Do you feel successful? I don’t. Yes, I have moments of euphoria, usually after I’ve written something pretty good – but it’s not long before I decide I’m useless. So I read about a seminar in “power talking” and “communication …
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Sexist? Moi?
I plead not guilty but amused, Your Honour. A friend sent me this, which he claims is a BMW used car ad from Germany. I think I’ve seen it before, but somehow doubt it’s the real thing. Would they run …
Read MoreGary Halbert, David Ogilvy – and your humble servant: a tale of lost friendship
25 years ago, just after I sold my business to O & M, I got a note from David Ogilvy asking me what I thought of a newsletter he had just read. It was by a man I had never …
Read MoreJust in case you can’t sleep: a new Gold Standard in jargon. Any skilled translators around?
This just in from Wandsworth Cemetery. It’s only a shame that the member of the Undead who wrote it can’t spell “seamlessly”. Performance Canvas Planning is the first fully unified Information Synthesis, Performance Management and Planning tool that uses the …
Read MoreHow did I ever fail to come across Tom Fishburne?
For a long time I wrote a column for Marketing – in fact some people think I still do, although I stopped well over a decade ago. Anyhow, I was replaced by Mark Ritson, a very perceptive commentator, much better …
Read MoreA tale of loose underpants – or how to kill a great brand
I’ll get back to the stuff on the left in a minute, but first I really must apologise for the utter banality of most of my marketing advice, as it seems to consist of a series of blinding glimpses of …
Read MorePresenting the long-awaited inorgural issue of a brilliant new magazine
You’re probably a bit fed up with gnawing your thumbs as your await the consequences of our farcical general election, so here it is. Years ago I sent a memo to all my creative people reminding them of what they …
Read MorePass the junk: a doubly poisoned chalice whoever wins
This little graph from the New York Times neatly explains that what the bankers were doing – passing on worthless junk we ended up paying for – is exactly what Europe’s politicians are doing. They are passing each other’s toxic …
Read MoreGhouls from banks strike again
A lady died this past September, and MBNA bank billed her for October and November for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance that had been …
Read MoreA curse on specialists and their fatuous lingo…
Every day I walk past a rather grand building on the same street as my squalid office which is occupied by Tribal DDB and wonder how long they will carry on doing well. They obviously have some talented people, but …
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