What I learnt this past year

Getting wiser is not a by-product of getting older. And on that note, the ageing process really, really sucks. My interest in Japanese culture runs much more deeper than I had expected. Ambitious, career ladder climbers should be feared at all costs. I am vindicated in my choice of investing in experiences. The meaner you…

Continue Reading

The small matter of an identity crisis

In the last month, I attended two major conferences; both targeted at startup audiences, and both with a focus on technology innovation. One unashamedly boasts about being the largest startup tech conference in the world, while the other wears its startup credentials with a touch of cool abandon. But to hold a lens up to…

Continue Reading

The anatomy of an ad: CALM

This ad left a huge impact on me. The trickery of how it initially takes your breath away to make you conclude ‘surely not’…. I was filled with such overwhelming sadness to be complicit in reading the desperate last words of a vulnerable young man. I couldn’t help but feel betrayed on behalf of Jonathan….

Continue Reading

The anatomy of an ad: Jeep

For decades, the automotive industry has delivered some of the most creative, jaw-droppingly amazing, and memorable (sometimes for all the wrong reasons) advertising campaigns of our times. The ingenuity used to sell more hasn’t just been the domain of vehicle manufacturers. The automobile supply chain have also given it a valiant effort. No-one more so…

Continue Reading

A Lesson in Personal Branding

Arranged by a headhunter, I was having my first ‘getting to know you’ session with the CEO of a tech start-up. He was looking to appoint a marketing leader, and all the omens signaled them as the next big thing in the world of pre-IPO startups. To say I was interested would be an understatement….

Continue Reading

Time for transformation

I’ve been absent… and for a while now. I could give you the usual ‘I’ve been super busy‘ cop-out of an answer, but I won’t. The reality is, life just kept getting in the way. Between wrapping up the last of my freelance projects, returning to full-time employment and the migration and re-build of Spilling…

Continue Reading

The anatomy of an ad: Turkish Airlines

With all the geo-political problems Turkey has encountered in the last year, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Turkish Airlines would roll-out yet another brand campaign fronted by a superstar celebrity to attempt to pull in the tourist dollars. Case in point, the latest outing with the all too predictable ‘Widen Your World’…

Continue Reading

Improving the travel brand experience with guest surveys

For companies operating in service-oriented industries, surveys can provide the means to better understand traveller needs, help improve service levels and gain insight into how to refine the guest experience. The usefulness of the data collected is usually determined by two factors: how seriously the survey’s results are taken within the organization, and how committed…

Continue Reading