Time to follow Rob McElhenney's team tactics
The industry could benefit from adopting the approach set out by the Hollywood star in his inspiring team talk featured in Welcome to Wrexham.
Two ingredients for success: chutzpah and strategy
For marketing campaigns, for career progression and for fox encounters, it's good to have both.
Cannes Lions: a high five from 2025
There is a wealth of insight to bring home from Cannes Lions. Here are my top five take outs from this year.
Five leadership traits to be avoided
Avoiding pitfalls, including agreeing too quickly to overly bossing it, will help make a great leader.
Lies, damn lies and AI statistics
Lies are everywhere, not least online, meaning trusted media sources will become rarer and more important.
How brands can bring out your inner horticulturist
Just like plants, brands need nurturing, an eye on the prevailing climate and the odd dose of cutting back if they are to flourish.
2025 to 2050: where is power rising?
Communities, both the traditionally local and the more sprawling online type, are the key to bringing about the change we need to see.
Why smart operators will see the biggest benefits from AI
AI will flatten and democratise information and ideas, but will not yet find the brilliant insight or idea that can step-change a brand image and drive profit and sales.
One team, one goal for the win
A united media team for a brand, working in an integrated way across disciplines, can ensure the campaign will emerge victorious.
Why we should be more bee
Our bee tendencies to collaborate for the group's greater good are important but we should also look beyond the Les Binet, Peter Field and Byron Sharp version of the 'waggle dance' to foster a sense of independence and innovation when it comes to forging media strategies.
A dozen things I learned in 2024
The lessons range from data to making friends and everything in between.
Are businesses thinking creatively enough? You do the 'math'
Just as many people are disparaging of their mathematical ability, not enough of us are confident enough in our creative potential.
Watching the (maverick) detectives
Just like the best fictional detectives, who never follow the establishment rules, sometimes it pays to go rogue, and in our industry, it's the media strategist's role to decide when that should be.
In the change equation, you have to subtract before you can add
To enable people to take new things on board, it's important to make the space for them to do this by calling time on old things.
Why change is empowering
In media and in advertising, the old certainties are being dismantled daily and we should seize the opportunity to learn, grow and develop.
Why teams focusing on shared goals will share in success
Whatever team you work in at an agency, you are there to help the client’s business achieve its objectives.
How to find a winning media strategy
A good media strategy is not about just about efficient reach and following the rules of the category.
Playing judge and jury at Cannes epitomised how belonging should work
My experience on one of the Cannes Lions judging panels this year offered an object lesson in mutual respect, divergent opinions, strong, evidence-based arguments, open-mindedness and decisiveness.
Wake up and smell the vinyl... again
When old ideas, such as vinyl records, enjoy a revival, with an attendant host of benefits, it shows that returning to the past sometimes illuminates the way forward.
F stands for more than fight or flight
When it comes to stressful situations, the responses you show may extend beyond the oft-cited binary reactions.