Now it can be told

Thanks for visiting – and besides being mildly curious, do you say the same things as me about blogs?

Maybe something along these lines?

“Oh no, not another. Aren’t 50 million enough? Will this tidal wave of drivel never ebb?”

Well, my excuse is that people keep asking me to. Really.

Actually, for 20 years I’ve been asked to write an autobiography, so this is a lazy way to see if anyone would be interested.

A test, in fact..

You may ask, why the silly title? Well, when I was a big cheese in direct marketing, I used to send out newsletters to my colleagues around the world called Commonsense Creative, which someone unkind immediately called Bird Droppings.

(Amazingly, quite a few have kept them).

Now that I’m an older, smaller cheese I can talk to you about things I see every day that I hope you’ll find as puzzling, intriguing, ludicrous, hilarious, bizarre, inexplicable or downright stupid as I do.

For instance:

The terrifying security guards in our hotel in Kiev…

Why most people who get to run big firms shouldn’t …

How my ex-partner managed to get such a bevy of strumpets into the Royal Enclosure in Ascot without being arrested …

What’s missing from most of the marketing advice you get from U.S. experts …

What I’m going to do in Cuba in September …

How an Indian film revealed that my daughter was a brilliant singer …

What my father taught me about brands …

My divorces – and what they cost …

My mixed experiences with political parties – and why I fear Cameron may be a disaster …

Why you should watch my on-line seminars …

What David Ogilvy said to me one Christmas morning …

How I got a job that should have gone to cartoon hd Charles Saatchi …

Why advertising agencies don’t believe in advertising …

How I got my first advertising job …

Why I walked out of University …

What Parkinson said when he interviewed me on TV …

My first visit to the King’s Road …

And so on …

I may even tell you about my two curious adventures with transvestites … but I’m not sure my partner Marta will let me – though I shall certainly talk about her.

Where shall I begin?

Should it be the letter my friend Ian Dewar sent me, asking to get paid for doing nothing?

No.

I’m going to tell you about going broke. I’ve done it twice. Not personally, thank God. Just my companies.

You could learn a lot – I did.

And I’m going to tell you how after the first time my accountant, the rogue, actually suggested I do it again.

That’s for the next episode.

First, though, check out these pictures my old partner Glenmore sent me of Royal Ascot.

He’s actually rather poorly at the moment, but he left the hospital to have a little fun.




 






Want to do better? Go to askdrayton.com

 

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

2 Comments

  1. Can’t wait to read the next entry. Yuo make going bust so much fun I may even try it.

  2. This blog sounds like a great idea. Educational and funny – it doesn’t get better than that.

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