Are you addressing the things that have always mattered? How often do you get asked about trends?  What are the big things that will change over the next few years?  We get asked it a lot. How often do you get asked about the big things that won’t change?  We never get asked it. But […]

Are you addressing problems at source? How many of you have heard of John Snow? Not the Game of Thrones character or the Channel 4 news presenter with the loud ties. Both are ‘Jon’ by the way. We are talking about John Snow, the nineteenth century English physician. Snow is famous for tracing the source […]

Are you focused on what you are actually selling? “Here to help people in pursuit of their dreams, goals and opportunities”. We heard this tagline on an advert last week.  What company or service do you think it was referring to?  A leading university, a new self improvement programme, perhaps a big medical breakthrough?  No, […]

Are you focused on the right battles? How many times a day do you check your mobile phone? Apparently, the average smartphone owner engages in 76 sessions (i.e. picks it up, uses it, puts it down) a day. These sessions lead to an average of 2,617 touches (clicks, swipes) a day. How many of you, […]

Are you paying attention to how experiences end? So, most of you will be back from your summer holiday.  How was it? It was probably quite influenced by how the weather was.  And it was probably even more influenced by how it was at the start vs the end of the holiday.  Great weather at […]

Are you prioritising effectiveness? Last month the annual Cannes Lions festival took place. It is marketed as a ‘festival of creativity’.  It is where the great and good of the creative industries get together to give themselves a collective pat on the back.  There are 19 different categories and a lot of awards.  For example, […]

Do you really know what is happening? You know the story about the frog in a boiling pot, right? If you suddenly put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will jump straight out.  But, if you put a frog in a pot of tepid water, then slowly bring the water to the […]

Are you making what you can make or what shoppers want to buy? Last week we were at a festival.  The Jacksons were headlining on the Saturday. For the first 40 minutes or so they were superb.  All the old hits, the co-ordinated dance moves, they were rolling back the years.  Then there was a […]

Are you capturing shopper attention? What is the most memorable tabloid headline you’ve ever seen? Maybe it’s “Gotcha” from 1983 when the Belgrano was sunk.  Perhaps it’s “Bin Bagged” from 2011 when Osama Bin Laden was killed in the US special forces raid.  It could be “Headless Body in Topless Bar” from 1983 after a […]

Are you looking forward not back? So, Amazon has bought Wholefoods. They paid a cool $13.7bn – their biggest acquisition so far.  It’s a big deal in the US, where Wholefoods have 400+ stores.  Indeed, after the announcement, Wal Mart’s valuation fell by almost as much as the sum Amazon is paying for Wholefoods. Only […]