“Imagination is more important than knowledge” – Einstein. But how many marketers know how to use it? Everyone talks about “creativity” – but most confuse it with being different for the sake of being different. One man who has an …
Read MoreAuthor: Drayton
If you can’t relate to this, you’re on the moon
Who could it refer to? Any number of useless politicians and greedy bankers I hope Grizelda, the excellent cartoonist of The Oldie won’t mind this salute to her skills. I put it in for two reasons. First because it’s so …
Read MoreTwo of the worst advertisements I saw this week
Which is worse? The wildly inappropriate or the totally incomprehensible? One of these ads is bad. The other is abysmal. If you wish your ads to work they must fit the context and the subject. The ad for SIPPs is bad …
Read MoreAdvertising schizophrenia at Fiat
How can one firm run an ad as good as this – but another so bad it made me groan? Do you ever look at an ad and mutter to yourself, “Wanker”? I do. It’s a sad condition, I know. …
Read MoreHere’s a bizarre bit of marketing. Are they mad? No, just experiential
Advertising is by no means the only way to market. In October my partner Ian may well rearrange your thinking I took the picture in Bristol on my way to the train. There are table tennis tables dotted all College …
Read MoreBullshit bingo: how to make absolutely,100% sure nobody knows why they should hire you
Obscurity, jargon and polysyllabic waffle do not impress. They just irritate, confuse and mystify As you may know somebody discovered a while ago that the thing people find most irritating in business is jargon. Some sufferers, they say, play Bullshit …
Read MoreWTF? What d’you suppose they were smoking when they came up with this lulu?
This Acer ad manages to tick all the boxes. Unreadable. Irrelevant. Incompetent. And frankly just a teeny bit bananas Imagine you’re given the task of launching a new product. The market is bitterly competitive. Computers. Dog eat dog. Squillions of …
Read MoreHas the social media bubble burst? Not quite – and not entirely
Yet another testament to marketers’ ignorance, folly and unwillingness to do their homework I often quote that wittiest of politicians, Disraeli. He was a great favourite of Queen Victoria – as you can see, this picture was taken by her command. I …
Read MoreA tale of two posters
One a lost opportunity; the other perfect for purpose Stephen Leacock called advertising the science of arresting human intelligence just long enough to get money from it. Most people who write or design posters seem unaware how fleeting that time …
Read MoreMy five-year struggle with Google AdWords – and why they are good for you
Sheer stupidity: my secret copywriting weapon – but now I need help. Maybe you too? As you may have noticed with exasperation I have a fund of bad jokes. A favourite is on my stupidity. It often takes me a …
Read More