A charity supermarket. Surely an idea whose time has come. Another example of innovation in the circular economy
Category Archives: Challenger thinking
What sustainability means for brand reputation
Most old brands are encumbered by legacies of bad practice – but for a few, newer challenger brands, there is an opportunity to transform those categories with particularly dire track records.
What can Snow White teach us?
This is my fourth recession. I don’t think Rishi Sunak can prevent an even darker employment picture after the end of the furlough schemes. And there is a pattern. So, perhaps you will give me a hearing. Some things have radically changed this time round. Covid has produced different winners and losers. The dynamic ofContinue reading “What can Snow White teach us?”
Smart Googling: how to get important knowledge painlessly
So many useful business books and so little time – was the thought that occurred to me as I was teaching this week. Here are my top tips for students in extracting the useful knowledge in these books with minimum cost and maximum ease. (Publishers should avert their eyes at this point) Google- “title ofContinue reading “Smart Googling: how to get important knowledge painlessly”
Rebranding The Royal Family
It was a masterclass from Harry and Megan. I explain why here
Sir Martin Sorrell: adman to his fingertips
Simon Jacks, BBC business correspondent, said, on the 10 O’Clock news, that Sir Martin was thought off more as “a money man than an adman”, thus repeating some of the snooty and hoary old remarks that were said against him by the likes of David Ogilvy years back . Jacks seems to me to haveContinue reading “Sir Martin Sorrell: adman to his fingertips”
How Getty could have predicted Trump and Sanders
Getty sell their images to agencies who are designing campaigns and so what buyers search for reveals something of the zeitgeist.Agency creative teams have well developed instincts for what is fresh and current. Forget the focus groups, analyse Getty search tends. “Stand out from the crowd”,”rebellious” and “bold choices” have spiked in search on theirContinue reading “How Getty could have predicted Trump and Sanders”
Why brands decided to save the world
Last year The Cannes Awards saw many examples of brands trying to “do good business by doing good”. I expect this year there will again be many awards entries that aim to engender brand loyalty by being good corporate citizens. Aurora commissioned me to write a piece about this undoubtedly big trend. I have takenContinue reading “Why brands decided to save the world”
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”
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”