and how to put it right. My diagnosis and a suggestion for future strategy just published in Aurora
Category Archives: Effectiveness
How consumer culture is changing
At the privacy of our own keyboards people give up all sorts of interesting insights into what they want – and no data source is better that search. So.. Google trends is always worth a look – as well as Think with Google for a barometer for changing consumer culture- and therefore what people nowContinue reading “How consumer culture is changing”
Why agencies must invest more in training
My case for investment is just published in Aurora ( Pakistan’s leading marketing and advertising periodical) and is reproduced with their kind permission. I think that the argument applies to all markets. Agencies, most of which are under competitive pressure and enduring tighter margins, need to invest if they are to be credible business partnersContinue reading “Why agencies must invest more in training”
Brave
was the big idea of this year’s Marketing Society conference. It proved an inspirational platform. A great conference theme- credit must go to new CEO Gemma Greaves and her team. This being an individualistic culture (and age) stories were often told as personal triumphs over fear, especially in extreme sports (a big theme of theContinue reading “Brave”
More from the insights treasure trove
Beats by Dre won a gold in the APG awards with what, I think, is a great piece of advertising thinking. The brand and the agency (R/GA) may be super hip, yet the thinking is classical. The brand found a fresh, simple and easy to understand emotional promise and dramatised it brilliantly – the ideaContinue reading “More from the insights treasure trove”
An insight treasure trove (that all strategists should read)
Top news. The 2017 APG awards book is out. Reading it is one of the best “strategy workouts” that a planner can do. So, that’s what i am going to do – and i am going to use it illuminate what we mean by that much used word – “Insight”- and how it helps unlock greatContinue reading “An insight treasure trove (that all strategists should read)”
What’s not going to change
Here is my counter-blast against the (much promoted) idea that everything in marketing is changing. It is just published in the new issue of Market Leader – the strategic marketing journal for business leader. It is reproduced with their permission. Subscribe at http://www.warc.com/bookstore Saunders final
“Knowing what’s important”
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””
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.”