Are you going to focus on the important and simple stuff?   So, we are 12 days into 2018.  A New Year, but not a lot seems to be changing. The NHS is in a winter crisis.  Nothing is changing. The England cricket team lost heavily to Australia in the Sydney test match.  Nothing is […]

Are you building the habit of buying? What is your favourite one hit wonder? ‘Macarena’ by Los Del Rio? ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ by The Baha Men? ‘Tubthumping’ by Chumbawamba? ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Deep Blue Something? There are probably two answers to this question (a) none of them (b) depends how many drinks […]

Are you making enough choices? On November 19th 1863 Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. It took place during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg.  It is one of the most famous speeches in American history.  It is […]

Are you different not just better? Forget Brexit negotiations.  Forget the Budget.  Forget whatever Trump has been up to.  The big news in the last few days was the results of the Which? Mince Pie Christmas Taste Test. A panel of bakery experts ranked mince pies from 11 retailers.  They rated the pies on appearance, […]

Are you differentiated enough at Christmas? Picture the scene… It’s April and people are gathered in a funky meeting room. “OK, here we go then, this years Christmas ad.   Have we all got a copy of the Christmas ad checklist?” Point No 1 “Must have snow”. “Err, but it never snows at Christmas”. “Doesn’t matter, […]

Are you doing things differently enough? Think about the last time you experienced really great service. What made it memorable? It was unlikely that the person was just polite or efficient. They probably were, but that doesn’t make it memorable. Polite and efficient service happens quite a lot. It was probably because something different or […]

Are you helping shoppers make instinctive decisions? Last month Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics. Thaler is famous for ‘Nudge Theory’. This says that small changes to the way choices are framed can have a big impact on the choices we make. The classic example is organ donation. If you make it […]

Are you too reliant on getting things right first time? In 1957 the young first time novelist Harper Lee submitted a manuscript to an editor named Tay Hohoff. The editor was receptive but made it clear she thought the book would require significant reworking before being published. In Hohoff’s words, the book was “more a […]

Are you dealing in too many motherhood statements? This week marked the 30th anniversary of the Great Storm in England.  It also marked 30 years since Michael Fish made his infamous prediction that preceded it. A few hours before the storm broke on 15th October 1987 he said during a forecast “earlier today a woman […]

Are you making and then backing your choices? Imagine this as a pitch for a Broadway musical… “So, what is it all about?”  “It’s about the life of one of the US founding fathers”.  “Right…,very contemporary…so George Washington, Benjamin Franklin?”  “Well, no, it’s actually Alexander James Hamilton”.  “OK, not one of the big hitters then.  […]