Category: The day job
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I've never been too keen on marketing or business books. They can be great for frameworks and beginnings of best practice of course. However, everyone else will be reading the same books and, therefore doing the same kind of work. I like the ones that give you a totally fresh perspective on things, or a…
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There's a lot of talk right now about the trend for marketing folk to focus their efforts on short term 'activation' projects, taking their eye off the ball of longer term 'brand building' stuff. Now, in the first instance, it's probably best to look past the IPA Data, one which many are making the case…
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One of the best things about working in agencies, should be the sheer mix of people you get to work with. I say should be, because many agencies think they're full of openness and colour, when the reality is startling sameness. We like to say it's clients who are conservative, while agencies are different. However,…
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These trainers have been re-released and I got them in a flash. To you they look like a pair of 90s tennis shoes with too much pink. To me, they are being 15 and rebelling against the ridiculous rules, complacency and 'does your face fit' mentality if British tennis clubs in the 1990s. This…
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I watched a BBC documentary on John McEnroe. I quite liked it, since I love tennis and I grew in a time when tennis players were as big as rock stars. Connors, Borg, Becker, Agassi and so on. It has quite a lot to say about agencies and people in them to be honest. About…
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You know that quote from The Usual Suspects? The greatest trick the devil pulled off was convincing the world he didn't exist? It's also one of the greatest skills of strategy types. Few creatives will work with your thinking, certainly not your ideas, if you're going to take credit for them. It's the same with…
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Yes another bloody planner going on about storytelling. But hopefully, with a newer angle. So before you bugger off, it's because I read this book , The Science of Stortytelling It goes way beyond the usual stuff about 7 basic plots etc, good as it is, and looks at the science behind how and why…
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Saw an old friend last night, always good to catch up, he's like the more sensible and wise big brother. Miss working with him too, as I'm one the those strategy types who has so many thoughts tumbling around I need to talk it through at length with someone to understand what I really think.…
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I once worked on a big UK sofa retailer. It wasn't always fun to be honest. They were well known and kind of the default choice. But they were always in sale. Few buy a sofa because they really want to, they're not cheap, they buy it because they have to. And they put it…
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I have no evidence why but I suspect this will work Which shows you should ignore a creative who wants to make the logo really small It's based on a truth in real life about local lookalike shops. We like familiarity, this reminds us that KFC is so established in culture others are copying it.…
NORTHERN PLANNER 