Its darker now. Its darker now as autumn takes a hold. Brexit looms.  Most businesses are calculating the impact of change; an unpredictable regulatory framework; the potential brain drain to our industry. The latest Bellwether report says that two thirds of marketing companies have frozen their spend.  Campaign’s Gideon Spanier says that the signs are…

500 years ago, on 31st October 1517, Martin Luther nailed a poster on to the door of a church that changed history.  Establishing, once and for all, the power of out of home media. Actually, not the point of this blog.  Sorry poster fans. 500 years ago Luther nailed a paper with 95 theses on…

A good day at work How much are you the victim of SAD?  The time shift in late October obviously means more darkness, sooner.  Shortly the time will arrive when you may leave for work in the darkness, return home in the darkness, and if you’re in meetings all day, or there’s gloomy weather, you…

“Partnerships” are routine considerations for our industry.  They are not routine to deliver however. First off, they require some definition.  People mean different things by them.  Is a simple badging of a sponsorship a partnership?  If we work collaboratively with content creators aren’t we in partnership?  Or is a true media partnership one where unique…

Who is using big data in the best way? The shortlist has been published for the best use of big data for buying.  The Gold winner of the Media Week award 2017 in this category has just been announced.  The excellent shortlist demonstrates the range of applications for media buying:  reacting to the news; identifying…

Want a real competitive advantage? New McKinsey research, published in the FT, reinforces earlier assumptions about the importance of diversity and calculates that the gains can be even greater than previous stats. Simply put, companies run by diverse teams perform better.  McKinsey have analysed gender diversity at exec level across 754 companies across the globe.…

You used to call me on my, you used to, you used to You used to call me on my cell phone Late night when you need my love What makes a hit a hit? Since the dawn of popular music, two factors have mattered most, as reporter Derek Thompson explains in Hit Makers.  A…

This month JoeMedia took on the big topic of whether Social Media is dividing us or bringing us together. As their CSO Will Hayward pointed out at the recent Social Media Week London conference there’s been a huge stepchange in democratising news because of Social. News is no longer curated by a set of editors…

12 months ago Kathryn Jacob and I published The Glass Wall: success strategies for women at work and businesses that mean business (Profile Books). Since publication we have given over 50 talks in companies in many sectors ranging from the civil service to banking via media companies and the entertainment business.  Businesses have recognised that…

How do you win big at the upcoming Awards, where the final round of judging is imminent?  The judges will surely be looking for brave work. Brave work that innovates.  That breaks the mould.  That shatters existing preconceptions.  Robots can’t deliver this, only people can. As more and more tasks are taken over by machines who can…

In the months since the Cannes Advertising festival in June I have been mulling over the state of our industry.  As a self-proclaimed champion of diversity in senior management, how was gender diversity represented there this year? I wasn’t staying in Cannes so needed cabs to and from my out of town room and I’m…

Mark Zuckerberg remarked at the launch of Facebook Watch, a Youtube style content video channel: “Watching a show doesn’t have to be passive. It can be a chance to share an experience and bring people together who care about the same things.” Thus at a stroke, he adopts for Facebook a couple of the strongest…