Pica pica
10 November 2016 : Pica #zero
Ideas with wings
The art of brand building, the subject of this blog, has attributed aspects that have no foundation in the truth or it’s inherent attributes.
Read this >29 November 2016 : Pica #001
The case for Co-creation.
In large organizations “our idea” beats “my idea” and co-creation sessions are the key to collective ownership.
Read this >22 December 2016 : Pica #002
Free overtime is not free.
The way we do business must include fair pay for work, or the perceived value of what we do crumbles.
Read this >14 January 2017 : Pica #003
Brand building is teaching.
Create a curriculum and consider different kinds of aptitude and motivation.
Read this >18 February 2017 : Pica #004
Take a stand or be bland.
Cause marketing is powerful and shouldn't be toyed with.
Read this >27 March 2017 : Pica #005
All together now!
An exercise in customer-centric, multi-function planning in a deeply siloed organization - through co-creation.
Read this >20 April 2017 : Pica #006
You may call me a dreamer.
If you provide content to a user you should control and be responsible for the experience, in every aspect including the advertising.
Read this >28 April 2017 : Pica #007
When a picture becomes a thousand words.
Some 300 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day and soon the ability of machines to identify objects and people within images will allow data extraction and exploitation of every one of those pictures.
Read this >12 May 2017 : Pica #008
The taste test, so logical that it failed.
Research, using brain imaging technology, proves that human experience makes rational marketing ideas backfire.
Read this >26 May 2017 : Pica #009
Beware cyclists. Cyclists beware.
A road safety awareness concept inspired by the recent spate of fatal bicycle accidents.
Read this >26 June 2017 : Pica #010
The five stages of loss and overcoming resistance to change.
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. How co-creation helps avoid this.
Read this >31 July 2017 : Pica #011
The path to great ideas is paved with great questions.
If you work with brands and you write or respond to RFP’s these 8 questions are the key to effective solutions.
Read this >21 August 2017 : Pica #012
The huge cost of a poor RFP.
My previous Pica elicited some stimulating response. In summary I got two kinds of objection that I have decided to examine here.
Read this >19 September 2017 : Pica #013
The future of brands is integrity - Here’s why.
Brands which protect their integrity and retain trust will flourish.
Read this >8 October 2017 : Pica #014
Alignment through group creativity.
When confronting change or critical situations, encouraging a team to co-create may sound like a recipe for caos but done professionally it produces powerful cohesion.
Read this >21 October 2017 : Pica #015
Angela and the essence of a brand.
“Ask for Angela” is not a brand but it reminds us what a brand should be.
Read this >10 November 2017 : Pica #016
Behaviour change. There’s an app for that.
I have a question regarding the first therapeutic app approved by the FDA.
Read this >23 November 2017 : Pica #017
Drunk driving.
Uber and Lyft, two similar services with very different brand images.
Read this >8 December 2017 : Pica #018
The art of being N°1.
A restaurant in a shed reveals what unverified public opinion is really worth.
Read this >12 December 2017 : Pica #019
Hasta la victoria Patagonia!
Why it’s good for a brand to threaten to sue the Trump administration.
Read this >1 January 2018 : Pica #020
Don’t be a Milkshake Duck
The key to survival in 2018: integrity and trust.
Read this >16 January 2018 : Pica #021
Corporate culture: the frenemy within.
A survey from The Economist Intelligence Unit, investigating the tension between strategy and culture, highlights the common incidence of issues that co-creation can resolve.
Read this >12 February 2018 : Pica #022
Lies, lies, lies.
Everybody lies, to themselves and to others. Creativity can help uncover hidden truths.
Read this >28 February 2018 : Pica #023
Disruptor Rex.
A story of mice and men who moved too fast and broke too many things.
Read this >14 March 2018 : Pica #024
The wolves and the vultures.
Hedge funds bet big against major advertising companies but maybe the worst is past.
Read this >26 March 2018 : Pica #025
AdAge put my concept on a Times Square billboard.
When AdAge asked the advertising and creative community to come up with ideas to support “March For Our Lives” I was among the many who responded.
Read this >1 April 2018 : Pica #026
Groan.
With sincere apologies to Allen Ginsberg, a satirical revisitation of the first verses of Howl.
Read this >19 April 2018 : Pica #027
What Facebook should do next.
Balancing the right to speak and the need to control divisive content is a bigger issue for Facebook than the current data scandal, resolving it will require an ambitious approach.
Read this >03 May 2018 : Pica #028
“We begin bombing in five minutes.”
When the truth is out, don’t deny it. Own it.
Read this >19 May 2018 : Pica #029
“I'm (Not) Only Sleeping.”
Research shows that, if they aren’t rested, humans are rubbish at divergent thinking.
Read this >30 May 2018 : Pica #030
GDPR all sewn up.
My tailor handled GDPR better than any big brand.
Read this >20 June 2018 : Pica #031
The eye exam.
Design is not a detail and great design requires attention to detail.
Read this >29 June 2018 : Pica #032
Hõt Dõg Water™
How dysfunctional can the marketing of functional foods be?
Read this >22 July 2018 : Pica #033
Does Victor Hugo follow cute kitten memes?
Machine learning and behavioural data make a powerful yet ambiguous combination.
Read this >03 August 2018 : Pica #034
A knight and a knave.
The Burberry brand has received a major redesign, that destroys its heritage.
Read this >28 August 2018 : Pica #035
The big future of healthcare is disease prevention. Part 1.
The next big thing in healthcare will be disease prevention but can pharma companies deliver it?
Read this >05 September 2018 : Pica #036
The big future of healthcare is disease prevention. Part 2.
Economic incentives in healthcare should change to link industry revenue to disease prevention and outcomes, instead of drug sales.
Read this >08 October 2018 : Pica #037
Loyalty is dead, long live loyalty.
Marketing appropriated the word loyalty for incentive schemes but true brand loyalty is a very different and special thing. Loyalty can’t be bought, it must be inspired.
Read this >15 October 2018 : Pica #038
Mind the gap.
The gap between brand promise and brand experience, in the U.S. alone, costs brands between $460 million and $860 million in annual revenue.
Read this >04 November 2018 : Pica #039
The data doesn't support that.
“The world's worst RFP”, a new video from Zulu Alpha Kilo, takes a satirical look at the current state of the agency selection process.
Read this >10 November 2018 : Pica #040
Contented with my content.
Twenty-four months have passed since I wrote Pica #zero, what benefits have I seen from regularly composing essays?
Read this >03 December 2018 : Pica #041
What you measure affects what you do.
The overall impact of a business must be properly measured for a corporation to be properly valued.
Read this >16 December 2018 : Pica #042
Technostalgia and Upgrade-rage.
My nostalgia for the feeling of marvel and excitement at unwrapping a cool piece of tech, co-exists with a desire for my tech to stop evolving uselessly, tripping up my routines without adding any value.
Read this >30 December 2018 : Pica #043
Does Advertising Work?
99% of those who work in finance do not understand advertising - a flaw that negatively impacts their investment decisions regarding consumer brands.
Read this >08 January 2019 : Pica #044
It transpires that you can annoy most of the people, most of the time.
Burberry bungles again with a ‘creepy’ Chinese Lunar New Year brand campaign.
Read this >31 January 2019 : Pica #045
Strive to surprise.
Advertising should be surprising to be enticing because boring is never convincing.
Read this >10 February 2019 : Pica #046
The Super Bowl, Sanremo and the Year of The Pig.
A collection of recent media viewing statistics and a some reflections on what they mean.
Read this >25 February 2019 : Pica #047
Riding the Zeigarnik effect to breakthrough ideas.
Learning to live with the mental tension of unfinished tasks is an important ability for those who aspire to be creative.
Read this >16 March 2019 : Pica #048
FOF beats FOMO.
In a society that records and comments on almost every moment the Fear Of Failure (FOF) is winning against the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and this will be increasingly significant for many brands.
Read this >29 March 2019 : Pica #049
App-athy.
The world’s most valuable company has morphed from “Think Different” to “Don’t think about it”.
Read this >8 April 2019 : Pica #050
That which can’t be taught but can be learnt.
What can be done today to ensure teams are prepared for the healthcare company workplace of the future?
Read this >23 April 2019 : Pica #051
Coping with Attitudes.
An individual’s attitude to a brand seriously affects their perception of everything that the brand does, the Brand Relationship Scale is a framework for considering different common customer attitudes.
Read this >11 May 2019 : Pica #052
Confessions of an admirer.
The embarrassing truth about why I want a Bentley.
Read this >26 May 2019 : Pica #053
It was fifty years ago today.
Reflections on the anniversary of one of the most momentous acts of advertising ever.
Read this >16 June 2019 : Pica #054
The Certified Crazy Ones.
The advertising industry urgently needs an international professional association that promotes minimum standards of labour.
Read this >24 June 2019 : Pica #055
Funny Money.
Libra is a make or break move for the Facebook brand, here are three reasons why it should fail.
Read this >08 July 2019 : Pica #056
Efficiency has killed creative effectiveness.
‘The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness’, a new report from IPA, is required reading for anyone who has brand responsibilities.
Read this >26 July 2019 : Pica #057
Malignant mediocrity.
It used to be a coveted and exciting job, is a career as an advertising creative still as desirable?
Read this >10 August 2019 : Pica #058
Corporate karma.
An epidemic of atrocious corporate behaviour is destroying brand trust and value, simultaneously many companies are eliminating the CMO position - they should consider instating CKOs.
Read this >23 August 2019 : Pica #059
#InspireTheEnd
A failed attempt to end gun violence and an appeal to arms producers and distributors to erect a national cenotaph.
Read this >12 September 2019 : Pica #060
Pharma companies deserve to be perceived as heroes, not villains.
The public perception of pharma is grim, caused by decades of being opaque, inscrutable and the subject of overwhelmingly bad press - it’s time for the industry to act collectively to restore a public image that does it justice.
Read this >29 September 2019 : Pica #061
You hear silence when you expect noise.
A phrase I consider beautifully profound prompts some reflections on perception, decisions and experience.
Read this >16 October 2019 : Pica #062
Tone and manner.
Consistent tone and manner is the key to unambiguous brand actioning and perception.
Read this >31 October 2019 : Pica #063
Graphic horror.
Sensitive souls and egregious ghouls delight in tortured typography.
Read this >21 November 2019 : Pica #064
Whooosh!
All deadlines are not created equal.
Read this >23 December 2019 : Pica #065
Don’t you know it’s Christmas?
Christmas is a context: a state of mind, a time loaded with expectations. Failure awaits those who ignore context.
Read this >06 February 2020 : Pica #066
Just Another Brick in the Walmart.
Within the next six months, Walmart will install over 1,000 robots in its stores, aesthetically they are a missed opportunity.
Read this >18 February 2020 : Pica #067
Kentucky Fried Crocs.
Brand collaborations are only beneficial for brands that are clearly defined.
Read this >09 March 2020 : Pica #068
The Red Zone.
We need information to understand events but also narratives to make sense of them. The dire cacophony generated by the current epidemic highlights a collective disorientation.
Read this >29 March 2020 : Pica #069
WHO Myth-busters.
On March 27th, for the first time, the UN launched an Open Brief to creatives to help spread public health messages with six ‘mini-briefs’. I chose to work on the ‘Myth busting’ brief.
Read this >11 April 2020 : Pica #070
Mind the Gap.
I have created a new subject for the UN Open Brief on Covid-19. This time I responded to the ‘physical distancing’ brief.
Read this >28 May 2020 : Pica #071
Future Programmatic.
The New York Times points to a better future for users, publishers and brand building.
Read this >23 June 2020 : Pica #072
The ambitions of Creative Commitment.
I witnessed the live presentation of the Creative Effectiveness ladder and oh, what a beautifully quixotic thing it is.
Read this >M O S T
R E C E N T
The ambitions of Creative Commitment.
I witnessed the live presentation of the Creative Effectiveness ladder and oh, what a beautifully quixotic thing it is.
Read this >
Future Programmatic.
The New York Times points to a better future for users, publishers and brand building.
Read this >
Mind The Gap.
I have created a new subject for the UN Open Brief on Covid-19. This time I responded to the ‘physical distancing’ brief.
Read this >
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