“We all want quiet…”

We do, don’t we? From time to time.

“We all want beauty…”

In all its forms. Like waves rolling in as the sun slides into the sea.

“We all need space…”

Space to work, room to breathe. I wrote that once as a proposition for Canary Wharf, in the days when no one wanted to work there.

Now it gets good.

...

I eat this because it’s full of goodness.

Low in fat.

Sugar.

Sodium.

High in protein.

Antioxidants.

Vitamin D.

No artificial colours or preservatives.

No trans fats.

All natural ingredients.

100% organic.

Locally sourced.

Made by a family business.

Since 1820.

Sust...

Name the brand for these taglines:

1. Did somebody say …?

2. Keep life simples.

3. I’m lovin’ it.

4. Can your insurance do that?

5. Should have gone to …

6. … gives you wings.

7. Vorsprung durch technik.

8. Love it or hate it.

9. Because you’re worth it.

10. Every little helps.

Everyone 10 o...

What’s been the biggest problem for the advertising industry in the last decade?

Was it the audience all now streaming, skipping or blocking?

Was it the growth of digital advertising?

Or the growth of social purpose over proper positioning?

Was it the commoditising effect of turning ‘creative’ into a noun?

Was it the lack of new sta...

All of us in marketing spend our time clambering up the tree of brand understanding.

Up we go, the roots for the first leap, the solidity of the lower branches, the gradual thinning out of support, closer and closer to where the sunlight dazzles.

Then just when we feel we have a secure grasp of the principles, somebody gives the whole tree the most almi...

So where are we going after Gen Z?

I’m serious, we need to work this out. They started in January 1996.

Millennials were 1977 to 1995.

Generation X were 1965 to 1976. Something went wrong there.

Baby Boomers boomed from 1946 to 1964.

The Silent Generation from 1924 to 1945.

The Greatest Generation 1901 to 1924.

So I ma...

We all know who they are.

The politicians who proclaim they just want to #GetBrexitDone.

The BBC journalists who announce this is going to be the crucial day.

The presidents who accuse everyone else of spreading fake news.

The celebrities who say they want to be left alone by the press.

The companies that say they care about local c...

Which Avenger can teach you a thing or two about marketing?

The moral leadership of Captain America? The empowerment of Captain Marvel? The technical wizardry of Iron Man? The poignancy of Hulk? The mind-games of Scarlet Witch? The Vibranium of Black Panther?

For me, it’s the genius of Groot.

I don’t mean in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film...

When I get to that point of chronic work overload, there are certain things I say to myself:

1. Make a list. Not lists. One’s enough.

2. Do the tasks in the order in which they’re needed. As a plan, it almost always works.

3. Try not to panic. Act calm. Walk deliberately slowly.

4. Try not to complain either. Nobody likes a moaner.

...

It’s fashionable these days to say research groups are out of fashion.

The argument goes that anything has to be better than eight respondents and a moderator chatting away in a characterless room, with a clutch of clients huddled the other side of a two-way mirror.

What’s bang in fashion are depths and ethnography.

It’s true, there are a number...