OPINION

Challenging Blog this week, thought I would attempt to write it based upon the media Tweet headlines that have popped up over the last few days – this has meant thumbing my way or scrolling through yards worth of News reports – @adanarchist irreverence – deaths – politics – bad taste jokes and above all Media, if it’s ok I’ll be using some that are others Retweets.Tweet headlines come think and fast giving you little time to think or in fact dig behind the head line.I like head lines,and following up a few months later to see if they have come to fruition.For example I’m pretty sure that by now we should have run out of email addresses and driving off cliffs as our Euro Sat Nav satellite had been hit by a Sun burst,oh and those yellow ducks drifting around the ocean should now be just off Paignton Pier.

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Recently, a young creative guy wanted to interview me.
He started off by saying that advertising nowadays should all be about story telling.
I said hang on a minute.
I’ve heard that a lot lately, ‘story telling’, what is it?
He said it was, er, telling a story in. er, advertising and, er, any media really.
I said okay, so what’s good about that?
What’s new about it?
Where does it differ from what good advertising has been until now?
He said, well, er, it’s sort of, er, about telling a story.
I could see he was getting embarrassed so I let it drop.
But several things worry me.

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At Ipsos ASI, we’ve been talking a lot lately about the importance of receptivity. The idea of receptivity is that brands and advertisers need to be when and where their targets will engage and want or need you.

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When the media landscape changes, there are inevitably casualties. The once mighty print publishers have learnt that lesson to their cost as they struggle to manage the transition from print pounds to digital pennies.

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I’m not a big fan of the TV series Mad Men.
But my wife likes it a lot, so I end up watching it.
Last week there was a sequence in it that I thought was actually very perceptive.
An account man is sitting at a dinner table next to a French philosopher.
The philosopher is cynical about advertising.
He says haughtily “So, what is your job?”
The account man says “I’m an account man.”
The philosopher says sneeringly “And what exactly do you do?”
The account man says “Well what do you do?”
The philosopher says proudly “I am a philosopher.”
The account man says “I hear you’re more than that, I hear you’re very eminent in your field.”
The philosopher raises his eyebrows, surprised that the account man has heard of him.
He says modestly “Well, perhaps you could say I am, yes.”
The account man says “In fact I hear you’re more than a philosopher. I hear you’re a fine teacher, too.”
Blushing now, the philosopher says “Well, my goodness, perhaps that is also true. Yes, indeed.”
The account man says “In fact, I hear that we’d all be a lot better off if we took a lot more notice of your views on many things.”
The philosopher is now thrilled and embarrassed.
He says “Oh, my dear sir, you really are too kind, thank you.”
And he shakes the account man’s hand warmly.
And the account man says “That’s what I do.”
Brilliant.

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