Content & Amplification – The New Brand Brief

Sometimes it’s still hard to talk to ‘traditional ad guys’ and get them to understand how the business of communications has changed, how the web has exploded the number of channels through which we can deliver messages and also empowered the consumer to respond, turning a monologue into dialogue and thereby giving them a voice.…… Continue reading Content & Amplification – The New Brand Brief

My Job is about Change – Agitating & Activating

Depending on who I’m talking to, I find it very hard to describe what I do – a lot of the time I talk about ‘digital strategy’ but I know that if I find it difficult to explain, that probably means that others find it even harder to understand – it’s a logical conclusion. What…… Continue reading My Job is about Change – Agitating & Activating

Are digital agencies the new dinosaurs?

I was asked to answer the  question ‘Are digital agencies the new dinosaurs?’ in this week’s Campaign ME – check out my answer below and those of my industry colleagues in the attached. Digital is no longer a microsite or a banner ad, digital is everywhere and in everything – look at interactive TV, digital…… Continue reading Are digital agencies the new dinosaurs?

Can agencies really play nicely together?

I’ve had a few conversations recently about the changing remit of the advertising agency and the growing inter-relationships between different agencies, be they pure event/activation groups, web development or even media agencies. The question that always comes up (on both sides of the table) is whether the agencies will be able to get along. The…… Continue reading Can agencies really play nicely together?

The end of ATL/BTL, the birth of Paid, Owned, Earned

For the better part of 2010 and as both agency structures and the work we are doing becomes less TV and press centric and more about humans and ideas, we have been searching for the right terminology to break down the different parts of our work. The traditional ATL/BTL terminology is still very much prevalent…… Continue reading The end of ATL/BTL, the birth of Paid, Owned, Earned

The Chasm in Advertising

Advertising is dying, but this time from the inside. We’ve seen many of the recent articles in FastCompany (The Future of Advertising, 17 November 2010) and Business Week (Don Draper’s Revenge, 24 November 2010) talking about the future of the industry and although many would argue that the same story has been rolled out annually…… Continue reading The Chasm in Advertising

Learning to walk – by the book

The major challenge affecting agencies today is how to keep up with technology as it explodes in the communications landscape around us – never before in the history of the business have so many changes, happened so fast and with such greater impact. As we try to keep up, to learn, to understand and to…… Continue reading Learning to walk – by the book

When clients ask for bread, give them cake

Too often I hear account directors and those in client service complain that their clients are not ready, not mature enough or not open minded enough for us to deliver true integrated, multi-channel thinking against their briefs; and for this reason the briefs that are delivered to creative tend to be driven towards more traditional…… Continue reading When clients ask for bread, give them cake