Introducing: Small AI for brands
AI might seem overwhelming, but we’ve found ways to make it work for our clients and their customers in small-scale creative implementations.
Ready to reinvent? Challenge accepted.
You probably won’t hear this from your typical management consultant but strategy is fundamentally a creative exercise. Our new B2B reinvention model will help you reframe business challenges and consider strategic choices you never knew you had.
The inside story: why your people shouldn't be just passengers on your brand journey.
The secret to creating a successful brand is right in front of you: your employees hold all the answers.
Credibility in ESG means showing your work
We’ve seen enough greenwashing. It’s time for the companies that are genuinely working hard to improve their sustainability to take centre stage by using more truthful storytelling in their sustainability reports.
How to be the dumbest person in the room
How do Strategists find simple solutions to complex problems? We focus on the “what”, the “why” and the “how”.
Where logic meets magic: why strategy underpins every great idea
While the strategist’s primary role is to lay solid creative foundations on which creative ideas can build, it’s not the whole picture. Strategists must also know when to sell and when to step in, step back and step up.
Research is how we ask questions, listen and learn
Our Think/Frame/Make/Work process always starts with Think: Research. We ask questions to validate a brief, and then we ask questions to get to the answers. But what we do most is listen, and look for opportunities to learn more than we expected.
How to turn insights into great creative
Good strategy with bad creative and bad strategy with good creative both lead to the same thing: a missed opportunity.
Humanising B2B and leading with empathy
The sweet spot for deep engagement lies between education (knowing your stuff), and inspiration (thinking beyond it)
How to succeed at digital transformation: Influence many different people
Changes in human behaviour are at least as important to the success of digital transformation as the change in technology. And you can’t expect anyone to change – or become champions for change – without effective and empathetic communication.
Reactive marketing: why timing is everything
What do Sainsbury’s and Beyoncé have in common? Until recently, not very much. But, thanks to a stroke of reactive marketing genius, this unlikely association brought Sainsbury’s a surge of engagement on social media. What can marketers learn from it in order to capitalise on other brands’ publicity, turn a PR disaster into a PR triumph or score serious engagement from a single post? One thing is clear: when it comes to reactive marketing, fortune favours the fast.
What’s next? The answer is already in the room
There's a moment in every project when you've done all the research you can possibly do. The market analysis is thorough, the customer insights are rich, the competitive landscape is mapped with precision.
Storytelling and imagination in the age of AI
One upon a time, there was a creative strategist…
Imagination: the missing metric in your business strategy
Imagine an alternative world where humans were incapable of conceptual thought.
Investigating imagination: our research proves it drives business success
In our 35 years as a business, we’ve come to know first-hand the value of imagination. We’ve seen how it can drive real success, not only for our clients – for us, too.
Great barrier relief: how uniting data and imagination can supercharge business success
In the UK at least, there’s an artificial – and frankly unhealthy – societal divide between the arts and the sciences. Apparently, you’re either in one camp or the other. But when it comes to business strategy, bringing creative thinking and scientific rigour together turns out to be a winning formula.
A game plan for success: how B2B brands can tap into the spirit of sport
It's been an incredible summer of sport, from the Euros to the Olympics. For B2B brands, this offers a unique opportunity to explore human stories – and capture hearts and minds.
Strategy is complex, but winning brands keep it simple
Brand strategy can seem daunting and complex – and bringing the right stakeholders and insights together can certainly be an involved process. But keeping the final output simple and direct is rarely going to be a bad choice.
How to avoid perfectionism paralysis (and make it your greatest strength)
Can our work ever really be “perfect” – and does it matter? Sophie navigates the doubts, debates, tricks and triumphs that make up a standard day in the life of a creative strategist.
Teaming with creativity
There can be few more encouraging votes of confidence than an industry award. And when it comes to awards there are few better than a Cannes Lion.
Value your brand? Then take IT security seriously
For most people, IT security is a bit like flossing: you know you should do it regularly, but somehow you never get round to it. We all know we should have a different password for every app, service or site – and that we should change them every few months – but how many of us actually do?
You’ve got mail (that you’ll actually want to read)
How often do you bother to read marketing emails? Like many others, you may wonder why marketers are so keen to keep e-mail communications alive. Put simply: they work. Why? Because we all still keep a close eye on our inboxes every day.
Pick a partner: why working together is the key to success
When you think of Tom and Jerry, it’s likely the first thing that springs to mind is their natural rivalry – each episode erupting into mayhem because of the comedic competition between the two characters. But if you think harder you might remember that, from time to time, the pair set aside their rivalry and defied nature to pursue a common goal. Although cat and mouse were created to be enemies, deep down they were always friends – “frenemies” before the term became mainstream.
A brand worth living: hoping for new wave of celebrity brand ambassadors
Back in 2014, Kelly Slater, an 11-time world surfing champion and one of the greatest athletes of all time, made the surfing community question whether his brain was waterlogged when he parted ways with his long-term sponsor Quiksilver to pursue his own clothing brand. Walking away from a 23-year, multimillion-dollar partnership that had him made the face of surfing for three generations looked like a strange decision, to say the least. It was the equivalent of LeBron James leaving Nike or Lionel Messi dumping Adidas to start their own sports brands.
Why you may need to think again about thought leadership
A couple of years ago we were asked to make some strategic recommendations about how an established B2B brand could gain quick traction and momentum in an industry sector outside its traditional sphere of influence. Specifically, we were asked to consider how “thought leadership” might play a part.
In for a penny: what the world can learn from the UK’s fintech industry
I recently celebrated three years living in the UK, having moved here from Tokyo in late 2013. I wanted to see another part of the world and seek out opportunities that I might miss if I stayed home following my graduation. So I secured a visa and headed west in search of work.
No shirt, Sherlock: why the branded tee is marketing’s most effective method
In an over-saturated ad market, where every brand and its dog scrambles for a voice and some worthwhile engagement, it amazes me that more marketers don’t revert to an old-school, low-cost medium like the humble T-shirt to amplify deep-rooted brand devotion.
All the way to the bank: why we should be paying attention to Monzo and the fintech revolution
I went to an event last month that opened my eyes to the future of finance. It was at the London headquarters of a startup called Monzo (formerly Mondo). You might have heard of it – it crashed crowdcube’s website within seconds of its crowdfunding campaign going live three weeks ago after enthusiastic backers pledged £1 million in a minute and a half in exchange for equity in the startup.
Hitting turbulence: Virgin Atlantic, Delta and the perils of brand partnerships
Tie-ups between brands are like marriages. You’re committed to each other, often you‘re viewed as one entity – and sometimes you have to put in extra effort to make it work.
Cash in the Ashes: the fine balance of sports sponsorship
The rain came a day too late to save England’s blushes at The Kia Oval. We got to celebrate anyway yesterday, as Alastair Cook lifted the little urn after a successful – if gloriously unpredictable – Ashes campaign. As his players rightly enjoyed their moment in the sun, spraying Veuve Cliquot and swigging Cobra and Peroni from the neck, I was reminded of some slightly different scenes a couple of weeks earlier at Trent Bridge.
