I read some impressive stats this week about the rise and rise of social networking site LinkedIn. As with Facebook, the user base is no doubt split between dabblers and committed addicts. I fall somewhere between the two. I find LinkedIn is an excellent tool for tracking down old colleagues and a convenient way of […]
I am “double hatting” at the moment, providing caretaker cover for our sales director who is taking some time out of the business. Looking after the national account team has been quite an eye opener. Sales people are very different to marketers. They are motivated by cases sold rather than measures of brand equity and […]
As a marketing director, I get my fair share of cold calls and new business mailings. Fewer people can be bothered to pick up the phone these days, most aim straight for my inbox. This approach may be faster, cheaper and some might argue has a greater chance of reaching me than a phone call, […]
Winter has arrived and boy what a change it makes to consumer behaviour. I am a prime example. Draped in my new jacket and chunky knitwear, I leave for work and return home in the dark, drink record levels of cappuccinos, reacquaint myself with soup at lunchtime and am dangerously tempted by the warmth of […]
Lots of time with the agencies this week and a mixed bag of progress. There appears to be a very direct correlation with the quality of my brand managers and the quality of work coming out of the agencies. Some might say that it is down to the quality of the brief itself, but I […]
Our ’man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
Our ’man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
Like it or not, Christmas has landed. Seasonal trading patterns, daily monitoring of sell-through on seasonal stock, gossip about everybody’s Christmas ads, staff holiday cover planning, office Christmas party politics and a raft of invites from agencies offering festive hospitality are now part of our daily working lives until the new year. Not that I’m […]
I am just back from an away day seminar organised by our friends in group compliance. The risk management function is a new one on me but its troops have been granted ’access all areas’ and are slowly wielding their influence. As a senior commercial manager I was invited (well, required in fact) to attend […]
What an incredible week it must have been for all those connected with the News of the World. The paper’s circulation has been declining for a number of years, but I can’t quite remember an iconic establishment brand being discontinued in quite such dramatic circumstances. I once interviewed for a marketing role at News International […]
We’ve had a rollercoaster week with our design agency. I felt the briefing given by the brand team contained the right blend of insight, facts and data and the first phase of the design project was a great success as we worked with the agency to develop the creative brief. Confidence was high, the chemistry […]
My comments about the organisational challenges that a department manager faces when a team member goes on maternity leave (MW 26 May) led to a couple of readers accusing me of a secret prejudice against women who decide to have a family. First, I apologise unreservedly if my comments caused offence. This was most certainly […]
One of my all-time favourite movies is the iconic Wall Street, so I enjoyed a bank holiday treat taking in the sequel. How times have changed. Mobiles are a whole lot smaller and I get to watch the movie on Blu-ray courtesy of Lovefilm rather than on dodgy VHS courtesy of Blockbuster. Wall Street: Money […]
I am flat out at the moment and the last thing I need is a diary full of agency Christmas parties. Call me Scrooge, but gone are the days when I could pack in back-to-back festive fun while creating the illusion of staying on top of the day job. I must be getting old or […]
I am looking forward to a full week in the office after the bank holiday recess. I am hopelessly behind on all things admin, not helped by spending most of last week out of the office as I presented at a series of regional sales meetings. My week on the road is an annual pilgrimage […]