The Strategy Blog.
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Predicting with predictable prejudice.
It sometimes seems that everything is changing. We rely more and more on predictions or forecasts of how things will turn out in the new environment. Forecasting. Can’t live without it, can we? Yet the wisest comment I’ve read so far about the Vickers Independent Commission on Banking Report is…
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Creating customised success.
Specific ad executions for local media from newspapers to outdoor sites are underused by national advertisers. Local copy can be extremely effective and the barriers to delivering it are worth overcoming. Noodles show that this local customisation can be pushed even further. In this month’s Fast Company Magazine…
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We all would have been glued to Local TV last week.
I was a bit dismissive of Local TV services when I first heard the idea at the Royal Television Society Conference last year. It was difficult to see what the business model was, and there seems to be plenty of television for people to watch already (average viewing in the…
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Management is about to get much harder
There are many schools of management theory. My very first experience of being managed was when I first started in a buying department and was told by my boss that I needed to be in before she was, and couldn’t leave until she did (even if that was 10pm). I’ve…
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“When someone does a side project it takes away from our strength…”.
Metallica is one of the big four bands of Thrash Metal. They are a worldwide phenomenon. In the US alone they’ve sold over 50 million albums. Their eponymously titled 1991 album sold over 20 million worldwide. Their new album, a collaboration with Lou Reed, is out this autumn. I know…
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We need global brands to lead the way with good citizenship.
Facebook has signed up to the AA ‘childhood’ review panel. Last year’s report from Ofcom indicated that nearly one in five 8 – 12 year olds has a Facebook profile despite the minimum user age set on the website. A worldwide report from America’s Consumer Reports claims that there are…
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The 4th Estate versus the 5th Estate
People are starting to call Twitter the 5th Estate. The “Estates” are the forces of power in our nation. Traditionally, dating right back to medieval notions of status and hierarchy, the first 3 estates of the nation are clergy, noblemen and the commons. In the eighteenth century, as printing technology…
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Can you greenwash fur?
AA Gill, a journalist who likes to give the appearance of courting controversy whenever he possibly can, has been to Denmark and looked into the resurgent fur trade. His article in June 26th’s Sunday Times Magazine is not suitable for the sensitive animal lover. Gill isn’t fond of mink as…
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Don’t waste time
The other day I was in a scheduled 2 hour meeting when the organisers spent the first 10 minutes sorting out the room and the technology. Then the Highest Paid Person in the Organisation (the Hippo) gave a 15 minute introduction which could have taken 2 minutes. That’s 23 minutes…
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Invest in Change
I didn’t miss my annual trip to the swanky Grove hotel (just outside glamorous Watford) this year after all. Earlier this month I attended a really interesting meeting at the Founders Forum with Microsoft. The main reason everyone was there was to watch internet millionaires gather together to look at…
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Attitudes to corruption differ across the globe. Attitudes to sponsorship money do not.
Just how “beautiful” is the “beautiful game” of football these days? Is the game still beautiful when it pretty much tolerates diving and penalty baiting and requires huge amounts of cash to pacify morally questionable prima donnas? Most fans would probably still say “yes it is”, especially following Barcelona’s performance…
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Singles are the new albums; short stories are the new novels.
Book lovers are polarised on the Kindle, ipad and e-readers generally. Some authors I know have taken a violent dislike to the concept. Partly because I think they have a love of the physicality of books which is a reason they started writing in the first place. Partly because of…
For your bookshelf
