The end of BDW’s Making Digital Work in New York and a chance to look back over the last couple of days and our take aways from the workshop. An amazing collection of speakers and great insights. So what have we learnt that we can take home to our agencies? The model for integration seems…… Continue reading Learnings from Making Digital Work NY
Category: Strategic Planning
Becoming a SIF is a communications opportunity
As my personal situation takes me on the route to becoming a SIF, not a Structural Integrity Field (for the Star Trek fans) but a single income family, it strikes me how much of a communications opportunity this is, and how little work is really done, either on turning these sort of challenges into comms…… Continue reading Becoming a SIF is a communications opportunity
Why advertising needs entrepreneurs
Regardless of whether you are part of a hot-shop 17-man creative boutique, or one of a 450-man flagship office of a global agency network, the advertising business still needs more than a healthy dose of entrepreneurs – and I think the industry is forgetting that. The challenge with this business, however large the brand name…… Continue reading Why advertising needs entrepreneurs
Disruption for mind and body
I went last night for my first training sesssion at Concept 10 10 here in Dubai, this is a very different approach to the gym that uses very heavy weight against isolated muscle groups, doing very slow repetitions until you reach muscle failure point – and if you can hold out for too long (2.5…… Continue reading Disruption for mind and body
Clarifying digital and mobile
It is about time that the industry stopped referring to digital and mobile as channels or as media; we are mature enough now to understand that these are not specific enough and do not group together a set of channels that can, or should, necessarily be used together. The mobile handset exists in a number…… Continue reading Clarifying digital and mobile
The war for digital talent in advertising
Is there enough 360 experience to go around? Are tighter criteria making the talent pool smaller for recruitment today? It seems like everyone is chasing after the golden goose right now – the speed at which digital is invading our industry means that suddenly there is a major need for people that not only understand…… Continue reading The war for digital talent in advertising
Can you afford not to crowd-test?
The media traction that the ‘new’ Gap logo is getting should surely be a lesson to all of us in testing, crowdsourcing, or both. It has been quite a while since we have seen a rebrand take up this much media coverage, and potentially this is because people feel strongly about it. Over the weekend…… Continue reading Can you afford not to crowd-test?
Reinventing marketing strategy, plans and thinking
As I read the pipeline article on ‘learning to unlearn’ it occurred to me how key this idea is when applied directly to the way we plan marketing and communications campaigns today. The last few years have seen the arrival of new channels, the prevalence of content as key to engagement and have put the…… Continue reading Reinventing marketing strategy, plans and thinking
How do we build knowledge in the agency business?
The question of building knowledge in this industry has arisen more frequently recently, mainly as a result of expanding markets in particular areas such as digital and interactive and also as a result of the economic downturn when many people are let go or changing positions and organisations must fight hard to transfer and retain…… Continue reading How do we build knowledge in the agency business?
Mad Men, and the dying art of the account exec
The more I watch Mad Men, the more I compare it to our business today and start asking myself certain questions. Some have obvious answers like the role of women, the drinking and the smoking and the overall style of life, some are very amusing in how little the business has changed in the last…… Continue reading Mad Men, and the dying art of the account exec