There are other things on the ‘to-do’ list, but since things are a bit dark, it might be a good time to cover retail. That’s right, retail. Considered by by many to be the getto of agency life – formulaic, reactive and stuck in the old ‘messaging’ timewarp. And mostly it is. But that’s not…

Stumbling Happiness by Daniel Gilbert is not a self-help book, despite Mrs NP’s attempts to wind me up. It’s a treasure trove of insights into how humans behave. It’s littered with little truths that explain how we behave like we do…..but the heart of the book is about how we’re useless at predicting how we’ll…

Sampling goes to the heart of good quantitative research. The research agency will be responsible, but you need to be able to judge appropriate proposals. It matters. There’s no point doing it unless it’s with the audience you think you want to affect. Sampling is a trade off between making the sample is big enough…

Right, back to that ‘to do list’. How do you decide between quant research or qual? Some of that will be governed by the type of client you have, or the agency you work in for that matter. But in the end, it will depend on the the information you want. Quant is: Measurment Logig,…

Gareth’s doing the next project, so expect something brilliant. Have a look at his better ways of working stuff, it’s top. Paul and Rob want to do it again, and so do I at some point. Since Rob did it more recently than Paul, maybe Paul shoulf go next followed by Rob. After that, I’ll…

If you’re waiting for more planning basics stuff, we’ll be back early next week. I need a breather after the School of the Web results. A few people have asked who’s up next on the School of the Web and, to be honest, I don’t know. Does anyone else? I remember that Gareth seemed keen,…

Okay, here’s the delayed update. Like I said before, seriously well done everyone. Both in the quality of your thinking and the manner you deliver it in these documents. Two criteria have been applied to these entries. Firstly, the thinking itself. Does it answer the original brief? Is it claimable? Is it interesting? Secondly, does…

It certainly is. After promising faithfully that I’d get back to everyone on the School of the Web stuff, I have to admit defeat. I’m really sorry, but things are just getting away from me this week, not least since I’m on holiday as of Friday night, and fates always conspire to make sure you…

Jonathan emailed me a meaty little question a couple of weeks ago. In essence, is brand positioning useful? Is The Ries and Trout model out of date? Should they be static or fluid? And is it any use taking clients through the pain of one? It’s really good to ask fundamental questions like this –…

Entries are in, thanks everyone. Since I’m on holiday next week, I’ll make sure feedback is posted by Friday.