It’s all clear through the amber spyglass
Throw away your copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and rip up your edition of Kevin Roberts’ Lovemarks – there’s a new über-text in town for seers, sages and strategists. It’s best-selling fantasy author Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. At least, that’s the text from which Media Audits global account director Martin Sambrook chose his opening quote for this year’s OMD Predicts brainstorming session, hosted by Guardian Newspapers, in which senior media and client luminaries gave their predictions for the year. In his best imitation of a Texan drawl, Sambrook delivered this line from balloon aviator Lee Scorseby, a character from the trilogy: “I cannot see the future but I can see the present clear enough.”
Despite this claim, Sambrook then went on to predict the unstoppable rise of the procurement officer in the process of awarding business and more consolidation of media agencies. He closed with a quote from (where else?) a leader column in this very magazine, which said: “Those with patchy networks, or severe morale problems, need not apply for membership of the super league.”
He also stuck his neck out and said that Tony Blair would leave Number 10 – perhaps he thinks with a bit of Brown-nosing he’ll get to audit the Chancellor’s accounts?
