I’ve been working on an integrated pitch where I had to brief in the entire pitch team on my ‘thinking so far’ a couple of days prior to creative briefing. So last week I started writing the ‘show your workings’ stuff onto sheets of A4 and adding in good charts from research the client provided … Continue reading why didn’t I think of this before?
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The Nudge Unit – from tax dodgers to lifestyle advice
Last weekend’s Sunday Times (paywall, sorry) had a great piece in it about the government’s Behavioural Insights Team (aka The Nudge Unit). I’ve read quite a few articles about them before (mainly in the business and research press), covering how they use behavioural economics and Malcolm Gladwell style ‘Nudges’ to influence behaviour change. But this … Continue reading The Nudge Unit – from tax dodgers to lifestyle advice
older performers still treading the boards to meet demand from their contemporaries
I saw an ad today for Scrooge the musical, which will be at the London Palladium this Autumn starring Tommy Steele, aged 75. This tied in rather nicely with a piece I stumbled across on The Stage’s website earlier this week about the resilience of older performers, including Ann Emery (82), who plays Billy’s gran … Continue reading older performers still treading the boards to meet demand from their contemporaries
all of AdLand needs better work/life balance – not just working mums
I’ve been reading a lot about work-life balance recently, including this piece in Campaign (paywall, sorry) by Gail Gallie of Fallon London advocating a better deal for working mums in the ad industry and this enormous essay in Atlantic Magazine by Anne-Marie Slaughter (the former director of policy planning at the US State Department) about … Continue reading all of AdLand needs better work/life balance – not just working mums
has Planning got too pretentious?
The latest issue of Admap arrived yesterday, courtesy of the APG. The cover (and the six Admap Prize award-winning essays inside) focused on Planning 3.0. As an Account Planner, this should have been a must-read. Instead I’ve just retrieved it from the recycling bin (where I chucked it after a quick flick through) in order … Continue reading has Planning got too pretentious?
firing the first shots for Jubilympic Brand Britain
So last weekend we fired the first shots in 2012’s Jubilympic branding exercise for Great Britain. Yes, the Diamond Jubilee weekend was supposed to be all about celebrating HMQ’s 60 year reign, but there was inevitably a big-up for Team GB, Brand Britain and UK PLC in there too. I think the Visit Britain campaign … Continue reading firing the first shots for Jubilympic Brand Britain
why brewers have yet to learn what women want
In the first half of my Planning career I worked on a number of drinks brands and became a bit of an authority on stuff like maximising back bar selling hotspots. As a result, I ended up writing lots of features for drinks trade mag The Publican and still provide expert comment for the odd … Continue reading why brewers have yet to learn what women want
junior planners – get noticed to get ahead
I’ve written lots of posts with tips for wannabe Planners (here, here and here), but it struck me that I’ve never posted anything aimed at Junior Planners who are already in their first Planning post. If you want to get ahead, you need to get noticed. And these days being good at your specific Roles … Continue reading junior planners – get noticed to get ahead
rollercoaster agencies
I explained my theory about Rollercoaster Agencies to someone in AgencyLand last week: In any agency market (be it all-the-agencies-in-Yorkshire, all-the-cool-digital-agencies or all-the-ones-big-enough-to-handle-a-multinational-FMCG-client) there will always be one or two businesses at the top of the tree doing really well - creatively and/or financially, although the two are of course inevitably connected. And there will … Continue reading rollercoaster agencies
Olympic misADttribution
The Olympic Marketing Police can do all they like about cracking down on use of Olympic messaging or brand icons by non-sponsors (their 'statutory marketing rights' document is 61 pages long), but brands who aren’t on the official roster are still going to be associated with London 2012 by the Great British Public. As early … Continue reading Olympic misADttribution