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Here’s your latest kicked sandcastles:
- The100: Marketing bubbles, Bud Light and Cockney accents
The reaction to the reaction that created more reaction It wouldn’t be an issue of The100 without Ritson’s recent ruminations (apologies for the excessive alliteration). He’s written about the US backlash to a Bud Light ad and how it shows the complexity of mass marketing: “Watching the full interview with Heinerscheid [VP, Bud Light] is … - The100: Jobs to be done, efficiency reloaded & the Lucas/Spielberg bromance
The real event in London last week Last week we were lucky enough to welcome 200 of you lovely readers to our event in London on liars and lying. There were no crowns, 12th century spoons or grim reapers (ummm, what was that please?), but we did have 11 brilliant speakers and a few scoops …
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The100: The disruption myth, strategic ideas and airport views
“Computers and society are out on a 1st date” There’s a metric tonne of gold dust in The Steve Jobs Archive. It’s stacked with memos, emails and interviews. Including this, from circa 1976 – 85: “Apple’s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is put an incredibly great computer in a book that you carry …
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The100: Removing friction, fundamental attribution errors and sea urchin hats
What we can learn from priests in a hurry Richard Shotton has delivered many a wise word over the past couple of weeks. First, he was in the hot seat on the Uncensored CMO podcast and made a particularly good point around how removing even the tiniest bit of friction can have outsized effects on …
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The100: The age of average, Brandolini’s Law and Ameriga
Averagers Assemble Alex Murrell’s piece on the age of average is spot on. Since when did everything start looking the same? However depressing that is, it does present a huge opportunity to stand out: “when every category abides by the same conventions, when every industry has converged on its own singular style, bold brands and …
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The100: Algospeak, logo debranding and polite elephants
Context is everything Adam Ferrier writes about why creativity always loses the battle against indifferent consumers. If you (or your company) pre-test creative work you need to read this. In fact, you need to read it anyway, especially if you use focus groups. While we’re strong advocates of research and the commissioning of qualitative and …
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The100: Clients vs agencies, reality checks, and pillow fights
Ask-a-Researcher Is there a better combination than when something is both useful and fun? Didn’t think so. That’s why we asked a few of our researchers (who have walked the hallways of Cadbury, Kraft, Mondelez, Fonterra, PepsiCo, Unilever and Alberto Culver) to discuss some topical research related questions. Kind of like an advice column for …
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Insight Led Consumer Closeness Programmes
(It’s about winning, not the taking part) *(47 year old man makes meme – my apologies) Consumer closeness projects aren’t just about watching or speaking to people on video. There, I said it. You may be surprised to hear that from me, as a founder of a video based market research company, but after running …
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The100: Data visualisation, designed systems, and marble runs
Ear candy The Right Honourable Lord of Marketing, Russell Davies, was interviewed as part of Google’s excellent Firestarters series. On data, he said (45:00): “The data gold rush era is declining. We’ve never had more data about our customers and we understand them less and less […] People with intuition and empathy will get disproportionate …
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The100: Storyhunting, the future of work & research bashing
De/Im-parting wisdom Tom Callard (soon to leave advertising agency BBH) wrote about the 50 things he’s learned in ad agencies. The whole list is great, but my highlights are: Trust your gut, but also try to prove it wrong. Hunt for revelations, not ‘insights’ (thanks Richard Huntington). The consumer might not give you the answer, …
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The100: The illusion of research, what is brand and Sriracha sauce
“When in doubt, read Bullmore.” Tom Darlington starts us off this week with a must read for anyone in Marketing on the brilliance of (Jeremy) Bullmore. Not only has he covered every topic, but he has done so with clarity, brevity and fertility – qualities often lacking from modern discourse on the subject of brands, …
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The100: Strategic questions, shopping trolleys and Air Horse One
I’m back. You didn’t notice. That’s ok 🙂 Neither did anyone at Watch Me Think towers (which I take as a compliment). On a side note, if you need any tips on hiking in the UK, pub lunches, theatre, museums and cinema, then I’m all topped up on that 😉 What is insight? Thanks to …
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The100: Logo throwbacks, marketing mistakes and Vikings
Have the last laugh The use of humour in advertising has nosedived over the last 15 years. As of 2020 just 34% of adverts were funny or lighthearted, down from 53% in 2004. And the bottom line isn’t laughing either. Recent studies have shown humorous adverts tend to be more effective, and have a significant, …
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The100: failed social experiments, 2022 trends (obvs) and rubber fig trees
Happy New Year and all that (at what point should we stop saying that?); welcome to another year of poking bears and kicking sandcastles in The100. Are you sitting comfortably? The not-yet-trending report Trend predictions are often as much use as an inflatable dartboard. Yet Pinterest may just be onto something with their Pinterest Predicts …
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The100: Best of 2021
To finish a year that’s gone faster than you can say “8-days-until-christmas”, we’ve gone back into the archives and dusted off the 10 most popular links featured in The100 during 2021. Best enjoyed with a brew, as always. In joint 10th 22 innovations that’ll change the world, the sonic extinguisher being a personal favourite. And while …