It's long been accepted that the current financial crisis had its origins in confidence. Suddenly - and greatly magnified by the US government's decision to let Lehmans go bust - we all lost confidence in the banks. And yet here we all are - 5 years on - paralysed about what to do.
Digital is rapidly becoming a mainstream part of every brand’s comms toolkit now that iPads are so common – but have we adapted our strategic approach enough to encompass this?
This could easily be one of those articles all about how strategy is vital, how if you don’t plan where you are going, then you plan for failure, or one of those trite sayings. But they are boring and not much fun and there have been too many of them recently to be of any value now.
Neuroscience may be a field of towering intellect and lofty ideas but it is important to pay attention to what is going at ground level. For this is the world of the small dog. At his tallest, Jasper the dachshund is just about at eye level with the average neurosurgeon's shin. But Jasper can teach the profession a thing or two about spinal column injury.
An audience is no guarantee of attention. If you've ever wandered into a church mass in a Mediterranean country, you'll know what I mean. There is considerable splendour, pomp and seriousness. A whiff of incense and not much singing. The atmosphere is palpable and you immediately regret wearing shorts. But as for content? Nothing. You don't understand a word.
Since Neil Armstrong’s immortal words in 1969 much has changed in the world. The computers (not to mention the accelerometers) in our everyday smartphones are now infinitely more powerful than those that guided Armstrong and his crew home. The world has been shrunk by the advance of connectivity.
Yes, the design remains very similar to the iPhone 4s, but in comparison near every feature has been improved.
The screen is larger (but no wider), enabling more application space, and better usability for updated apps.
It is both thinner and lighter than the 4S. The processing power has significantly increased, as has graphical performance, which will allow for more powerful applications and games and, we can expect overall better performance from existing applications.
Stumble into a London chemist caught without your inhaler and despite standing before them wheezing like a 70 year old, 70 a day smoker, most won’t be able to give you salbutamol without a prescription confirming you need it.
The Olympics opening ceremony may have baffled some foreign viewers with a surreal trip into British past and present, but the NHS vs. Voldemort mash-up was a clear attempt to showcase our healthcare system for other countries to aspire to in future.
In June’s Market Leader magazine, Rory Sutherland talked about the way that human beings respond better to binary stimulus than anything which involves judgement.
Newspaper campaign urging sufferers to call the helpline for advice and support.
Dramatising the longer life expectancy amongst Multiple Myeloma patients
Differentiating Etrivex as the scalp psoriasis treatment that leaves hair feeling and
looking good
Using shadow imagery to suggest future product benefits in a memorable and
persuasive way
Creating a convincing story from the evidence supporting Lucentis to protect market share
Dramatising the effects of SSIs to persuade surgeons to adopt ChloraPrep for skin prep before surgery
Bringing to life GE packaging’s green credentials for an exhibition booth and website
Bringing to life the advantages of Dr Falk’s delivery mechanisms
Our award-winning work for Velcade helped dramatise the product’s benefits in patient-friendly imagery
Soothing young patients worries about taking treatment to increase compliance
Getting Fostair and its fine particles story noticed in the crowded asthma marketplace
Clearly positioning Cipralex in treating more severe anxiety and depression using
positive imagery
Creating an app which holds all sales presentations and makes them easy to update
Dramatising where Visipaque should be used and its advantages in an animation for exhibition booth and website
A campaign to help physicians identify patients suitable for treatment with Elaprase
With increasing audiences, decreasing sales forces, exploding communications options
and falling budgets, how does the besieged marketeer know how much of the old
marketing mix to retain, how much of the new to use, and how to tie it all together?
The now dominant network-owned agencies try to find economies by shoe horning
clients into their standardised offerings.
We, however, do not subscribe to a one size fits all solution.
While Seven Stones has the scale of network agency, our independence means that
network priorities do not shape our approach to integration. Such media neutrality,
in terms of planning and the generating of ideas, helps us build the strongest
brand experience for our clients’ customers.
And because we don’t have to worry about Wall Street, we are free to provide the
necessary encouragement and environment to get the best from our staff so that
they can do the best for our clients.
Dominic knows his Good to Talk from his Vorsprung durch Technik.
Read moreJustin lets the work do the talking. Apart from when he's talking about the work.
Read moreJames is our head of digital. But he doesn't see the world in binary code.
Read moreJulian's here to help us develop – our people, our practice, our product.
Read more
