Was how Charles Handy defined “wisdom” at a recent event- it has stayed with me It is particularly needed at the moment – as many in marketing are transfixed by new technologies and have persuaded themselves of two things a) change is pervasive and b) change getting quicker. This second statement has been taken axiomaticContinue reading ““Knowing what’s important””
Category Archives: Behaviour change
My favourite Christmas campaign is not John Lewis
The Columbian govt used Christmas trees to persuade FARC guerrillas to give up the fight.Nine 75-foot trees along paths the insurgents used were decorated them with Christmas lights and a message encouraging them to come home. The operation was deemed a success; 331 guerrillas demobilized while the campaign was active, a 30% increase from theContinue reading “My favourite Christmas campaign is not John Lewis”
The march of the matchmakers.
(Book review published in Market Leader: September 2016) Here are a few hours in the life of a modern everyman I picked up my IPhone and Googled the location of my coffee meeting. Then I summoned an Uber and, on the way, planned my holiday on Airbnb. At our meeting we checked out a YouTubeContinue reading “The march of the matchmakers.”
How China is changing the internet
This film is worth a watch to show how WeChat-which started as a messaging app- is evolving into a one stop killer app for search,social and shopping. (And you thought Google and Facebook were too powerful.). It’s success is due not to Chinese govt support but innovation to make the user experience a) very easyContinue reading “How China is changing the internet”
Throwing Stones at the Google Bus- Douglas Rushkoff
This is a (slightly extended version)of a book review I have just published in Market Leader (the Marketing Society’s quarterly journal : It all started with such high ideals. The web was created as a kind of commons with the promise of a radical democratisation of power. As Rushkoff puts it – The distributed natureContinue reading “Throwing Stones at the Google Bus- Douglas Rushkoff”
Behavioural economics made simple
Here is my short film that attempts to do this in just 7 minutes i made it recently to explain some of the key ideas- it was commissioned by my client Danone Nutricia, who are happy for me to share it, bless ’em
APG Strategy V Robots
Another excellent conference and excellent value Here are a few things i took away Steve Hilton may sound modern (took his shoes off in public/wore T-Shirt etc) but his ideas are really a reworking of ideas launched by the levellers in the 16th Century, and developed by Romantics in the 19th century- he wants thingsContinue reading “APG Strategy V Robots”
Are things really getting quicker and quicker ?
‘Tis the season to hear the rousing voice of Noddy Holder in a retail environment wishing us a Merry Christmas and for marketers to opine that this year, as in all previous years, change is getting quicker and quicker. If this was true then by now change would be so fast that our eyes wouldContinue reading “Are things really getting quicker and quicker ?”
How data and fear stimulates a wave of new ideas
My most recent attempt to explain this ( to myself as much as anything else) Article just published in Aurora Julian
The old offers are the still best
I used to work on the Amex account at Ogilvy and during the 1980s Ogilvy and Amex invented many of the new rules of database and promotional marketing. One of the perennial winning offers was called Member Get Member– if you introduced five new members you got a case of wine. Wine was always theContinue reading “The old offers are the still best”