When I was dean of the Brand Marketers Academy at Cannes this year, one of our speakers was a cardiothoracic surgeon, JaBaris Swain. He wasn’t there to talk about hearts. He was there to talk about creativity in the operating theatre — planning, prep, brand codes, the frame you build so you can actually be…… Continue reading Marketing Is Driven by Physics
Category: Digital
Six themes from Cannes Lions Brand Marketer Academy – Life lessons for future leaders
You might have been in the Palais last week, or you might have been streaming online – or maybe you had FOMO and were just watching your social feeds. But I can tell you that the most insightful, and authentic conversations with leaders from yesterday, today and tomorrow happened in the classroom of the Cannes…… Continue reading Six themes from Cannes Lions Brand Marketer Academy – Life lessons for future leaders
He’s on TikTok 7 hours a day, so we hired him for our social content strategy
Do you know how your TV or phone actually works? Have you studied how people choose cereal in the supermarket? When did you last ask someone why they truly love a particular brand? Just because we’re human doesn’t mean we naturally understand people and let’s be honest, homo sapiens isn’t exactly a rational creature.…… Continue reading He’s on TikTok 7 hours a day, so we hired him for our social content strategy
The Biggest Challenge in Marketing Today Isn’t What You Think. It’s not AI. It’s not data. It’s aspiration.
We all seem to be commiserating about the state of our industry, the death of agencies, the loss of creativity, the impending doom of GenAI but what is really going on? If we start from those in the industry today, all the way to the next generation of marketers about to join us, the…… Continue reading The Biggest Challenge in Marketing Today Isn’t What You Think. It’s not AI. It’s not data. It’s aspiration.
Creativity: A Luxury of the Successful or the Essential Solution in Crisis? The Creativity Crisis Challenge
In today’s world, creativity isn’t limited to art direction or copywriting, it extends into media planning, innovative formats, and tactical executions. Marketers are not just producing visuals and taglines, they’re orchestrating multi-channel experiences, leveraging emerging platforms, and adapting to shifts in audience behaviour that demand resourcefulness in every aspect of campaign delivery. Reinforcing, Not…… Continue reading Creativity: A Luxury of the Successful or the Essential Solution in Crisis? The Creativity Crisis Challenge
When Don Draper Met the Modern Marketing Machine: Creativity in the Age of Pace and Scale
Imagine Don Draper, the suave, cigarette-wielding ad man from the golden age of Mad Men, waking up in 2025. His smooth pitches, once delivered in smoky boardrooms, now collide with AI dashboards, creator collectives, and rapid-fire multi-asset campaigns all happening in real time. Instead of a single brilliant idea, Don now wrestles with dozens of…… Continue reading When Don Draper Met the Modern Marketing Machine: Creativity in the Age of Pace and Scale
From Job Hopper to Strategic Advantage: Why My “Squiggly” Career Was Actually Perfect Training
“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.” – Lao Tzu For years, I carried this quote as both shield and sword. But sometimes, those who’ve traveled many paths have stories worth sharing – especially when those paths were once criticized as unfocused, inconsistent, and lacking commitment. The Case Against Generalists…… Continue reading From Job Hopper to Strategic Advantage: Why My “Squiggly” Career Was Actually Perfect Training
Stuck in the Measurement Trap: Why Our Obsession with ‘Easy’ Metrics Is Killing Real Marketing Effectiveness
The Measurement Conundrum: Why ‘What Gets Measured Gets Managed’ No Longer Means What You Think There’s an old joke among marketers: “The best thing about the internet is you can measure everything. The worst thing about the internet is you can measure everything.” Today, this quip feels less like a joke and more like a…… Continue reading Stuck in the Measurement Trap: Why Our Obsession with ‘Easy’ Metrics Is Killing Real Marketing Effectiveness
Why Emerging Markets Are the Blueprint for Marketing-Led Growth
In boardrooms around the world, there’s a growing expectation that marketing will not just build brand equity—but drive real, measurable business growth. Yet most frameworks for marketing transformation are still rooted in legacy-market thinking: slow, siloed, and overly focused on media efficiency rather than market creation. The truth is, the future of marketing-led growth won’t…… Continue reading Why Emerging Markets Are the Blueprint for Marketing-Led Growth
What is your earliest eCommerce memory?
It’s about time for me to retire the t-shirt pictured here; but there’s an exciting eCommerce story behind it. In 1999 the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dale Sundby, backed by CBS launched a site called StoreRunner.com. It was one of a handful of sites that brought together multiple retailers with a focus on local inventory categorized…… Continue reading What is your earliest eCommerce memory?