2021 in mediaWell it’s been another strange year. Signs and flickers of relative normalcy (concerts! cinema! parties!) and then a reminder that IT ISN’T…Dec 31, 2021Dec 31, 2021
A little souvenir of a terrible year(With apologies to the mighty The Sundays, here a few of the favorite things I’ve listened to, watched and read in this odd year)Dec 31, 20201Dec 31, 20201
These are a few of my favorite things in 2019A few of the favorite things I’ve listened to, watched and read.Dec 31, 2019Dec 31, 2019
Calm marketingA school of UX design thought posits that technology can become more useful to people if it becomes calm, that it should inform and create…Feb 12, 20191Feb 12, 20191
Will 2019 be the year of doing things better?The New Year has traditionally been about making predictions about all the new stuff the industry will do, all the new tech, new companies…Jan 29, 2019Jan 29, 2019
A few of my favorite things from 2018Another more than pointless addition to year end lists…here are some of the things I’ve enjoyed listening to, reading and watching this…Dec 31, 2018Dec 31, 2018
Brand rotBrands are rarely made better when we add to them. The more we add stuff — be it for the sake of ‘the new’ or to fend off what we see as…Nov 14, 20181Nov 14, 20181
It’s All Got A Bit FlabbyStrategic thinking is getting flabbier and flowerier by the minute, with fluffy language that is highly evocative, imaginative and…Sep 4, 20183Sep 4, 20183
The ‘C’ WordThe notion of the importance of “community” in building powerful brands has been around for a long time but has the term now become so…Jul 10, 20181Jul 10, 20181
Perfectly ImperfectThe pursuit of perfection is slowing marketers down and damaging their ability to build and shape brands that people care about. It is…Jul 10, 20182Jul 10, 20182
The lost art of customer obsessionMarketers are increasingly getting stuck in the trap of obsessing about the new, at the cost of obsessing about customers. But customer…May 15, 20182May 15, 20182
The Great DisconnectThe tech businesses of Silicon Valley are hiding behind Big Data and as a result, have become disconnected from the lives of real people…May 15, 2018May 15, 2018
Collaboration drives relevanceMany marketers cling to brands, such as Apple and Nike, to prove that they have cultural impact, but it is often new business models, built…May 15, 20181May 15, 20181
More rituals, less routineIn 2017, I was lucky enough to see former Vice President Joe Biden talk. It was a different kind of talk to the ones you usually see…Mar 1, 20181Mar 1, 20181
Three wishes for 2018The temptation when writing the first column of the year is to make some predictions about what is going to happen in the coming 12 months…Feb 13, 2018Feb 13, 2018
Change the storyStorytelling. One of those words we throw around to try to describe what we do. Sometimes we get carried away with how good a set of…Feb 13, 2018Feb 13, 2018
Is marketing stuck in first gear?Bob Liodice, head of the Association of National Advertisers, painted a bleak picture at the beginning of their annual Masters of Marketing…Nov 6, 20171Nov 6, 20171
Spot the differenceAs I’ve said in this column before, there’s a huge amount of value in being different. There’s lots of evidence, not least from the Brand…Oct 26, 2017Oct 26, 2017
Planners need to break the chains of specializationSo, the results from the WARC Future of Strategy survey say that we’re frustrated by the march away from long-term work, and towards…Oct 26, 20173Oct 26, 20173
We need to talk about failureWe work in an industry that’s all about celebrating the best. We want to win a Lion at Cannes. We pore over D&AD annuals, IPA winners and…Oct 26, 2017Oct 26, 2017
