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PICA PICA 2022

In 2022 I wrote these articles on creativity, brand building, graphic design and healthcare communication.

FIFA events are currently unsponsorable.
  • 30 December 2022 : Pica #123

Everyone is watching.

How sketchy can the FIFA World Cup get before sponsors walk away?

Hail the copybot of which no one knows what it knows or what it cares about.
  • 09 December 2022 : Pica #122

The what, not the how nor the why.

Dogma is a cage whose bars can limit our vision.

Repetition can make anything seem real.
  • 22 November 2022 : Pica #121

Repetition and the Mere Exposure Effect.

4 out of 5 people complain that they see the same ads too many times. But repetition is effective.

Twitter is dead, long live nothing.
  • 07 November 2022 : Pica #120

The little bird and a genius.

Elon Musk entered Twitter headquarters holding a sink; possibly a portent of where the company is headed now that he is the self-proclaimed Chief Twit.

Loyalty rewards should go into overdrive in a recession.
  • 28 October 2022 : Pica #119

Indulge your insiders.

In difficult times, loyal customers should be rewarded, not disappointed.

Al Ries RIP, he fought the good fight against brand line extensions.
  • 18 October 2022 : Pica #118

Stretch marks.

How far can a line extension go before it breaks a brand?

Status bias is proof that brands influence our perceptions.
  • 30 September 2022 : Pica #117

You know my name

Status bias in academic paper reviewing is further proof that brands work.

Should your advertising tell the hard, harsh truth?
  • 14 September 2022 : Pica #116

Record retention

Life is harsh, maybe your advertising should be too.

Are you a builder or a sniper?
  • 02 September 2022 : Pica #115

What kind of restaurant would your brand be?

The digitisation of advertising has made opportunistic and predatory approaches easier to justify than brand building.

Are people really going to obsess over how their avatar looks?
  • 19 August 2022 : Pica #114

Meta-fallacies.

Will real-world problems translate to the unreal-world?

Lifequakes, when choices change.
  • 06 August 2022 : Pica #113

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Lifequakes are where many opportunities lie for brands.

Diesel. Be Stupid.
  • 22 July 2022 : Pica #112

Zombie ad shocker!

A poster from a dead and buried advertising campaign reappeared at a New York subway station this week provoking indignant reactions.

Patient Advocacy Organisations must be given more power.
  • 12 July 2022 : Pica #111

Patient Power

It’s time to put more POW! in PAOs.

Gaga says adieu to uncool Amazon.
  • 27 June January 2022 : Pica #110

Fashion wannabe.

Amazon thinks that convenience is the new luxury. I don’t.

GlaxoSmithKline logo new for 2022.
  • 10 June 2022 : Pica #109

Looking good.

I’m a fan of the new brand identity that Wolff Olins has created for GSK.

From adtech fraud to the ABBAtars nothing is real.
  • 28 May 2022 : Pica #108

Through the looking glass, Abba and the AdContrarian.

This Pica has a split personality but a common theme: things aren’t what they seem.

You can keep 52,5% of what you earn in the metaverse.
  • 16 May 2022 : Pica #107

Metavertising

If Mark takes 47.5% of your zuckbucks, how many Big Macs can you buy with what’s left?

Fill your ears with music and your mind will fill with ideas.
  • 29 April 2022 : Pica #106

Jazz thinking

Unexpected notes in my ears spark serendipitous ideas.

Ads are more awful than ever.
  • 11 April 2022 : Pica #105

Advertising’s identity crisis.

Building a brand and selling its products are different propositions.

Keep it simple so reliable sources can also become popular.
  • 29 March 2022 : Pica #104

Plain language summaries, please.

If you can't explain something in simple terms, you haven't explained it.

Keeping tabs on the workers.
  • 15 March 2022 : Pica #103

Employee surveillance and brand reputation.

Finding an acceptable balance of opposing forces and communicating it effectively is vital but will not be easy.

Sanofi have a new logo that replaces the bird of hope.
  • 26 February 2022 : Pica #102

Sanofi?

The bird of hope is dead, usurped by a question mark.

The meaning of BoJo.
  • 11 February 2022 : Pica #101

“Many of you will die.”

What can Boris Johnson tell us about brand image?

Canceled and silenced.
  • 30 January 2022 : Pica #100

Authenticity, outrage and censorship.

People and brands must resist being silenced.