Slightly Less Dissappointing Than Other Companies

My first ever Archie McPhee package arrived today, and introduced me to their wonderful tag line "Slightly less dissapointing than other companies".  Brought a wry smile to my face, and told me all I need to know about their unique brand character. Love it! #Lovemark.

P.S.......take another look at 'dissappointing'...and run a spell check !


Random Acts of Fusion Muscle Music !

The rather nonsensical title of this post is to inspire you by highlighting the creative  heights that celebrity laden brand videos now deliver....

Old Spice's Muscle Music

6M views as at Sept 1st 2012: Youtube/Vimeo - official pages only.  

Stop Press: now at 9M as at 6th Jan 2013

Ford's Random Acts of Fusion

90K views (as at Sept. 1st 2012 on Youtube) - 5 videos in the series.

Stop Press: now at 1M as at 6th Jan 2013 (many, many more videos)

Its great to see Ford's passion for episodic scripted storytelling, self deprecating humour, and sharp casting (with Joel McHale, Kate Micucci and Ryan Seacrest).  

The videos are truly 'laugh out loud' funny yet are doomed to obscurity unless you share this post/video link, and check out @FordFusion and their website.

Just don't ask for an ROI, what the budget was, or define the quality of their work by the number of views.....(and for the record no one at Ford asked me to write this, and my current car is from a Japanese brand)...

9.4.12 - Stop Press: So, if you have gotten this far you must believe that the strategy and metrics driving this campaign go far beyond 'viral video/youtube views'.  

Dig deeper into Scott Monty's insights here, as its evident Fords goal is to become a lovemark.  

1.6.13 - Stop Press: ...So I can't leave this campaign alone. 

They've made the ubiquitous concept  of a 'remix' a little more spice by adding Reggie Watts, plus given their Youtube page a revamp with some snazzy gadgets. 

Seems as if Ford and Team Detroit have a budget to invest in scalable ideas.....and so should you...


I grew up listening to BBC Radio One. It’s a brand with a special place in my heart, the station that unleashed my passion for music.  Driven by a public service mandate, BBC must create content for a diverse, multicultural and international audience.  The brand must fight to stay relevant in the area of a fragmented and technologically savvy audience .  

I’m so thankful that they’ve found a way to build a beautiful, simple and dare I say iconic mobile interface.  By understanding their  equity,  they have transformed today’s complex station portfolio into an intuitive interactive consumer experience. Eye catching design, dramatic colours and logical layout. Beautiful.  Check it out from your smartphone here.


Pinterest - one simple tip to avoid faliure

If you are (or know) a stressed [business owner/brand/agency/marketer/online strategist/social media get the point] driven by the fear and panic of missing out on the next BIG thing that is the Pinterest bandwagon, today I offer you escape from failure via one simple tip.  

TIP: BEFORE you DO anything, ask yourself the question - is the brand I'm 'pinning' a lovemark? ...I suspect your answer is no/not take a look at my personal list of #lovemark brands (below) and hundreds more - curated at  lovemarkscampus

Immerse in the stories, exercise your right brain.   Have the courage to tell [yourself/Director/CEO/VP/Manager/yourself] .........why you're not doing something with Pinterest right now.  Because you've got fundamental strategic stuff to take care of first....right ?



Tortured Soul




Chocolate Sushi

Cubanitas - Milwaukee


Hong Kong - Taxis
Hong Kong - Langham Place Hotel

My Life


Manchester United

P.S. if your answer was yes....will it be tomorrow ?

Re: HxHxH = #Lovemark - an apology

I put this idea out without a good explanation...Better now ?

  • H1 = Head: its what you THINK about a brand or collection of brands, perhaps interested and aware of some more than others. This is dangerous territory for a brand - as on the journey to a choice the consumer can easily be swayed by logic, price, time, convenience, competition,out of stocks, bad service..... and all other sorts of everyday distraction. 
  • H2  = Heart: its how you FEEL  about a brand...a huge step forward, because this is where you find the brands you love, those you simply cant live without...and lead you to.....
  • H3 = Hands: its what you DO with your... money/wallet/purse/credit card/time/attention... And because your so loyal you cant really explain why you do what you do, you can't justify why you upgraded to the new IPhone model, why you have the ltd edition version of the coffee maker, why you payed $150 to see Sade. 3 nights in a row !....Well not in a rational way........Those, unfortunately are symptoms of a #Lovemark as defined by Kevin Roberts work at


My Reckless Experience

No, not a story of remorse and regret, but instead the story of my discovery of Reckless Records in Chicago.


How does Reckless Records remain relevant In an era of instant downloads ? 

How does it compete with virtual access to the worlds largest music libraries ?

Why is it still here when technology from brands such as Itunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon render this place obsolete?


I believe it's because I can:

  1. Discover and explore music with (almost) all of my senses.
  2. Be certain that popularity is not the only arbiter of taste.
  3. Buy VHS and cassette tapes. (I didn't as I don't have anything to play them on - but was honestly surprised, that people still do !)
  4. Ask the staff questions about music and musicians - which they are more than keen to answer.
  5. Immerse in the feeling that I can't get this anywhere else
  6. Leave with the belief that whatever I buy here is more valuable, meaningful and important than getting it from somewhere else.
  7. Be certain that I will tell people about it
  8. Be certain that I will go back.

This brand is not in the business of selling music. Its value comes from facilitating community via music, and an experience beyond the function of selling things.