The basics

I’m currently wading through the irreplaceable experience of changing mobile network providers. Irreplaceable in the sense that on a list of ‘most frustrating pastimes’, it will never be replaced at No.1. I’ve got past stage one. The lovely point where you see, with clarity, a mantra that most service providers live by… in insurance, broadband,

Something to everyone

Somewhere between aggressive business-types getting hold of the marketing world, and the out of control acceleration in reporting metrics. That’s where it happened. Let’s start from the beginning… There are very few products/services in the world that apply to everyone. Sure, there are some. But I don’t think it’s a crazy insight for me to

How to pitch boring

I’ve recently had a revelation. It turns out, everything is a pitch. Everything in the world. I’m aware that makes no sense, so let me start from the beginning. I’ve always been a strong believer in the idea that how a creative idea is packaged is crucial to how appealing it seems to someone. Obviously,

Spinning plates

As an in-house marketer, you are often required to have knowledge on a pretty wide variety of areas. Many people specialise and become very proficient at one area – but for the majority of marketers across the world working alone or in small teams, this isn’t feasible. You need to know at least a little,

Why must we destroy

There’s nothing more obnoxious than beginning a blog with a sentence like the problem with marketing is… Also, although I complain a lot, I’m not really qualified to announce to the world (5 viewers) what ‘the problem with marketing is’ anyway. To be quite honest, I don’t think anyone is qualified to do that. But

What do you do

I spend a lot of my time on websites. What a start to a blog, I hear you say. What a digital ninja this guy is. You’re right everyone does, but opening lines aren’t as easy as they seem. I will stick my neck out though and say that, as a B2B Marketer, I probably

There’s nothing better

There are certain feelings, experiences, and things that just hit the spot… A warm cup of tea after a cold walk. An espresso after an 85 course meal. Synthetic canned soup on a sick day. The smell of coffee beans. Or baked bread. These things, and how they make us feel, transcends any descriptions. Try

We’ve forgotten the basics

I’m a big fan of nice people. In fact, in spite of my moaning, I’m a big fan of people in general. All businesses, even the trendy online-only ones, are made by people. How we are treated by, and respond to, those people has a huge impact on how we feel about the business. Obvious,

But are we people?

Tesco released an advert. People disagreed with each other about it. Especially on Twitter. The end. Great, now you’re caught up. If you haven’t seen the ad, it’s a copy-based ad encouraging people to go to their local pubs (who have had a tough year) rather than big chain pubs. Nice, huh? Instantly the advertising

Encountering a blockage

Earlier this week I experienced a bout of creative block. More than just struggling to get an idea going – a prolonged protest from whatever part of my brain it is that makes stuff. The huge irony is, the day before I’d posted on LinkedIn about my creative process and ‘knowing what works for me’.