The new forensics of media will change how we evaluate media, just as forensic DNA revolutionised criminal investigations. The introduction of forensic DNA in criminal investigations in 1985 revolutionised the field.  Before this date, crime scenes relied on much patchier evidence.  If the criminal wore gloves, there’d be no fingerprints, so any astute crook could…

Edwina Dunn, famous for setting up the mother of big data DunnHunnby, has retired from her previous life in data analytics and is tackling a problem dear to all our hearts, how to inspire young women. Her new book, The Female Lead, is designed to inspire the next generation of girls.  It takes the idea…

Twitter chief Bruce Daisley used to have the wrong photo on his LinkedIn feed as he explained on the MediaCom Connected Podcast this month.   Instead of his happy smiling face, for a long time he had a picture of iconic British comedian Bob Monkhouse, a man who frankly does not bear much physical resemblance to…

“You get an ology….you’re a scientist ”   Some adverts enter the language, and sometimes last there long after the product they were plugging has dropped the campaign.   The BT ology ad featured Maureen Lipman as a grandmother, told by her grandson over the phone, (incidentally played by Josh Krichefski’s brother by the way),…

There are many talented chiefs in our industry.  One of them is literally a magician.   A highlight of any meeting with Trinity Mirror boss Simon Fox is that he might just make something disappear and reappear.  He’s a member of the magic circle, and the last time the Trinity Mirror roadshow hit our agency…

Things are moving fast.  New technologies are creating new opportunities for media planners but things are far from simple.   The pace of change seems breath taking.  The pace of change is going to continue to get faster still. The industry is full of questions.  Ad fraud and viewability.  Fake news is tarnishing reputations.  The calculation…

There’s an easy answer to this – pop down to your local town centre and ask the blacksmith.  If you can’t find the blacksmith, look for the town crier and ask him.   If you don’t look out for the inevitable consequences of external changes to your business, then you’ll end up in the same…

Learning to fail A new study into teaching has pointed out that one of the failures of our education system is that it doesn’t prepare students for failure, nor reward them for making mistakes. Which is a mistake. How do you learn, if you’re not learning from your mistakes? The study, from the Open University,…

February 2nd was Time to talk day, when the charity Time to change, encourages the nation to reach out to each other and take a moment to check in and make sure everyone is ok. Don’t worry if you missed it – you can take the time to reach out today too. This can be…

“We divided ourselves among caste, creed, culture and countries but what is undivided remains most valuable: a mere smile and the love.” ― Santosh Kalwar Britain is divided.  There’s no question about it.  Brexit pitted family members against each other and the closeness of the vote has torn an even wider chasm in politics.  Emotions are…

Government, business and media have all lost the confidence of the UK population in a dramatic fall in the last year.  There is an unprecedented feeling in the UK that life is not as fair as it used to be. Only one in nine of the UK population think that the system still works. The…

“The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals the largest-ever drop in trust across the institutions of government, business, media and NGOs. Trust in media (43 percent) fell precipitously and is at all-time lows in 17 countries” Fake news sells. It’s a cliché that most people don’t read past the headline of any story.  One of the…