Category Archives: business

Writing tips

Posted on by

Love these tips by David Ogilvy. Shameless copy-paste from https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/02/07/david-ogilvy-on-writing/

The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well.

Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

  1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
  2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
  3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
  4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
  5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.
  6. Check your quotations.
  7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.
  8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
  9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
  10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.
10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy
“Never write more than two pages on any subject.”

Whatsapp for marketing

Posted on by
How Adidas is using WhatsApp as a direct marketing channel – Digiday
Adidas is using the Facebook-owned mobile messaging app WhatsApp to move into direct messaging.

How Adidas is using WhatsApp as a direct marketing channel. Copy-paste from Digiday:

“The brands that get this right will be the ones that understand just how private message platforms are and how privileged they are to be invited in.”

“100% Unfair Predator” campaign. Earlier this month, Adidas opened up a hotline on WhatsApp for people in need of a footballer to cover for unreliable teammates on their team. Adidas-sponsored players were made available for games last week once fans had shared some basic information with the hotline such as the game they need the player for. The company’s marketers would notify fans on the morning of their game if they’re request was successful. The rented players turned up dressed in Adidas’ new Predator20 Mutator footwear.

 “Tango Squad” community — a group of young footballers across 15 key cities worldwide who were given exclusive access to new drops before anyone else and were invited to exclusive events. The groups were between 100 and 250 people.

Owned media is an illusion

Posted on by

‘Organic reach died years ago. Marketers just forgot to bury it.’ 

‘Brands are continuing to over-invest in content that almost nobody sees’

‘…promised brands and agencies freedom from the confines of paid media, then completely changed the rules of the game. … You’re probably still clinging to the notion that your brand or client can get something for nothing through so-called “owned” media. But that’s always been a flawed mindset.’  

‘about 50:50 balance production : media’

‘The data-fueled engines on social media enable brands to tell a story that grows chronologically on a one-to-one basis. This is probably the most compelling component of social media marketing because it enables brands to drive brand metrics and generate revenue simultaneously. It’s no longer a choice between creating a branding campaign verse a direct-response campaign. Rather, it’s about creating a cohesive story where the upper and lower funnel work in harmony.’

Credits to @Ashley Vinson for sharing.  

Opinion: It’s time to blow up your owned media strategy
Brands are continuing to over-invest in content that almost nobody sees.

Vertical Video

Posted on by

Tips and tricks from the best. Thnx to Ashley for this link. See creativereview.co.uk/create for more inspiration.

Vertical video: creative tips from Quentin Jones – Creative Review
Creative Review is exploring the art of vertical storytelling in a new video series created in partnership with Facebook and Instagram. Here we talk to director Quentin Jones about creating playful content for Stories and adapting her work for different formats

Reading is Candy for the Mind

Posted on by

To inspire and to be inspired, to surprise and to be surprised, to broaden one’s mind and to gain that sparkling new energy.

Based on the most photographed slide of my keynotes: the inspirational booklist, frequently asked and even more often shared. Alternating between business and inspirational motivational titles.

Books appear in random order. Read more

  • ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek
  • ‘Get Your Sh*t Together’ by Sarah Knight
  • ‘How not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up’ by Les Binet and Sarah Carter
  • ‘Copywriting Secrets’ by Alan Sharpe
  • ‘Eat your Greens’ by Wiemer Snijders
  • ‘Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day’ by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky
  • “The ONE Thing” by Gary Kelly and Jay Papasan
  • ‘Let my people go surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard
  • ‘Chasing Excellence: A Story About Building the World’s Fittest Athletes’ by Ben Bergeron
  • ‘Life Scale’ by Brian Solis
  • ‘Thrive’ by Arianna Huffington
  • ‘TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks’ by Akash Karia 
  • ‘Good Strategy, bad strategy’ by Richard P. Rumelt
  • ‘Everybody writes’ by Ann Handley
  • ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie
  • ‘Epic Content Marketing’ by Joe Pulizzi
  • ‘If I Could Tell You Just One Thing…: Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice’ by Richard Reed
  • ‘Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Every Day’ by Stephen R. Covey
  • ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff’ by Richard Carlson
  • ‘The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues’ by Patrick M. Lencioni 
  • ‘Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs’ by John Doerr
  • ‘The Infinite Game’ by Simon Sinek
  • ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear
  • ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’ by Carol S. Dweck

Why you should read these books

Continue reading →

Brand building by Les Binet

Posted on by

How to keep your CFO on board for brand building.

“The first thing is to start talking the language of finance. We don’t help our case when we talk about brand-building in terms of awareness, image and ‘touchy-feely’ terms. Brand building is about selling. It’s about revenues and cash flow, but it’s about durable revenues and cash flow, over longer time periods. We have to help CFOs to understand that some marketing activity gives you an immediate short-term delivery of sales,” gotta love Les Binet

Les Binet on why long-term marketing matters in the age of short-termism | WARC
In this exclusive interview for WARC’s annual Marketer’s Toolkit, Les Binet – Group Head of Effectiveness at adamandeveDDB and a leading researcher on marketing effectiveness – speaks to WARC’s Anna Hamill about the practicalities of long-term brand building, how to convince the CFO, and smart ways…
Les-Binet-on-why-long-term-marketing-matters-in-the-age-of-short-termism-_-WARCDownload

Increase Productivity

Posted on by

Love this! Why your first 3h of work matter and how to easily increase your productivity. “The Myth of the 8 Hour Workday: the traditional 9–5 is poorly structured for high productivity. ” 

The obvious link between work and fitness: “To get the best results in your fitness, research has found that shorter but more intensive exercise is more effective than longer drawn-out exercise. The concept is simple: Intensive activity followed by high-quality rest and recovery.”

“The most productive countries in the world do not work 8 hours per day. Actually, the most productive countries have the shortest workdays.”

This Morning Routine will Save You 20+ Hours Per Week
The traditional 9–5 workday is poorly structured for high productivity. Perhaps when most work was physical labor, but not in the knowledge working world we now live in. Although this may be obvious…

Master your mind

Posted on by

L.O.V.E. “Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, our actions dictate our destiny” Master your mind. 

Focus and kill the inner critic.  You are responsible for your own happiness. “Never whine, never complain, no negativity”.

Ben Bergeron on Instagram: “Super cool visual of my @ted Talk from @fromdusttilldrawn #weaponizeyourmind”
3,487 Likes, 37 Comments – Ben Bergeron (@benbergeron) on Instagram: “Super cool visual of my @ted Talk from @fromdusttilldrawn #weaponizeyourmind”