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August 21, 2012
OK: so I know I’ve been going about how Twitter is the brand that has gained most from The Olympics (closely followed by youtube), and I stand by that. But this is interesting. An article from SMI confirms that all the main sponsoring brands (even the much-hated, over-monopolistic VISA) saw significant uplift in their Twitter followers during the Golden Fortnight. VISA gained over 14 million new followers during two weeks....
Read MoreAugust 10, 2012
A little prediction: sometime in the next couple of weeks, the Proper News will come back from its holiday. As sun tans fade, the Euro Crisis will burn bright again. As that “back to school” feeling kicks in, people will start listening to the news about the global and UK economies again, and they will be fearful with good cause. The Olympic Drug will wear off, and the financial...
Read MoreAugust 7, 2012
So how might the Olympic Experience change the Blighty we all know and half-love? Will we all get fitter? And save the NHS a stack of money? Will it now be harder to abolish or water down said NHS, thanks to Danny Boyle? Will we finally accept that we are as multicultural as New York and start celebrating the fact, rather than worrying about it? Will we discover a new...
Read MoreJuly 31, 2012
Hello London I am surprised that the folk in charge of forcing us to use a VISA card, slapping gaffer tape over most things anywhere near East London (and generally over-enforcing the rights of paying sponsors) have not had a go at gaffer-taping Twitter – who seem to be gaining more from the Olympics than Coke and Visa put together. On LBC this morning there were no less than...
Read MoreJuly 18, 2012
So today the FT has an article all about a frightfully worrying boss who signs off an email with “lots of love”. OK, so that’s not done. Not wise. It’s asking for trouble from the HR Police – or maybe even the Real Police, come to think of it. But in the article (which is in the form a problem posed by the recipient of all that workplace love), the...
Read MoreJanuary 11, 2012
Happy New Year all. Had a fun meeting with my friend Javier Garcia from Miura yesterday. One part of our conversation got me thinking. It was about the best way to explain your business being about putting the WHY before the WHAT. We tried it out as a party game: WHY do I do what I do (research-planning-marketing strategy stuff)? The answer wasn’t hard. WHY? Because I really enjoy working with people to...
Read MoreDecember 13, 2011
I’m not usually a Mary Portas fan. Perhaps it’s the way she harangues innocent businessfolk making mediocre profits and unattractive cakes. Perhaps it’s the hair. Or the voice. But: I like what she is trying to do right now. Having been in a million and one meetings this year in which everybody has been talking things DOWN, it was mighty refreshing to hear her (on Radio 4 this morning) talking things...
Read MoreSeptember 29, 2011
Ok so it’s a lovely ad. The whole history of aviation is filmed beautifully by a talented director briefed by clever, cool people from BBH. It’s a really lovely ad – all about aviation. If BA were in the aviation business, this would be a great idea. But they are in the passenger service business. Which the writer and director seems to have forgotten as we feast our eyes on...
Read MoreJuly 26, 2011
After a weekend in which Norway and Amy Winehouse sadly dominated the news, it was interesting to see how some brands forgot that they are just that – brands, not real people. It seems that Microsoft’s PR department briefly forgot this, when (via @tweetbox360) they suggested that people celebrate Amy Winehouse’s life by downloading her music – from their site. They later tweeted: “Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse...
Read MoreJuly 11, 2011
Watching Greece and the News International Saga. And watching my pension sliding sideways while the clever people who manage my retirement fund bet on an imminent Second Banking Crisis. And struck by a simple historical thought: What we think will happen won’t happen, because we’ve thought it already. So maybe Greece will default. But maybe, if they do, the world will not end, and shares and bond prices may even...
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