Losing control: 11 TEDxBrighton learnings
The main auditorium of the Brighton Dome is a catholic entertainment venue. Over the past 17 years, I’ve graduated here – twice. The first time, I shook the hand, the second time enjoyed a warm embrace from the late Sussex VC, Richard “Dickie” Attenborough. I’ve also enjoyed: the Bootleg Beatles; Marc Ronson on the Version tour; […]
Carry a big stick
Fear seems a very negative way to sell things. And yet all the evidence from behavioural economists shows that people will do more to protect what they have already got than they will do to acquire more. Most news stories start with a negative. ‘One in three Britons will die if x doesn’t happen’ or […]
How to motivate behaviour change
A version of this blog first appeared in the pages of B2B Marketing, posted online here. This is the first in a regular, quarterly series linking psychology and marketing, flying under the banner of I’m Still Thinking. Thanks for the platform, which I’m sharing with two other marketing psychs. Details to follow. — Marketing communications […]
How your words shape what people think about you
Words are powerful things, and it’s in your gift to use them to shape what others think about you. More than that. It’s your responsibility to do so. This is true of companies, of brands and of organisations, every bit as much as it’s true of people. Because what are these institutions if not collectives […]
About “About Us” pages
About Us pages. They’re often the first place people look when they start to consider your organisation seriously. Here are some tips to make them that bit more meaningful. What should you say? You: Like it or not, we are all creatures of emotion and intuition. Too often, businesses only try and absorb people on a […]
Insight from the front line
A large department store chain decided that it was time for a refresh of the seats in the footwear section of its shops, with a store in the Midlands pencilled in as a pilot for the new design. The new seats duly arrived, with a motivational speech delivered to the footwear team from the Area […]
On curiosity, repertoire and universal human truths
Ricardo Sapiro has dedicated his career to brand marketing. Training with Johnson & Johnson before moving on to Wyeth Whitehall, both roles in Brazil, he made his reputation during a 15-year tenure at Unilever. With local, regional and global brand marketing roles, he ran the business in Brazil and across Latin America, as well as […]
Why good writing matters
Founder & MD of Insight Agents, Sam Knowles, pens a personal paean to Steve Pinker, Harvard psychology professor, one of the most accessible serious scientists to have crossed over into the mainstream without compromising his academic integrity. In the process, readers lucky enough still to take their summer vacation get a top tip for holiday […]
Finding our inner why
Purpose is the new mission and vision, all rolled into one. Companies that can’t articulate what their higher purpose is – beyond the fiduciary duty they owe to their shareholders to turn a profit – are so last century. Simon Sinek’s Start With Why is an international best-seller, and his TED Talk How great leaders […]
We are all storytellers
Recognise this? Unless you speak Anglo-Saxon or your name is Ellen Fremedon, these words might not be familiar to you. They are in fact the opening lines of Beowulf, arguably one of the greatest stories in the world.