Spanner Amnesty
Inside every stakeholder there’s a spanner-chucker straining to get out. Use a Spanner Amnesty to imagine disaster and flush it out up front.
In praise of Umwelt
“I’m not taking your stupid test.” Umwelt describes what matters to a particular being. Appreciating Umwelt leads to better tests and better questions.
Getting your story straight
Some thoughts for the CEO’s of b2b and service businesses on getting your story straight. A vital component of brand strategy.
Chimps and champs
Brand values are like genes. They dictate attributes and behaviours. Humans share 98.8% of our genes with chimpanzees. It’s the 1.2% that make all the difference. The same goes for brand values.
The culture of client relationships
A client who negotiated a fee proposal up rather than down, and what that tells us about the culture of client relationships.
Brand Purpose has its place
Purpose has its place. But that place might not be brand marketing. An examination of brand purpose from all angles and first principles.
Tone of voice: a very important waste of time
Getting tone of voice right is essential. But trying to precisely define a tone of voice is a waste of time. Tone of voice is a low resolution concept.
My very own planning handbook
I didn’t have planning or strategy in my job title until I was forty, when I was parachuted, feet first, into a Planning Director role. Before then I’d spent twelve years in various account management roles and six years as an agency MD. I held down Planning Director or Strategy …
Did I do a strategy?
Did I do a strategy? How can you tell? How do you make sure that your strategy behaves like one? This is a simple checklist for strategists and planners.