The Strategy Blog.
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How much empathy do you have?
Empathy is a finite resource, according to HBR’s Adam Waytz. If I am empathetic towards you today, I will have less empathy towards my friend at dinner this evening. If you take on board one colleague’s problem over lunch, you’re going to be less ready to shoulder the burden of…
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Are Planners Printist?
James Wildman, CRO of Trinity Mirror says they are. He writes that research has uncovered prejudice in agencies: “Printism can be defined as: “The preconceived opinion not based on reason or actual experience of the print medium; bias, partiality, unreasoned dislike, hostility or antagonism towards, or discrimination against, print – accelerated…
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The Secret Life of Millennials
The Great Wall of China is the only man made structure visible from space; a penny dropped from a tall building can kill a man; men think about sex every 6 seconds; we only use 10 per cent of our brains. Millennials have the attention span of a goldfish.…
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Down with the “Digirati”
“Programmatic: it’s automated trading – say it as it is. What is big data? – it’s what you do with it that’s important”. This is Claudine Collins speaking her mind about advertising buzz words that she hears too much and just aren’t simple enough. We all have a tendency to…
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Engaging with the flagpole
Are you as sick of jargon as the rest of us? In the run up to a recent panel session with Karen Stacey, David Weeks and Omaid Hiwaizi, I asked around the office for everyone’s favourite, or is that most hated, jargon. There was a deluge of response. And not…
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Adblocking: A Darwin Wedge?
Economist Robert H. Frank coined the term Darwin’s Wedge to describe situations where stuff evolves to benefit the individual but actually is bad for the species overall. Look for instance at the elephant seal. Bull elephant seals are huge. They can weigh as much as 6 thousand pounds. They’re 5…
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“Juries don’t buy evidence they buy narrative… Our job is to tell the story better than the other guy”.
This is Johnnie Cochrane on The people v OJ Simpson, American Crime Story. The jury he’s talking about are of course those picked for the famous controversial murder trial in the 1990s. But could he be talking about any jury? Including those who are about to judge the awards for…
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Even if you have the right strategy, the wrong tactics will get you wet.
The exciting part of the Oxford and Cambridge boat races this year was the women’s race. (Yes that’s right, the section of the old established rowing competition that although it has been taking place alongside the men’s race since 1927, and annually since 1967, has only been televised since 2015).…
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Art versus science?
Have you heard the MediaCom Connected Podcast yet? One of the issues that ceo Josh Krichefski highlights is diversity. This time not diversity of gender or ethnicity or socio-economic background, though all of this is close to his heart and on his agenda. This time he talked about head versus…
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Binge viewing: good or bad for us?
According to a new study from the University of Toledo there is a new sickness putting the first world at peril: Binge Viewing Their conclusion is that TV viewing is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes. With the advent of novel media for viewing television, “binge-watching” is a…
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Rewrite the code
Facebook celebrated International Women’s Day in London with the launch of Theirworld’s “Rewriting the code” campaign. Sarah Brown said that this meant changing the deep rooted values embedded in society across the globe that are stifling the potential of women. Aside from the benefits of fairness, there is a powerful…
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Are you collaborated out?
If you aren’t collaborating on a project these days then I don’t know what you are doing with your day. It is everywhere in media and advertising circles these days. If we’re not partnering we’re collaborating. If we’re not collaborating we’re playing as a team. And if we’re not doing…
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