I really like Hi Fidelity. As  neurotic, former record fair regular, who was useless with women, I guess it was inevitable. Despite the fact that it seemed relevant to me personally, it did that trick of, lets be honest fellas, skewering the confused flailing and general crapness that is the experience of being a male…

If you've ever had the misfortune to spend much time with CRM gurus or 'data driven marketing specialists' you'll be familiar with the terms 'aquisition' 'conversion' and 'retention'. It all feels a little uncomfortable doesn't it? In some parts like some sort of aggressive corporate raider from the 1980's bent on acquiring companies and then…

Blogs may not be that fashionable nowadays, but here's one that's wonderful in any case. It's the blog from my beloved Yorkshire Tea. Somehow a blog feels right for them in the way that noodling around on Facebook feels very wrong It's unnasuming, chatty, a little down to earth and gives off the kind of…

This is the usual rehashing of common practise masquerading as Damascene revelation. What is less talked about is the dark art of re-purposing the rough story that is already in someone's head. It's usually there unless you're launching. 

Don't seem to have blogged much (as if anyone cares). Largely because it's easy to fall into the trap wanting to write long-ish meaty thingumys with something to say, which is sort of wrong since blogs and stuff are really lots of little things sometimes punctuated with bigness.  That's a little what brands that want…

When I was growing up, in the days when I experienced advertising and stuff like normal human beings, meaning I didn't think about it that much, it was the longer running campaigns I remembered and still do. Heineken refreshed the parts other lagers cannot reach.   Tesco's dotty   The Man from Del Monte  …

"What most brands need is careful and effective maintenance" Jeremy Bullmore "I don't revolve, I evolve" Alan Partridge Building distinctive, consistent memories in the mind of people over time is the route to sustained brand growth. People buy the brands they've noticed and have some level of favourable familiarity with. In other words add to,…

TV isn't dead. Digital is not the only channel in town, in fact, it's not even a channel. Ok? Good. Now watch this. It wouldn't matter where I watched this. It would still make me think. It would still move me.   Captures everyday heroics and bravery. Makes powerless people feel a bit more able,…

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. Michelangelo   If you haven't read Jonathan Lehrer's fantastic book about how creativity works, you should. Firstly because it goes a long way to prove that creativity is much less a 'skill' than the way…