https://youtube.com/shorts/TwKYYHxagJM?feature=share You know that feeling when your brain is a browser with 47 tabs open? I wrote a book about it (Stuff and Things), trying to capture the haphazard collection of professional musings and life in advertising. But a book is static. Once it’s printed, the ink is dry. My brain, however, keeps making noise.ContinueContinue reading “The Stuff & Things Lab: I built an App with zero coding skills. Here’s the prototype…”
Category Archives: #creativeindustries
AI in agencies: The execution gap is widening. Start building.
I spent yesterday at the Prolific North event, courtesy of my clients at Twisted Loop. If you want a snapshot of where the UK agency world sits with AI, it’s a study in optimistic paralysis. We are all excited. We are all experimenting. But the gap between our strategic intent and our operational execution isContinueContinue reading “AI in agencies: The execution gap is widening. Start building.”
Same but different: Where Artistic Intelligence Meets Artificial Intelligence
The topic of AI, unsurprisingly, comes up increasingly at the agency. Sometimes because clients explicitly ask, sometimes it just emerges naturally. Earlier this year, our team at Cannes heard AI echoing through every conversation, every presentation, every late-night debate. AI and LLMs aren’t just game-changing. They’re the first technology that genuinely amplifies human creativity ratherContinueContinue reading “Same but different: Where Artistic Intelligence Meets Artificial Intelligence”
Key Takeaways: CMO role and Customer Focus
The Richmond Marketing Forum in London recently kicked off with a fabulous keynote featuring Naomi Walkland, CMO of Motorway, Jessica Myers, Chief Customer Officer of The Very Group and Rosie Hanley, Marketing Director at John Lewis. Having been surrround-sounded by political debates in the media where debate has been re-framed as shouty, aggressive, finger-pointing, talkingContinueContinue reading “Key Takeaways: CMO role and Customer Focus”
experiments in AI | part 1
This may be a short set of experiments but nonetheless I’ve always espoused that to understand something you should dive in and give it a go. Although I’m still resisting TikTok. I did a little update around Lancia this week and I had plugged some prompts into MidJourney: Italian, elegance, future, automotive, fashion. Attributes thatContinueContinue reading “experiments in AI | part 1”
Growth outlook: Winter is coming. Should I get my coat?
About this time of year everyone gets their crystal balls out and we all know most of it is made up and hoping rather than knowing. But what feels different this year is that universally every agency person has the same level of optimism around new business. And that level is pretty bloody low. SittingContinueContinue reading “Growth outlook: Winter is coming. Should I get my coat?”
we don’t like clients
We had a meeting last week. We were hosting, not actually part of the meeting. Just lending the Bank of Brilliant Ideas to a client to have an off-site. Much coffee and croissants prepped, we also gave each person our new notebook that has ‘we don’t like clients’ on it. It had the effect weContinueContinue reading “we don’t like clients”
it’s a fantasy world full of deviants…
Way back in 2006, there was a thing called Second Life. And web 2.0. And every agency person and marketer I knew was falling over themselves to do something. Anything! I recall many presentations explaining what it was all about and trying to act like I knew what I was talking about while being bemusedContinueContinue reading “it’s a fantasy world full of deviants…”
Going on a Birss-a-thon
I met Dave a couple of years ago when I had booked to go on the Spark.me conference on a whim. It was in Montenegro. I didn’t know what to expect but it was great for a number of reasons. I came away inspired, enthused and excited. One of the stand-outs was the working sessionsContinueContinue reading “Going on a Birss-a-thon”
Broken
There are good people and not so good people. They’ve defined who I work for and who I am. It’s how I react to situations. It’s why I’ve run through walls for people and broken myself in the process – not necessarily as a result of those people but what happens in life. But what’sContinueContinue reading “Broken”
