Brands: 'Oh please, do me a favour!'

If one more person tells me "The brand is your greatest asset", I'm going to puke. I'm also going to get very pissed, because it's this type of talk that makes us professional brand strategists look bad.

Brand Shmand

If one more person waxes lyrical about what a brand is I'm going to puke. I mean it.

Strategic Planners – the South African Dilemma

A paradigm for a table is a flat piece of wood with four long pieces. The paradigm for strategy depends on whom you ask; "Competitive strategy is a combination of goals for which the firm is striving and the means by which it is getting there."Porter"The art of the employment of battles as a means to gain the object of war."Von Clauswitz"The art of distributing and applying military means to fulfil the ends of policy."Liddell Hart" A plan ...

Sex and Insights

I was recently evaluated by a hopeful agency on my ability to "get us insights". How? Simple, just "get out there and talk to people".

Putting together presentations - General tips for Strategic Planners

A key maxim of branding is that all behaviour is symbolic. I think Livingston the poet said it best; "We judge ourselves by what we're capable of, but others judge us by what we've done".

Advertising's running out of fuel while we're checking the undercarriage

"United Airlines 173, descend and maintain 8000 feet" was the instruction from Portland air control to the passenger jet for approach to Runway 28. The first officer (chap in the right-hand seat) called for flaps and then gear.

The Pitch - 20 ways to chat up a new client

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." were the last words of General John Sedgewick as he unwisely raised his head over the parapet during the US Civil War. I think we could all concur that he got it wrong.

It's that time of the year again: Brand Plan Agony

Ten tips to better Brand Plans and a 12-step programme to make your life easy. Ten Tips for a better Brand PlanFind last year's.If you can't find last year's, cancel a few of your social appointments - you're going to need the time.Get into the habit of filing your presentations on your PC during the year, otherwise, like me, you'll spend the bulk of your time sheepishly approaching client service with "Have you by any chance seen that presentation we did about six months ago ....?".

Lessons from Hollywood - storytelling for strategic planners

In 47 BC, the Roman army under Julius Caesar soundly defeated the forces of King Pharnaces. After his victory, Caesar returned to Rome for a bit of R&R, but not before the citizens had to lend him their ears for his famous speech, made into a glorious summary by this son of Rome: "vini, vidi, vici" - I came I saw I conquered.

How to explain CBBE and sell more beer at the same time

Reading the definition for CBBE (Customer Based Brand Equity) is enough to drive anyone to drink: The differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand.1 So, let's rather turn to drink. People buy beer for one or more of the three L's; they want to feel LEKKER, they want to get LAID or they want to be LOVED.If your beer can't deliver on these basics, then don't even enter the race.But it's the next level where it gets interesting.