Category: Books
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I really enjoyed this Do Lecture from Alan Moore, about how changes in technology are fundamentally changing our behaviour, like movable type did. You might have heard this argument before, but basically; top down organisations are going through their last throes of success, the future will be communities doing it for themselves (it's more nuanced…
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Remember these? Good weren't they? Who says that brand storytelling etc is anything new? I guess the only thing that would be different now might be each character having their own Facebook account, the book, the extra episodes online, the exclusives and the leaks and maybe even releasing new characters and story arcs to…
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I can't remember if i've talked about Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic or not, but I've been dipping back in for something or other at work. If you haven't read it and you work on something to do with cars, you should, there are lots of fresh perspectives on stuff. If you don't work on cars, you…
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First, read this post by Rob on Old Spice – take in the point about relieving tension and contradiction. Then buy and read How Brands Become Icons by Douglas Holt. It's a disgrace this book doesn't get talked about more. Don't be put off by the, pretty much accepted premise, that brands become icons through…
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There has never been so much choice when it comes to reading about brands, planning and stuff. There's the multitude of books and then there's even more blog type advice. Of course, this is great, there's never been a better opportunity to plug into lots of great thinking, get inspired and do great things, no…
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I went a big mad on Amazon last week, it's just how I roll sometimes. As is usual with me, I managed to lace something simple with a flavour of muppetry and embarrassment. How? By forgetting to put my name on the delivery address. That would have been find if it was just one parcel,…
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I bought 59 seconds by Richard Wiseman, but Amazon took forever to deliver it, so the lovely Helen had to post it from new work to old work. She also took the opportunity to share the news that she's in my old desk and making tea properly. So that's good and the desk couldn't have…
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I'm not sure it's the done thing to admit to, but I'm really looking forward to the final series of Lost. It begins on Friday. It's gone a little bonkers at times, but I've grown to love the characters, the maddening twists and the endless sub-plots. Multi -stranded, multi-platform entertainment feels like the norm these days,…
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I'm in the middle of reading Andre Agassi's 'Open'. As you might expect. Apparently he wrote it himself and if so, that's amazing. It's a beautiful, tautly written book. Sport is so much more than the performance, it's a freakish, lonely life. This book captures that. Anyway, at the heart of the book is a contradiction.…
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