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Of edges, flying, and falling – or: how AI misleads strategists
A few weeks ago I went out for drinks (a rare occasion) and ended up chatting with a guy about work (a not so rare occasion). “Well, I’m going to lose my job soon”, he shrugged, taking a big swig of his drink. It was the first time that this conversation, the robots-taking-over-our-jobs conversation, hit […]
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Of frames and feelings – why empathy is the difference maker
I recently stumbled into a quarrel in the comment section below a provocative but uncontroversial LinkedIn post. It was as unnecessary as it was predictable. (I’d tell you to read it for yourself but the comment in question has since been deleted.) It was an iteration of a popular debate in marketing strategy: how valuable […]
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The value of community for brands and businesses
It’s easy to be cynical, important to be cautious, and worth being curious about the idea of community – and how it can help brands and businesses create more value and make better stuff (products, services, and ideas.) Disclaimer: I’m leading brand strategy at ScienceMagic, a creative and strategic company helping businesses and talent build […]
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Getting to Great Creative Work and how the Brief can help
This is the second article of a mini series exploring how we can overcome the barriers that get in the way of great creative work. In the last article, I explored the elements that make creative work great from the perspective of the people who make it (account managers, writers, designers, strategists, and all other […]
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The Barriers of Getting to Great Creative Work
If you’re reading this, chances are that you are one of those people who spend hours, days, weeks, weekends, holidays, anniversaries, and your partner’s birthday in pursuit of great creative work. And even though we might know it when we see it, it’s interesting to see that great creative work is different for all of […]
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The Great Creative Work Survey
How do we get to great creative work? I’m launching a new side project to explore opportunities and obstacles on our way to great creative work – and I need your help. After months of faffing and idling around and keeping the blog dormant, I realise it’s time to get back into this: the thrill […]
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Unfollow. Why following each other won’t get us nowhere new
Over the past weeks I tried to get back a bit more into my old “reading interesting stuff the industry is talking about” routine. Staying up to date on strategy, planning challenges, the industry and their thought leaders is, after all, part of what enables a strategist do to their job. Or at least that’s […]
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The Sciamachy between Big Data And Big Ideas
Much to my surprise, the last couple of weeks saw an increase in conversations I had about a topic that apparently does neither get old nor boring. It’s been around for a while but still creates a natural tension – which is, in a way, exciting for strategists: the sciamachy between the Big Idea and Big Data. It is a debate […]
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What Advertising Can Learn From BuzzFeed
A few days ago I attended a panel discussion/interview with Juliane Leopold, founding editor of BuzzFeed Germany, at betahaus Hamburg. She talked about how everything started, how she set up the team, how BuzzFeed wants to be political and opinionated, etc. All of this wasn’t really surprising until the moment when she opened the site on […]