Follow The Money – Focussing on Inputs or Outputs

Deep Throat said it to Bob Woodward in 1976, and it’s still true today – if you want to understand, if you want to really get to the truth, you need to follow the money. And this is is just as true in the advertising business as we try and evolve an ageing traditional, TV…… Continue reading Follow The Money – Focussing on Inputs or Outputs

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

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?

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

BDW Making Digital Work – Day 2, Morning

Day 2 of BDW’s Making Digital Work was as, if not more, insightful and interesting than the first. We began with a panel discussion with Ty Montague (Co-Founder of the Co-Collective @tmontague), John Windsor (Founder of crowdsourcing agency Victors & Spoils @jtwinsor), Ian Schafer (Founder of Engagement Agency DeepFocus @ischafer) & Edward Boches discussing the…… Continue reading BDW Making Digital Work – Day 2, Morning

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

Getting ready to ‘Make Digital Work’

In a couple of days I’m taking the 14 hour flight to head to New York for Colorado University’s, Boulder Digital Works Executive Workshop – Making Digital Work. This is the first time the programme has been run outside of Boulder and promises to be a hotbed of ideas and learning. The programme ran first…… Continue reading Getting ready to ‘Make Digital Work’

Treating creatives like adults

For far too long this industry has treated creatives like the goose that lays the golden egg – a mysterious creature that must be locked away, waited on hand and foot, and generally treated like a jewel that must pandered to and protected. But times are changing. Times are changing both for the industry as…… Continue reading Treating creatives like adults

Elephant in the room syndrome for agencies

The more I search for information about agency structures and models, the less of it I seem to find, not only are there very few descriptions of the traditional agency structure, how planning, creative and client service work together, but there is even less information about how these models are evolving and what might be…… Continue reading Elephant in the room syndrome for agencies