Author Archives: Julian Saunders

See smoke pouring out of my eyes

  and other fascinating creations at the Digital Revolution show at the Barbican. Anyone in retail (or experiential marketing) will enjoy it. Why? With the growth of e-commerce the shop is changing-it has to evolve or die- and is becoming a form of entertainment in its own right The digital instillations at the show areContinue reading “See smoke pouring out of my eyes”

Austerity Branding comes of age

For most of my career people have aspired to buy premium brands and just wanted an affordable way to buy into them – think of the Mercedes A class, Waitrose essentials or a tie from Armani. Premium brands used to “reach down” But something has shifted in the culture – Value brands have captured theContinue reading “Austerity Branding comes of age”

Matisse cut outs at Tate Modern

Matisse is the perfect artist for Tate modern. He already adorns a thousand pieces of merchandise from greetings cards to mugs so he is a good generator of  extra revenue through the well-positioned and well-stocked gift shop that (with Ikea like ruthlessness)you have to pass through as you exit the show. He is joyfully easyContinue reading “Matisse cut outs at Tate Modern”

What does the internet of things mean for you ?

Much hype in the media about how the things we own (cars,beds,fridges,boilers,mobiles,wearable devices yet too be invented) are going to make our lives better. The revolutionary nature of the change becomes apparent when you examine what the benefits to people might be at market by market level. Easier – because things automatically happen -such asContinue reading “What does the internet of things mean for you ?”

Bad language

I have just had an out burst in this quarter’s Market Leader (quarterly journal of the Marketing Society-subscribe here) about the use of jargon in marketing – which my daughter read and described as pompous. Perhaps I have reached a pompous age – must do something as an antidote See Cword It was inspired by Orwell’sContinue reading “Bad language”

My brain food plan for 2014

There is a direct correlation between the quality and range of stimulus you take in and the freshness the ideas you put out- lots of books about creativity and many creative types in agencies attest to this. In fact if your read  Daniel Kahnemann this kind of mental priming can almost determine what kind ofContinue reading “My brain food plan for 2014”

What I have learnt from 10 years of running training courses.

It is 10 years since I published The Communications Challenge (APG 2004), which opened the door for me to many opportunities to run training courses – on all continents (except Antarctica) for both agencies and clients. 10 years on – what have I learnt? I hope these notes are useful to anyone commissioning research orContinue reading “What I have learnt from 10 years of running training courses.”

Please, please, please can we ban the C word?

Words get stripped of their meaning if used too often. There is a phrase for this- semantic satiation: a word progressively loses its potency through over repetition. The marketing business positively over flows with such words and phases as Brand, Engagement, Target Audience, Core Values and, my particular bug bear, Content. The C word isContinue reading “Please, please, please can we ban the C word?”