Marc Pritchard: metaphorically speaking
Marc Pritchard is the chief brand officer of the world’s biggest advertiser, P&G. He – and his company – need little introduction. I singled him out in a blog last Friday for the genuine impact he is having in the digital advertising market. If only the PR measurement industry had such a potent force to shake […]
5 brilliant reasons why #ThisGirlCan
On Saturday, my gorgeous, gutsy, sassy wife took her Lewes Ladies veterans football team to Southampton to play in the first round of the FA People’s Cup. They played six, won four, drew one, lost one. Runners up on the day, and through to the next round in March. I couldn’t be more proud. Lewes […]
Why companies need to get their story straight
Digital and social media have transformed communications. This is especially true for corporations and brands. Companies can no longer dictate what’s said about their products and services. Today, many more voices matter. Anyone with a social media profile and a WiFi connection can influence what people think about organisations. We’ve moved from unshakeable, unquestioned brand […]
I’ve seen the future of learning – and I like it
Through persistence, making enquiries at the right time, and a healthy dose of good luck, I was privileged to attend last month’s RSA President’s Lecture. I was pleased to do so in this, the first year of my Fellowship of this most excellent organisation. The address was given by Simon Nelson, Founder of FutureLearn. He […]
Nice!
It’s said that English is an easy language to learn. Despite the oddities of pronunciation – cough, bough, enough – modern English is largely non-inflected; it doesn’t force lots of awkward endings and agreements on the building blocks of language. Verbs, nouns and adjectives. I’ve no idea whether English is easier to learn than other, more […]
Timeout: the key to killer ideas
I was impressed to read last week of a bold initiative from ad agency Wieden + Kennedy. The agency – or at least the London office of W+K – has banned email in the evenings and weekends, and meetings can only be booked between 10am and 4pm. They’re doing this because – in the words […]
Why storytelling matters to business more than ever
The maxim ‘content is king’ has been so overused by the marketing and communications community since it was coined 20 years back that it has attained cliché status. Everyone parrots it, it’s accepted as a truism, and as such it doesn’t trigger urgency or action in those who say or hear it. Like a children’s playground […]
Why brands need to #standforsomething
Purpose is the new vision, mission, CSR and employee engagement strategy all rolled into one. Companies and brands that define and articulate their purpose – their why – are more successful than those that don’t. Who says so? Jim Stengel, the former CMO of P&G no less. Brands like Apple, with its products designed to […]
Why brands need to avoid jargon in their storytelling
To celebrate National Storytelling Week, corporate and brand storytellers Insight Agents commissioned Sussex University’s Innovation Centre to interview senior figures in the UK retail sector to tell us the challenges they face in telling their brand stories. Today Sam Knowles, our Founder & MD, takes a personal look at jargon – and argues that brands […]
The four Es of effective storytelling
I’ve always loved English. It’s such a rich language with gloriously diverse ways of saying the same thing. In one form or another, English has been around for more than a millennium. In that time, many other languages – of conquerors and the conquered, of allies and foes – have left their trace. That’s why […]
