In one of Richard Huntingdon’s blog posts from January of this year; he explains how looking through the lenses of product, brand and communications can help to identify the area of focus and to help inform the direction of the creative brief. However, as is the case with many posts, the gems are...
The ad industry is going through something of a cultural shift and will emerge in a new space where collaboration is going to be a critical component for success,However, collaboration requires trust, honesty and a willingness to work together. This month the One, the One Show has an interesting...
Most people try to explain away the role of planners as brief writers or insights people. Folks at the agency charged with bringing heaps of fresh insight by the pound into the agency, freshly minted and ready to inspire creative work. Sometimes it works just like this, most of the time it doesn't....
We are now playing in a very interesting world where the efforts of R/GA with Nike+ are generating as much news as W&K's Nike commercials did in the mid 90s. I wonder if it's possible to create rich experiences using the same reductive strategic model?The same one that's used to create...
Last Friday in San Francisco Alex Frankel held a launch for his new book Punching In. An Influx interview with can be found here. There were drinks, Alex read some passages from the book and on a wall in the gallery there was this board full of stuff. Since Alex's book "Punching In" is all about...
A few months back Aki Spicer of Fallon and I presented at the AAAAs Account Planning Conference on the topic of ad agencies and blogging. We wet out and did a little bit of research to uncover what planners throught the advantages and disadvantages of blogs and blogging are. The presentation can...
I decided not to post details on the second and third day’s sessions at the AAAAs Planning Conference (I wasn’t there for Bruce Mau and Day 3!) and instead reflect on my overall experiences of the event. As usual, it was a great with lots of interesting stimuli and conversation,...
Business Week recently conducted a survey amongst senior executives on
the topic of innovation. One of the questions
struck Influx as being especially interesting; the obstacles to return
on investment for innovation.
The barriers aren’t exactly what you expect them to be, for...