First lesson of presenting: Say what you’re going to say.  Say it.  Say what you have just said. I learnt this in my first ever presentation training and it is true not only of presentations, but every time that you want to communicate. Got some feedback for a team member.  Say what you’re going to…

The final week of November saw a week of breakthrough presentations at EssenceMediacom and EssenceMediacomX from our partners, our teams and a wide set of inspirational people. Everyone was asked to come and deliver their view on how brands can breakthrough in the New Communications Economy (NCE). One clear theme stood out from many amazing…

“I always was a big believer in things on a global level,” Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was recently invited to be the seconder for the opposition for a motion at The Debating Group event in the House of Commons, this October.  The motion in question was: “A strong UK ad industry is key to returning the…

It was world menopause day on October 18th.  This is one of the newer world days of note.  When my mother went through menopause, she, and of course billions of other women throughout history, at least those that lived long enough, had to manage without a day of commemoration.  For something that is so material…

I started out in a full service creative agency in the 1980s as a TV buyer.  Straight from university, with no particular interest in advertising (I was just filling time until I started a law conversion course), I didn’t know about the esteemed industry trade press organ until I met a fellow grad intake who…

With a global talent shortage, and as we get “back to school” for the autumn, after the summer holidays, it is important to unpick, and then refresh, motivation at work.  Season 2 of The Bear is streaming now on Disney+.  Spoiler alert, the season leaves many unanswered questions (including will Carmy ever get out of…

“Chloe Kelly thumped home her winning penalty for England against Nigeria.  At 111km per hour, it was more powerful than any Premier League goal in 22-23” Mailonline It’s just not that long ago that the papers were debating whether women’s football was ever going to be as interesting as the men’s.  It’s in fact not…

Transcending the Umwelt If you’re wondering what that is and why it matters, the Umwelt is a way of thinking and feeling that is specific to individual brains of different species, (and artificial intelligence).  Transcending your own Umwelt to understand others is crucial to being a planner and creating great communications for brands.  Understanding the…

Lots of discussion on the impact of AI on our industry in the broadest sense.  From the optimists who are already experimenting and using AI as if it comes naturally to them, to the pessimists who are worried about the impact on their jobs and on ethics.  There is overlap between the two cohorts of…

Says Becky Moffat, CMO at HSBC. But what is a convenor? Its not a word that I had in my vocabulary at all until I took on the role of deputy and then convenor of the IPA Effectiveness Awards judges.  During this period, from 2018 to 2022, when I read more words in IPA awards…

If you can measure it, you can improve it. Dr J is one of the greatest basketball players ever.  Julius Winfield Erving 11, better known as Dr J won 3 NBA championships, 4 most valuable player awards and is an inductee of the Basketball Hall of Fame.  In 1994 Sports Illustrated named him one of…

Lionel Shriver is not noted for her optimistic outlook on the world. She is an author and spokesperson, her breakthrough book was “We need to talk about Kevin”.  This was a dystopian description of a mother’s journey to explain why her son killed 9 people at his high school. Lionel was born Margaret Ann in…