I’ve been working on a couple of projects recently where I’ve discovered that one or more customer touchpoints are letting the brand (and therefore customer) experience down. I’m not talking about a poor quality DM pack or a hard to navigate website, but about the real ‘voice of the brand’ – customer facing employees. In … Continue reading the most important brand touchpoint is person to person
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lovely ad, but will it do the job?
CSL sofas have just launched a new campaign by TBWA: It’s beautifully shot, stands out in the category and will certainly do something for CSL’s awareness, but… I’ve done quite a lot of work in the furniture retail sector over the last few years and I know how hard brands have to work to get … Continue reading lovely ad, but will it do the job?
1up – LSU assemble a crack team (and me) to train junior strategists (and, it turns out, me)
I spent last Thursday in London to help out at day one of London Strategy Unit’s 1up, a two day workshop-type course for aspiring and junior planners and strategists. The lovely Andreea from LSU asked me to come down and share my thoughts with everyone on practical day-to-day stuff like building client relationships. So I … Continue reading 1up – LSU assemble a crack team (and me) to train junior strategists (and, it turns out, me)
end of an era as Research gets serious
The last ever issue of Research magazine landed on my doormat this morning. It comes as part of my MRS membership, but will now be replaced by the Research-live website and a quarterly printed magazine that’s going to be full of big, serious thinky stuff as far as I can tell. So it probably won’t … Continue reading end of an era as Research gets serious
six degrees of mystification
I was at a New Year’s Eve party where everyone else there was either a vet or a farmer (welcome to my life). We were playing celebrity charades and Kevin Bacon’s name came up. No-one in the room understood why in the EE ads he keeps talking about how everyone is connected – because not-one … Continue reading six degrees of mystification
is the answer to Shopping Hell that we need to be nicer to each other?
I’ve been thinking A LOT about the retail shopping experience recently. Partly because I’ve got relevant projects on the go or in the works and partly because I’ve been ‘impulse storing’ – which I’ve just invented to describe popping into a store on impulse to try and knock some items off the worrying large festive … Continue reading is the answer to Shopping Hell that we need to be nicer to each other?
who’s that very thin not-quite A-lister, Topshop?
I’m not very impressed by Topshop’s Christmas brand film, launched today. They ran a load of teaser films online last week, along with the hashtag #whosthatgirl?, asking everyone to guess who the ‘Hollywood A-list star’ in their film was. The full film was launched today. The Big Star is Kate Bosworth – who I’ve heard … Continue reading who’s that very thin not-quite A-lister, Topshop?
when are not-that-bad ads actually good ads?
There’s been a lot of fuss on ad-industry-outside-the-M25-magazine The Drum’s website this week about the latest ad from Go Outdoors. They’ve given it their Marketing Weak award, which “highlights an advert for its sheer uselessness”. In the comments below the piece, opinion is divided between those who think an un-creative ad should never grace the … Continue reading when are not-that-bad ads actually good ads?
a festive tale of Johnny LouLous and the impromptu middle class sit-in
I went to visit a friend in London last weekend and we decided to brave Oxford Street since it was their special traffic free VIP shopping day. It was a great idea in principle, but thousands of soggy shoppers clashing umbrellas with each other doesn’t make for a very VIP-ish afternoon (although the fake snow … Continue reading a festive tale of Johnny LouLous and the impromptu middle class sit-in
damn you, shoddy spontaneous awareness
(title nicked from a tweet on the subject from @sweenagekicks ) Nice outdoor ad, right? The problem is that when I'd driven past it a few times and sat down to blog about it, I realised that I wasn’t sure which car brand it was actually for…it felt like it should be Jaguar, but nothing … Continue reading damn you, shoddy spontaneous awareness