What's the value of values?
Whether it’s a burka ban in Germany or Trump’s plan for an overhaul of America’s trading relationships much in politics is justified on the ground of ‘our values’. They can be liberal or American,...
View ArticleBlue Monday- sending out the right signals
It’s banal. It’s cynical. It lacks all credibility. Yet somehow Blue Monday has become an actual thing, a date that registers on our cultural calendar and even has its own Wikipedia page. This is the...
View ArticleYou can’t get better than a PR quickie
The formula for the Christmas Ad is out and even PRs are having a go. John Lewis’s Man on the Moon and Sainsbury’s Mog the Cat may have been beamed out into the national conversation courtesy of big...
View ArticleCommon sense is NOT always so common.
So was it a case of hope over reality after all? Secret Cinema will go ahead finally with founder Fabian Riggall admitting that it was his determination to go ahead that was responsible for the...
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Twitter: A Mythological Giant?
Twitter is now daily global phenomenon, fuelling everything from celebrity profiles to national revolutions. The media is obsessed with it, and everyone seems to be on it. But what is the real story...
View ArticleAddison Cresswell – a tribute.
Oh, the wretched topic of death, such a frustrating interloper, especially at Christmas, damn you. Alas, there is no point in pretending that we improve with age. In his colossal autobiography, Ben...
View ArticleHow Nigella will survive the wheels of fortune
The sorry tale of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi should teach us some valuable lessons about the climate we operate in these days as businesses and brands. In this story we have a clear example of...
View ArticleYou must just show up as yourself!
Malcolm Walker and Tom Reddy how we applaud you! Being the subject of an observational documentary is not without risk, but Iceland emerges triumphant from their series because as an organization, they...
View ArticleHighly Evolved: Brand Survival in the Now! Economy
Software may be eating everything. But one thing that I’ve seen at Advertising Week Europe today is that we’re learning to adapt to these changes with zeal. This morning, Trevor Beattie announced the...
View ArticleEmbracing chaos
As we settle into the New Year, commentators continue to declare the present state of flux to be the ‘new normal’. In the wake of increasing globalisation and atomisation, humanity is simultaneously...
View ArticleWhat’s the value of values?
Whether it’s a burka ban in Germany or Trump’s plan for an overhaul of America’s trading relationships much in politics is justified on the ground of ‘our values’. They can be liberal or American,...
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The Good, the Mad and the Twittery
This Sunday is the season finale of series four of Mad Men, and the web is alive with the sound of tributes and ‘best of the series’ video clips, including spoilers if you’ve not seen the entire run...
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Brand and Woods: The Celebrity Rollercoaster
Another week of charting the ups and downs of celebrity, first in the Guardian, discussing the rise, fall and rapid rise again of Russell Brand, who has risen phoenix-like out of the ashes of Sachsgate...
View ArticleCelebrity, Brands and Risk
I’m taking part in a couple of debates in the next few days. First up is Risky Business: Risk and Reputation, an early morning debate on the nature of risk, this Thursday, February 11th, at the Cass...
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The Cadburys Takeover: Dairy Milking?
Over the years, my company has worked with a great many heritage brands – from Horlicks to Gordon’s Gin, Hovis, Selfridges, R White’s Lemonade and of course Wispa. I understand, as a consequence, that...
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David Blaine: Word of Mouth Showman Supreme
A breakfast meeting with David Blaine last week was a very pleasing and revelatory experience; it’s good to sit and talk with someone who really, really gets true showmanship, spectacle, creativity,...
View ArticleThe new transparency
I was interested to read the latest Bare Feet Studios blog by Roxanne Darling on the need for transparency and new, big, clear thinking in advertising; it chimes in rather neatly with my views on the...
View ArticleRichard & Judy: The Cable Crunch
The Independent reported yesterday on the decline in ratings of Richard and Judy since their move to cable and asked me to comment. Here’s an extract of the article, entitled Turning off Richard and...
View ArticleThe Heart of the Brand
Lists define PR – the industry loves and fears them. And when a researcher online takes and avid and assiduous look at brands and the dirt at their roots, there is nowhere to hide, as a list from the...
View ArticleThe Fame Formula hits Canada!
Johanna Schneller and I were speaking on the Canadian CBC network’s Q arts, culture and entertainment show yesterday, about the ways to maintain a celebrity brand, alongside Suzanne Somers (who is...
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