We won a pitch for these guys recently. I really enjoyed it for two reasons. Firstly, there was loads of research that had just been sitting there. All it needed was someone to make the connections It really showed what planning’s for. You can have as much research data as you like but it’s pretty…

On the subject of setting the agenda,  here’s some scary stuff about trans fats. They are artificial, they last longer than normal oil, but the body can’t process it. How would consumers react if they knew how much they were imbibing, and what it does?  How much would they appreciate a food related brand standing…

Sales of Fairtrade products rose by 40% this year. No wonder supermarkets are replacing price with ecology as the new selling point for winning loyalty ( In yesterday’s Guardian). A good example of how consumers can make even the biggest companies change if they tell them forcefully enough. Imagine the possibilties for a supermarket that…

In lithuania , if you break a glass you have to eat onions for a week or  else you suffer 4 hours bad luck. (although It may not be Lithuania, and I’m not sure if it;s onions) Melv From: Andrew Hovells Sent: 09 May 2006 14:50To: Publicity BureauSubject: Don’t go in the kitchen in bare…

One day last week the motorways were impassable, so I took the train. It went through loads of places I’ve never been to and probably never will, just like most marketing teams and boardmembers. It reminded me that a planner’s job isn’t just to make brands relevant to people, it’s also about bringing the opinions…

There’s no getting away from having to do the factory tour. Insights into your audience are important, but obsessing about them can make brands forget to talk about themselves. Getting to meet the people who work there is a great antidote to this and can teach you something fresh and interesting that the people in…

Big Shiny Thing has a post about Google Trends. After a quick look, Mumbai beats New York and London for searches on Account Planning. Also, in most UK cities far more people are searching for Arctic Monkeys than Mcfly.

Grant McCracken has put up a thought provoking post about BMW. They seem to be positioning themselves as an ‘enemy of the enemies of ideas’. Interesting since, in the UK at least, BMW drivers tend to be seen as conservative and rather dull. I wonder, has the new ideas culture led to them to look…

Saw this ad in the Observer. I thought it was good visual idea, dramatising the line ‘avoid getting old ahead of time’. The problem was, I was damned if I knew what they actually do. They probably wanted to intrigue me enough to go to the website. They did, but then I had to play…