#14 – On picking a bone with the EBI, reminding strategists what their job is, and reminding strategists how good their job is
Dear readers,
this was an exciting, important week in the small niche that is (marketing) strategy internet. That’s why this issue is all about some big arguments made by some of the bigger brains in our little circle: picking a bone with the Ehrenberg Bass Institute, reminding strategists what their job is, reminding strategists what their job is, and reminding strategists how good they are at their jobs. We then finish on a 180+ item strong archive of fun/weird/smart stuff and a Seinfeld reference. If that doesn’t make your heart rejoice than I don’t know what will.
Please click along and enjoy:
It’s not enough merely to win – others must lose: Why the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s MO is destructive to the marketing profession. If you choose a long title, better make a good argument. And good the argument is that James Hurman makes against the gas-lighting and grandstanding of certain public characters and comments from the reputable Ehrenberg Bass Institute. It’s a long-ish read but do yourself a favour and read it all the way because even if you disagree with James Hurman’s main point you’ll still get away with all the things you need to know to make your marketing more effective. Which is what we all want, isn’t it?
‘Strategy is the very human act of imagination’. Martin Weigel (not related, note the additional ‘e’) builds on his joint Cannes talk he’s given with Rob Campbell and Paula Bloodworth a few weeks back. His article for Contagious is, as always, a fun, thrilling, and enthralling read, and aims to remind fellow strategists what we should all be here to do: imagining a better tomorrow. Here’s an example: “The inconvenient truth for those who believe that strategy’s primary working method and tool is research is that there is no data about the future. By its very nature all data is from the past. Seductive though that subjectivity-and-human-free proposition might be for some, we cannot simply analyse our way to a desired future.”
The funnel is in full meltdown. I’ve met Rob once in a meeting about fast running shoes. Since then he’s started writing this blog and launched his own company. In this piece he connects some data points to inspire people to break out of the still very common and blinkered funnel thinking and building customer engagement through applying more modern, up to date frameworks and models.
26 signs that creative strategy is alive. A bit of an optimistic counterpoint to the people that see our discipline and craft falter, Tom Roach shares a glimpse of what has excited this year’s jury of the APG Creative Strategy Awards. Can’t wait to find out who won on 28 September. Until then I’ll reread Tom’s summary at the end: “Strategy is: more imagination than process; more personal than corporate; more progressive than conservative; more emotional than logical; more creative than we strategists ever usually admit.”
It Was Only a Matter of Time Before Everyone Started Dressing Like Kramer. The world of fashion always seems to slightly evade my grasp but I like a good old ghost-of-the-old story, and young stylish men in New York starting to dress like an arguable ancient TV character is just blissfully entertaining: “All of which is to say, 25 years after Seinfeld went off the air, people are once again snapping up clothes in service of dressing like the oddball next door, whether or not they’re aware of their apparent inspiration.”
Resources Master List. I wish I could remember who shared this and on which of the many social networks it was. I think it was Twitter. Thank you, dear sharer, for about 180 links to incredible inspiring, thought provoking, or just mainly entertaining resources that are broadly about creativity, culture, and society. Have a browse.
Thank for reading along – and see you all next week. Maybe bring a friend or two who might enjoy that kind of eclectic selection of inspiring clickables.