Any time I start to think I know it all, someone teaches me better. Here’s the story. Once a month I run three hour sessions in my office where I fondly imagine I help people improve their businesses. The truth …
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A priceless lesson from London’s nicest bus driver
This is something that changed my life, and could change yours. But let me tell you the story. Most mornings I take the bus from my flat in Chelsea to go to work. The others I walk, because walking is …
Read MoreChloe’s secret skills – plus what recessions do to newspapers …
We may be no bloody good at our chosen trade but now we have a cunning plan. Two days ago the radiant Chloe who now suffers the awful pangs of PA-dom here came in with a box full of cakes …
Read MoreMy little pony goes to college – with the usual results
One of the funniest comedians in this country did a sketch years ago which made me deeply happy. It took place in an advertising agency, where a bluff northern client had come for a presentation. It is hard to parody …
Read MoreHere’s a foolproof way to screw up a good service – Bill Bernbach in reverse
The late Bill Bernbach once remarked that nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising. Absolutely true: the better a product is advertised, the faster people will try it and discover it is rubbish, thus hastening its demise. But …
Read MoreWhy most (not some) marketers stumble around in a fog of misapprehension. – and a free webinar that may help
As I have noted before, the marketing press never fails to provide me with a rich compost of the ludicrous. Australia’s AdNews did not fail me this morning with a piece that enlightened me as follows: Telstra’s director of brand …
Read MoreI almost applied for this job
Creative Writer Required (London)I am looking for a creative writer to fill out job applications and send my CV on for PAID positions. You will be: smart, have a knowledge of the current employment market and have contacts within the …
Read MoreA little Aussie frivolity. Stop me if you’ve heard it.
An Aussie truck driver walks into an outback cafe with a full-grown emu behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders. The trucker says, ‘A Hamburger, Fries and a Coke,’ and turns to the emu, ‘What’s yours?’ ‘Sounds great, …
Read MoreOh dear! Tom McPhail gives me a spanking – and rightly, too, but there’s a lesson for you
If you follow finance in this country you’ll almost certainly run across the name Tom McPhail. He is the leading spokesman for Hargreaves Lansdown, a firm I dash off the odd paragraph for, and is constantly being quoted in the …
Read MoreA rich seam of intellectual sewage: the vagaries of corporate advertising
For years I wrote six pieces a month for various marketing publications. Come to think of it, I now do more, but they’re on line. Someone once asked how I managed it, and I replied: “Easy. I only have to …
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