Posted in Hindsight and experience, Planning, Strategy on Apr 21st, 2013
To say that I’m fascinated by how things work is a huge understatement. If something piques my interest I CAN’T STAND not knowing how it works. Is that down to nature, nurture or both? In the early 70′s, as I approached the ripe old age of 10, I read exclusively non fiction. And, egged on [...]
Posted in Food for thought, Hindsight and experience on Nov 9th, 2012
I hate having to go straight back to work after a pitch presentation. You’ve worked late nights and weekends. You’ve had emotional highs and lows that have tested and ultimately strengthened relationships with colleagues. And, despite being physically drained, you collectively manage one last adrenaline-fuelled summit push for the presentation itself. Afterwards, all you want [...]
Posted in Client service, Hindsight and experience on Jul 4th, 2012
Gmail is aware. Gmail cares. Gmail puts itself in my position. Gmail doesn’t want me to look bad. Gmail wants me to look good. Gmail has got my back. Gmail is technically a *client*. But Gmail is acting like my agent. We can all learn from Gmail. Agencies work for clients on two levels. Our [...]
Posted in Food for thought, Hindsight and experience on Mar 31st, 2012
Once upon a time at BBH a hapless traffic “router” (rhymes with “outer”) walked into Nigel Bogle’s office and said “Nigel, have you got a couple of seconds to look at this?” He then handed Nigel a press ad concept, or it may have been a piece of artwork, mounted on board with a sign-off [...]
Posted in Food for thought, Hindsight and experience, Presenting on Jan 21st, 2012
I have a lot of time for Danny Baker. He’s as good as listening as he is at broadcasting. And he’s interested in people’s stories. Each Saturday morning his show on Radio 5 Live has several running themes which act as open invitations to ordinary listeners to call in with extraordinary stories. This week (at [...]
Posted in Food for thought, Hindsight and experience, Social media on Jan 17th, 2012
Last week I asked someone “what is marketing?” Said someone had just retired after an illustrious career in blue chip marketing departments and a blue chip marketing consultancy. I was expecting an immediate, well-rehearsed response. I was expecting a highly polished definition that was the result of decades of honing and refining. What I got [...]
Posted in Hindsight and experience, Social media on Jan 8th, 2012
“Don’t blow it all at once.” This is good advice, but there’s no point giving it. You watch your mother, their grandmother, give your child £20 for its birthday and you give the advice that you know won’t be heeded. Appreciating the benefit of delayed financial gratification has to be learned the hard way. “Don’t [...]
Posted in File under Personal, Food for thought, Hindsight and experience, Mongol Rally on Dec 28th, 2011
I blog therefore I am… …obliged to post a review of the year past. Well fuck that for a game of soldiers. Tweetdeck is amok with links to review and prediction posts already. They’ve even managed to displace the “7 ways to write a list-based blog post” brigade. And I think, like the January sales, [...]
Posted in Food for thought, Hindsight and experience, Social media on Nov 15th, 2011
I put together this presentation for an “Inspiring Minds” event by The Marketing Society. It’s a simple framework for thinking about “social media” strategy whilst avoiding the pitfalls that can arise from the very term “social media”. I always present with pictures rather than words so the embedded presentation below will only make so much [...]
Posted in File under Personal, Food for thought, Hindsight and experience on Sep 6th, 2011
This Lancashireman is struggling to compete with the extreme, and extremely competitive, privations described by the four Yorkshiremen. Working a twelve hour overnight shift in the (now defunct) Rathbone’s Bakery in Wigan may not be as bad as licking a motorway clean before breakfast, but it felt pretty close at the time. It was an [...]
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