Alex Dunsdon

timing in politics: Power of predictive modelling

2011-12-02T03:18:00.001-08:00

is timing in politics everything? https://plus.google.com/105279625231358353479/posts/6iwwW9YJUfr

LEADERSHIP MODEL: HOW, WHAT, WHY

2011-11-07T23:20:00.000-08:00

baby thinks magazine is an ipad that doesnt work

2011-11-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work.m4v - YouTube:

'via Blog this'

The apg Grand prix for storey.boom

2011-10-08T10:06:00.001-07:00

Check out my about.me profile!

2011-09-12T13:35:00.001-07:00

Friday. And my bike broke

2011-09-09T10:53:00.001-07:00

good talk Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

2011-09-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

pretty much out of action since 2008

2011-09-07T02:15:00.000-07:00

3 Do's and Don'ts of Mobile Marketing

2011-03-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

my raeder article on osmosis

2010-11-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

http://raedar.franklinrae.client.galileolondon.net/?p=817

2009-11-14T01:37:00.001-08:00

read it

2009-09-25T16:07:00.001-07:00

http://wklondon.typepad.com/welcome_to_optimism/2009/09/an-oldie-but-goodie-9-ways-to-improve-an-ad.html

Account handling tip #12: Do you need a meeting?

2009-08-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

We all need more time, the Agency needs to be more efficient and meetings are the mother of all time holes.

So do you really need one?

Clients tend to call meetings when they should be solving a marketing problem.

So try asking Clients for a really well defined agenda - what's their objective they need solving.

And find out if you can sort it without taking three hours out of your day.

Try it....it works

Account ammo #11: Don't believe the hype. Russell doesn't

2009-08-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

Hi

I've banged on before about the fact people don't care about brands as much as we like to think.

They also don't consume media like us. This is summed up nicely here

But now even digi uber lord Russell Davies thinks we overplay the web revolution here

He says: "makes me wonder if I/we've been over-egging this internet revolution pudding quite a bit. Is it that much of a revolution? It certainly has been for me, but not so much for my Mum and Dad, or my son"

Indeed.

It just points to using a plain old common sense filter - rather than just trooping off with an idea, first work out what people will really do with it..how will it actually work in the real world?

Why only 10 or so brands generate genuine loyalty

2009-05-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

From Steve Henry

Remember, digital isnt necessarily the panacea

2009-05-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

here

One of the greatest posters ever?

2009-05-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

here

Account Handling Ammo #9: Presentation gold

2009-05-05T06:10:00.001-07:00

Any presentation. Anytime. Any point you want to make.

If you don't find a relevant slide for you presentation amongst this lot, I'll eat my face.

There's some good slides on Helge's website too.

Thanks to Neil.

Account Handling Ammo #8: Tips on social media

2009-05-05T05:06:00.001-07:00

I do hope people can give more examples of how big brands can use social media.

Because a lot of it is 'nice in theory' and I remain unconvinced that most brands have a role here at all.

The problem is that for every T mobile (which every Agency in town will now be trying to replicate) there's hundreds of examples of failed social media experiments.

If you are "social media'ing" here's Faris' tips.

Be Nice Or Leave

View more presentations from Faris Yakob.

The best bit is thinking of brands as social objects - "the key is to produce something that both pulls people together and gives them something to do". My sense is that brand utility - giving people something useful rather than just entertaining them - will become more and more important.

I also like the bit about "when did we start trusting strangers?"

For another good way to look at how brands can use social media, look at this from John V.

And helpful ways to think of brands in social media as social objects or even social markers or simply social currency
- its not the technology, its what you do with it

And finally....here's a bank of social media that has been tried and is, at least, interesting:
Wispa
Tango
Skittles

Account Handling Ammo #7: The one thing that will make your life in advertising better

2009-04-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

As you may have guessed by reading this, the biggest single mistake we make in communications is assuming people really care about brands in everyday life.

They are simply not that important to people.

So next time you're in a Client meeting dissecting the tiny details, or creatives are getting carried away with their latest viral, think about showing them this great little video from Russell Davies.

If you take nothing else from these posts, it should be that.

You can use it in almost any conversation. It always helps.

Because it means you have the right type of debates. You either have to do something amazing and fresh to capture conscious attention, or rely on low attention processing.

Either is valid, the point is that assuming that people don't care from the outset will help you do the right thing.

GREAT QUOTES

2009-04-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

"We don’t get them to try our product by convincing them to love our brand. We get them to love our brand by convincing them to try our product."

"Brand studies last for months, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and generally have less impact on business than cleaning the curtains."

"As an advertising medium, the web is like communism. It's never very good right now, but it's always going to be great some day."

"If the message is right, who cares what screen people see it on? If the message is wrong, what difference does it make?"

"The only form of product information on the planet less trustworthy than advertising is the shrill ravings of web maniacs."

"In the entire history of civilization, nothing good ever happened to a teenager after midnight."

"There's no bigger sucker than a gullible marketer convinced he's missing a trend."

"All ad campaigns are branding campaigns. Whether you intend it to be a branding campaign is irrelevant. It will create an impression of your brand regardless of your intent."

"Nobody ever got famous predicting that things would stay pretty much the same."

Account Ammo # 6: The Client thinks the ad makes them look old fashioned

2009-04-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

So you've got a great script, a great idea and everyone loves it.

Apart from the Client.

Why? Because the ad is set in the past. It's "old fashioned". It doesn't sit with their contemporary brand values or their shiny new product.

Here's two examples that will help overcome this:

Mercury - Harry Enfield
Mercury were a cutting edge technology company that ran old fashioned advertising. They used black and white film, stuffy old characters and rubbish production techniques.

But, of course, punters didn't see old fashioned ads. They saw funny ads that actually tapped into the zeitgeist (oh yes, Harry Enfield really was trendy for a while kids).

The campaign was massively successful for them.

Carling - Wild West
The wild west. Not new. Ancient.

But Carling draw on insights that are very current and, again, use humour. So, of course, the brand doesn't feel ancient.

The point of all this is to get Clients to look at work holistically. Always. Because consumers don't take out individual elements, they take out an overall feel. See Feldwick and Nike for more on this - it's how ads really work.

Account handling ammo # 4. Getting rid of unhelpful fiddling and meddling

2009-04-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

Whenever anyone (especially Clients) are getting too bogged down in the detail of the ad - you know the sort of thing - colour of t-shirt, type of house in the background, the "its" and "ands" in body copy....it may be worth reminding them of the role that advertising plays.

You can use this extract from the Nike brand book (click on it to make it bigger).

It's all about how advertising is actually a "weak force" and is actually taken in at very low attention levels. You can read more about this here

It's the best description of advertising I've ever read. In fact, it can be 'whipped out' to help with most problems you'll encounter on a day-to-day level.

Account Handling Ammo # 3. Remember. Nobody knows anything

2009-04-28T06:20:00.001-07:00

As the ad contrarian says here, scientists have no idea what 96% of the universe is made of.

96%!

It's something they're employed to know about, but remains a completely mystery

Its not dissimilar to our knowledge of how advertising works.

If we're really honest, we have very little idea of what will be great. Sometimes things we think are shit work, sometimes things we think are great don't work. It has ever been thus , (see Leverhulme's quote) but it's now truer than ever.

(As an aside, the best book on how tough it is to make great work is William Goldman's "Adventures in the screen Trade."
Read it.)

That all brings us to one of the most important things you'll ever learn in advertising:

NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING.
EVERYTHING IS JUST WELL ARGUED OPINION

So.....

- Have an opinion. Its what you're employed to do. If you don't you are useless to your Agency.

- Remember that your opinion is as valid as your bosses, your creatives, and your Clients. You may even know more than them. Your powers of persuasion will be the thing that will dictate whether you're heard (but don't mistake persuasion for shouting - as the old quote says "you raise your voice when you should reinforce your point".

- Use 'water logic' or, put another way, strong opinions lightly held. Be prepared to change your view as there may be a better one - we're surrounded by really bright people so be humble enough to know when to back down.

I promise you that thinking that NO-ONE KNOWS ANYTHING will help you form your own opinion of what works and what doesn't quicker than any of your peers.

Account handling ammo #2 - What's your job?

2009-04-28T02:05:00.000-07:00

Is it....

To get great work out?
Increase client sales?
Win awards?
Forge great client relationships?

Is it?

Is it really?

In fact. You are paid to make good decisions. No more. No less.

Now, it sounds a bit glib because lots of things affect 'what's right'. And, of course, it's really difficult.

But the point is, how often do we step back to think - is this right for the Client business? Will it do what we need?

I'm reminded of this by Bullmore's piece above. We often let blind optimism get in the way of this. How many times have you reflected back on a meeting, and thought hmmmmmmmmm.

The only value we add in Agencies is the advice we give. So, at least have an opinion. It's all you have.