November 28, 2007

When I first read about Blog Nothing Day, I was intrigued. Would it work? Would it be the sort of action that bloggers would be interested in? After all, many of us battle with some form of social media addiction, and the thought of going cold turkey after the Thanksgiving weekend would quite possibly cause ... well, real family social interaction.

November 9, 2007

You might remember that I participated in Movember last year -- the annual event to raise awareness around prostate cancer and to raise money for research into the "most common non-skin cancer".

November 5, 2007

My first "real" job out of university was in publishing. I had spent a couple of years pretending to study accounting (with daytime chartered work financing my studies), until I finally realized that it was not my cup of tea. It was my first real chance to re-think my life and career.

October 26, 2007

There are many books about creativity, there are exercises, websites, tools, tips and techniques. And yet, despite all this... we are still endlessly fascinated by the concept of "creativity" and desperate to unlock its elusive secret.

October 22, 2007

To some extent, marketers are constantly dealing with the future. We gamble with trends and positioning, we make estimates, projections and create budgets. We plan and strategize around our products, services and brands ... and segment, slice and dice the demographic data that represent our audiences.

October 16, 2007

We all think that we are capable of coming up with a ground-breaking idea. We all think that we could, if given the chance, deliver a brilliant social media campaign that creates buzz, drives sales and makes our clients deliriously happy.

September 6, 2007

It is a great idea in theory: Harness the best talent in your roster of agencies and get them to collaborate on projects.

August 29, 2007

I was taking a look at some of the comments on my Facebook post the other day and there were two comments that echoed each other -- "It seems to me that there is some indecision including on the part of Facebook itself about whether it's social networking or professional networking."

August 27, 2007

There has been a feast of BSP (blogger sensory perception) this week over two converging topics -- Facebook and "participation"... and I have been fascinated by the implications.

August 3, 2007

We all love social media ... we love the way that it connects us, the way we can interact with people both near and far, and to an extent, we even love the gadgety effects of the technology that drives it all.

July 5, 2007

It is easy to build a Web site these days. And with a raft of online tools and systems like blogs, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc., it is even easier to kick start a blog or social media experiment. But participating or building these does not necessarily constitute a "web strategy."

June 21, 2007

When we talk or write or read about strategy, you don't need to look far before you see the word "engagement." It is everywhere ... but is it, like so many other buzz words, becoming tired? Has it reached its use by date? Or does it still have legs?

March 7, 2007

Tim MasiGuy Jackson is an unusual and charming chap. He is one of a kind. He wears his heart on his sleeve and his favorite brand in his name. And today he celebrates TWO years of blogging (well actually it was sometime over the weekend)... and in his post he talks about the way that he has met and become friends with a whole range of people.

January 25, 2007

We talk about listening to our customers. We talk about listening to our peers, our stakeholders and our teams. But really, when we talk about listening, I wonder whether we are really being attentive -- whether we take what we hear and turn it into something actionable. And I wonder whether we are really using the RIGHT kind of ears....

January 18, 2007

This afternoon on my way home I stumbled upon a great, short lecture by Paul Field, the CEO of The Wiggles. It covers the 15-year career of one of the world's most popular kids entertainment groups and makes for a fascinating case study of consumer driven marketing....

January 5, 2007

The bloggers I love are those who surprise me. It is the same for my favorite authors, artists, musicians, playwrights ... the list goes on. I think this makes me a difficult "audience", a tough crowd -- and this may be true -- but I still do try to be polite (most of the time)....

December 6, 2006

It is now December and I am becoming used to my unadorned face. I must admit that Movember has been a curious and interesting experiment on a number of fronts. On the one hand it was a great reason to celebrate the much maligned moustache -- and be "silly" (and let's face it, many of us look ridiculous sporting a mo), but it was also a chance to "be involved" with a cause -- prostate cancer and depression....

November 10, 2006

Ideas circulate on the blogosphere with a ferocity that can surprise us all. Often our response or reaction can be immediate and visceral -- while at other times we need a little longer to reflect on what we read, see or hear....

October 26, 2006

We can be a passionate bunch. We can get loud, strident and opinionated. We can argue, discuss and converse. We can talk until the (purple) cows come home. But we also pride ourselves on getting things done....

October 13, 2006

When I was at university, I had a great drama lecturer called David Ritchie. Unlike many of my other professors who arrived in the lecture theatre with an armful of books and a clipboard, David would turn up, slightly late and begin his oratory....

September 22, 2006

If you are reading this, then I suspect you already know the answer....

September 11, 2006

I have been showing this picture around the office today. There were lots of nods and a few laughs ...

September 8, 2006

I have noticed a lot of blog posts talking about cars or motorbikes recently....