Category: The day job
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Long time readers of this corner of the internet may be aware I have a passion for tea. Not just any tea mind, it must be made in a warmed pot, with Yorkshire Tea Gold. Also, please put the milk in first. George Orwell was wrong on this, trust me. I could not, in all…
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Let's face it, advertising or whatever you want to call it these days is hilariously over complicated. So many comms planning models, brand planning tools, brand frameworks. Here's a fool-proof approach to cut-through it all. Where are you now? Where do you need to be? What's stopping you? What could change this? That's it. It's…
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I'll be honest with you, when the crash happened in 2008 I was bloody terrified. I was working for a global creative network, my office had just lost its biggest client. We were expecting our first child, like most people our savings wouldn't last us forever. As usual with the big networks, the Eye of…
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If anyone asks me what strategy books to read, one of the top three is always Eating the Big Fish. I still think it's a great way of looking at how a minnow can out think the big boys. (Or just read a book on Judo) But at face value, it's still about single minded…
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So we've all had the massive exhale as February begins. Back to normal. As you know, most New Year Resolutions die in January week 3, leaving us with a few days of no money and self loathing before we go back to the routine, whatever that might be. Because human willpower is weak, it needs…
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Most people have the good sense to not read this blog much anymore. They're all on LinkedIn now. However, I still get the odd question from folk who believe I know what I'm talking about. Let's be honest folks, experienced people in this industry are as clueless as you are, they have just got better…
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So my son broke his arm in October. Badly, really badly. It's mostly okay now, but took a fair amount of rehab. We were at the hospital the other day for a check up and, like always, he didn't complain at the endless waiting, the pain of getting his (still tender) arm bent all over…
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A few years ago I was working in a creative agency and found myself in the odd position of working to the lead agency strategy, set by the media folks. The same media folks had just appointed a creative director. Now it was, of course, a little difficult to compete over the creative work, but…
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Happy New Year etc. By now you'll bebored of predictions for the next decade. I know I am. It's virtually impossible to predict the future, you can only create it yourself. Try new stuff and keep doing what sticks. We all know the Byron Sharpe consistently built distinctive assets stuff, but the problem with consistency…
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Continuing the long term/short term theme. In case you can't be bothered to read it, I'm suggesting there is less tension between short term and long term than many folks like to think. Define barriers to more people buying you, solve it with plan that addresses what that looks like in real life, do in…
NORTHERN PLANNER 