Most brand managers want their brand to evoke strong feelings. We naturally want our customers to like the brand, to feel attached to it. Books have been written and careers have been built on the idea of brand love. But let’s be honest: as a human being, rather than a marketer, how many brands do you really care about? Love?

When Coca Cola changed its formulation in the 1980s, Americans rose up in horror, Read More

If only. But you need some basis for deciding who you’ll spend your valuable time with. That depends of course on why you’re doing it. Let’s assume for now that we’d all like to be able to spot which businesses are likely to survive and grow. The benefits to the investor are obvious, but no one who values their time wants to spend it with a loser. That’s a harsh word, given many entrepreneurs learn from failed ventures and go on to success. Read More

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

Judy Garland Read More

“THE EDGE, there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.”

Hunter S Thompson, gonzo journalist Read More

Four tips for marketers to get the most out of the tech start-up scene

The appetite among marketers to get close to the tech city scene is such that one enterprising chap is selling Shoreditch tours. I’m not sure how you measure the ROI of looking at Google Campus from the outside, but it tells me the days of shrinking marketing budgets are over.

Many marketers from big brands are dead keen to engage with tech start-ups. Read More

Benjamin Franklin Read More

The trailer for the new Call of Duty game, Advanced Warfare, says it is expected to get a “mature” rating. If an Xbox shooting game is mature, what?s immature?

A film I saw recently warned upfront that it contained sex, violence and ” mature themes”. So sex and violence are no longer considered mature, but shoot ’em up games are. What exactly are mature themes? Whether to buy an annuity with your pension pot? Read More

Almost ten years ago these two – Levitt the iconoclastic economist and Dubner the journalist -published Freakonomics, in which they confronted received wisdom and political correctness. Levitt’s approach is about finding true cause and effect by daring to ask different questions and using data without prejudice. In a way it’s the precursor of behavioural economics, nudge theory and all that, because it reveals how frequently outcomes are shaped by unseen forces, rather than being conscious choices. Read More

“Just as you would not permit a fellow employee to steal a piece of office equipment, you shouldn’t let anyone walk away with the time of his fellow managers.”

Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel

Read The true cost of regular team meetings, and why we should care Read More

The UK start-up scene is hot. There are lots of incubators, accelerators and shared workspaces. The biggest growth sector in London is probably TechSeedCityHubbery. There are similar set-ups in half a dozen other UK cities. Both big brands and agencies are keen to get close to tech start-ups, and some are investing, providing mentoring, office space, and more.

I see a lot of start-up and small business pitches. In this post I’ll focus on what I?ve seen in the start-ups themselves. Read More