Do you know your company’s true nature?
If you are like almost every other business out there, you will be familiar with the process of reactive experimentation. Basically you have ideas, you activate them, some work, some don’t, and naturally you keep the former and discard the latter. The challenge with this process of course, is that you don’t know which ideas […]
Have love for your competitors
Rock music is only remarkable as a counterpoint to classical music. Modernist design only seems refreshing next to baroque. A jacket and tie only have a place in a world of t-shirts and flip-flops. In short everything that is a “kind” of something is defined relative to other kinds of the same thing. With these […]
Is the internet complete?
This piece first appeared in Quillette. In 2013, a debate was held between friends Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen, the thrust of which was to determine whether we are living through an innovation golden age, or whether innovation was in fact stalling. Thiel, of course, played the innovation sceptic, and it is interesting now with […]
Let your company find its own way
A question I’m often asked by founders is this: “Do I need to have a clear vision for my company from day one?” Typically this question comes from people with fairly successful businesses, but who are aware that so far they’ve been operating them reactively, just making stuff up as they go along without any […]
Have we passed peak innovation?
Why do we laugh at old representations of the future? You know the kind – the Jetsons, flying cars, the “power laces” in Back to the Future 2. Many of their predictions now seem either patently absurd, or as far away as they ever have been. Either way the real 2018 bears little resemblance to […]
The rise and fall of parasite brands
This piece first appeared in Contagious. There are two ways brands can be created – by giving or taking. Most people imagine the giving kind; where the business wants to offer something new to the world, or make something better. They see a need that isn’t being met, and serve it, leaving the world richer […]
It’s Not The “Why” That Matters, It’s The “How”
The Problem With “Find Your Why” By now most of you are probably familiar with Simon Sinek’s iconic “Start With Why” TED talk. Even if you’ve not seen the talk, you’ve most likely encountered one of the army of why-merchants that have sprung up in his wake. Asking you “why” it is you do what […]
Is it ever OK to just accept declining sales?
OK, this is a weird one I know. However it seems pertinent in light of recent news that Coke are making “massive changes” to their Diet Coke range following a 1.9% sales drop in 2016. On the face of it taking action makes complete sense. In the world of Coke, 1.9% of annual sales is […]
Interview: how Mark Constantine made Lush the UK’s most admired brand without advertising
A recent study by consultancy Basic Arts sought to discover the most admired brand in the UK. Naturally, there was a decent presence from the usual suspects such as Apple, Google, and Nike; businesses whose brands have become so strong as to almost be cliches. However the identity of the top brand came as something of a […]
Why the John Lewis Christmas ad formula will never, EVER, get tired
Tis the season for ad agencies to cast cynical glances towards the latest festive offering from John Lewis. And one can understand why. In a purely creative sense, there really does seem to be a case of diminishing returns here. A full, what, six years on from the first ad that really hit the right […]