A view from the bottom
23 May 2013 | by Caroline Grayson
Every week, the O2 account team starts with a vow to steer clear of the VCCP biscuit cupboard in favour of the fruit bowl.
What do you make of the latest pressure group, Leave Our Kids Alone, which wrote to The Daily Telegraph calling to ban ads aimed at children under 11 years old? Oh dear. When suggestions such as this are so manifestly well-intentioned, you voice your reservations at personal risk. It seems difficult...
Every week, the O2 account team starts with a vow to steer clear of the VCCP biscuit cupboard in favour of the fruit bowl.
This week, a CEO confided in me: "It's weird how both 'advertising' and 'PR' have become limited, old-fashioned and dirty words." And to this we could add "direct" and "billings" - all terms that have dominated the pages of this title for decades.
In 1986 when Alex Ferguson became Manchester United manager, the club had a value of £15m, a sum that might buy a decent midfield player today.
Advertising agency sets up a PR arm. Hardly a new phenomenon. In recent years, Karmarama created Kaper and the gaffers of Golden Square added M C Saatchi PR to their Talk PR spin-off. But what makes Beattie McGuinness Bungay s creation of Seven Dials so intriguing is the personnel involved. The consultancy,...
Campaign s front page last week carried the following dispiriting phrase: "triggered by staff changes in the procurement team at Mercedes headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany". A fragment calculated to dim the joy in even that zaniest of toothsome cheesters, Alan Carr. It conjures images of forced...
I ve just read, on a fascinating new Tumblr, that you know you ve been in advertising for too long if you think "impactful" is a word and you wear a woolly hat indoors. I m a relative newbie, so this news makes me scratch my head (beanies can really itch) in dismay: "impactful" isn t a word? Monday:...
Saturday am: PIA303 Lahore to Karachi, a chance to review the last three days with Taher Khan. Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets. Afternoon is "free". Why do I love Karachi so much? Untamed energy, ultimate melting pot, little conventional beauty, socially hyperactive. Visited Abdul...
So one of football's managerial greats has gone. Sir Alex Ferguson's era is finally over. The BBC's chief football writer, Phil McNulty, sums him up in three words: "Charismatic, explosive, contrary."
Dear Jeremy, there have been a lot of new senior staff ap pointed at my agency recently, leaving us all a bit unsettled and unsure of where the character of the agency is heading. What s the best approach: team up with other members of the "old guard" and stay true to the traditional culture of the...