients.

We have a roster of fantastic clients. Some of the most admired companies and brands in the world. We shouldn't forget that we're lucky to have them. That means we need to focus on retaining all of them, deepening our relationships with them where possible, understanding their business issues and helping them to succeed in this extraordinarily tough climate.

3. Attract and develop the world's best talent

That means finding some new stars, motivating and training our own people. It means training people from just thinking to 'thinking and doing'. Also means providing diversity and fluidity of work to people – making sure they are't consumed by one client. Though money will be tight this year, we are committed to investing in our people to help them become more useful and more valuable to us and to our clients.

4. Win high quality new business on our own terms

New biz criteria and goals to include:

Good companies, with which we are proud to be associated

People who are passionate about what they do

People we admire and want to spend time with

Opportunities to learn

Opportunities to do things we’ve never done before

Things that our people will love to work on

Business on which we can make a fair return.

5. Innovate in what we do and how we do it

We have some specific plans in this area to be announced later. And beyond this we want / need to continue to push to be at the cutting edge of what an agency can create and become. Partly because that will differentiate us vs our competitors, partly because it will benefit our clients and partly because we find the edge a more interesting place to be than the middle of the road.

6. Maintain a healthy profit margin at 20%

Profitability isn't our primary goal. But without it, it becomes very hard to have the freedom and independence that we enjoy. (And profit helps when it comes to discussing pay reviews.)

7. Do more good in our community

Continue to do stuff like Broadway, Spitalfields Music, working with Old Spitalfields Market, TIE, etc.

8. Re-invigorate the office environment to provide a stimulating and inspirational work place