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Stop with the Kitchen Sink

“Consultants are people who have influence but no direct power to change organizations.” – Peter Block, Flawless Consulting

What a brilliant definition; it sums up who and what consultants are. We are brought in as outsiders to identify problems and offer solutions, but not to implement – that’s left for the client to handle. But all too often consultants, be they agencies or seasoned individuals, add more fuel to the fire and make things more complicated.

Question the Answers

For fifteen years, I’ve sat in a quiet room with a copywriter, or a developer, or a planner or whoever had time and tried to invent solutions for clients’ problems. Usually in response to a brief, which gives us a sliver of the situation and context we’re working in. Invariably, this leads to a percentage of the ideas being “wrong” before they leave the room because of something we didn’t know about the client, the competition or the business environment. Nobody’s fault, but I’d put that percentage at about 20.

Diga Treinta y Tres

Being in charge of the creative work of a pharmaceutical brand means I need to come up with creative ideas that help the patients get in touch with their health needs without feeling pressured or scared or bored.

Chris Barbour, Head of Digital Marketing, Adidas

Over the years, ihaveanidea has been able to put together a rather impressive [if we say so ourselves] interview vault featuring the very best Creative Directors from around the world. However, the nature of this industry dictates that to make truly great work happen, you need a client who knows creativity’s value to their business, and that’s willing to let you venture out of advertising’s traditional comfort zone.

Catching up with Tomorrow Awards the shortlists // The Pepsi Refresh Project

In this second of a three parts series, we sit down with Rob Schwartz, Chief Creative Officer of TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles to discuss one of his agency’s three shortlisted campaigns : The Pepsi Refresh Project.

Catching up with the Tomorrow Awards shortlists // We’re All Fans

In this first of a three parts series, we sit down with Rob Schwartz, Chief Creative Officer of TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles to discuss one of his agency’s three shortlisted campaigns : We’re All Fans for the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Catching up with the Tomorrow Awards winners // YouTube Symphony Orchestra

We chat with Tom Uglow, the creative lead for YouTube and Google Europe and the person who headed the Symphony Orchestra project, about how it all came about and about a very geeky “what might have been”…

The Only Strategy That Counts – Yours

Considering the fact the word Strategy is in my job title, you’d think I was adept at creating strategies, evaluating market conditions, making shrewd judgements and forecasts and developing plans to build brands. I certainly hope my colleagues and clients would give me a thumbs up for my efforts. Frankly though I’ve been piss poor at using those skills for the most important audience of all – ME.

Why Your Idea Sucks

I hear it all the time. In fact, I’ve even done it myself and just recently a good friend of mine said it to me over a beer: “man, I had this great idea the other day but I didn’t write it down.” Sounds like a pretty shitty idea to me…

The Chinese Multinational Brand: A Long Road to Rome

No Chinese consumer brand is ready go head-to-head against Western counterparts on the latter’s home turf, despite Lining’s open a new store in Singapore. This is true in every category, from autos to alcohol and pharmaceuticals to hotels, although some non-consumer brands (e.g., Huawei electrical components) have made significant in-roads and will continue to.

That said, many Chinese brands are making progress in emerging markets such as India, Africa and South America.

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