Messy Middle? What are you talking about?

I’m glad you asked. The ‘messy middle’ is a new concept from a recent report from Google on how consumers make decisions about purchases. Think of it as a potential replacement for the marketing funnel, marketing’s Schrödinger's cat.

The Future of the Corporation initiative from The British Academy rightly positions Purpose in the boardroom not the marketing department. But that should ignite more creativity, transparency and trust.

We’ve brought together a group of like-minded partners to discover how the Covid-19 crisis was impacting the marketing strategies and activities of the brands and suppliers based here. The Discovidery survey is the result. By discovering more we can understand more and play an active role in the sector’s recovery from the pandemic. Our view being that greater collaboration enhances the prospects of all.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with Paul on many occasions. It’s been interesting to see how he allowed his instincts and ‘eye’ to guide his creativity, rather than being a style copyist. His visceral approach to image making found it’s natural home in fashion. So let’s find out more.

Scenario planning? What are you talking about?

I’m glad you asked. Scenario planning is a way of undertaking strategic thinking and planning with uncertainty baked-in. It allows you to plan and prepare even when you’re not entirely sure which way the world is going.

What can a creative mindset teach us about handling uncertainty and driving business growth? In our latest blog, we explore ways in which the worlds of art and business are not so dissimilar.

Next up in our series of short conversations with our diverse Firehaus Crew, we discuss what we can learn about creativity from programming with Matt Hardy, tech-aficionado and founder of hydramind.

Today is ‘International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation’. As named days go it’s a bit of mouthful and doesn’t quite convey the level of the problem. Unfortunately, the stats are clear - on average every 10 seconds a young girl is painfully mutilated by FGM. They’re usually under 5 when this happens.

20 years into our digital skills-driven century, the need for creativity in the workplace is taking centre-stage again. Unlocking people’s potential to think creatively can energise a business and fuel success. But have we lost our ability to do this, and if so how can we best recapture it? We take a look at the case for creativity, and how embracing the season’s natural instinct for reflection and renewal to build creativity into your company’s learning and development resolutions for the coming year is a great way to underpin those freshly-minted business objectives. 

The mind is like a toolbox.

It’s a metaphor that’s particularly useful in pitch situations. It’s why having a pitch team is so important – adding more tools to the toolbox. Expanding group knowledge, skills and experience.

But what if all these additions were pretty much different shades of the same thing? All the same kind of tool you might say.

Next up in our series of short conversations with our diverse Firehaus Crew, we discuss collaboration, having a surplus of ideas and the perils of too many inputs with Rich Smith, lead singer and songwriter with The Lasting Days.

Lemon? What are you talking about?

Last week, as part of their Effweek programme, the IPA released their latest effectiveness report - Lemon, by Orlando Wood of System1.

What’s the central argument of the report?

That left-brain type thinking is taking over marketing and advertising, resulting in a loss of effectiveness…

In the latest of conversation series with our talented Firehaus Crew, we talk career leaps, the writing process, drive and channelling creativity with executive coach and former agency CMO Janine Woodcock, author of ‘The Power of Choices: 7 steps to smarter decisions about work, life and success’.

At our recent Cannes Insider event with guest presenter and Firehaus pal Patrick Collister, a couple of things struck me – again. 

For once it wasn’t a bottle of cider flung by an outraged observer (we’re a rebellious bunch out west). It was how sections of the industry seem to be complicit in a Big Problem Solved merry-go-round.

Most general understanding of Zen includes the concept of Zen koans, short questions of stories which are difficult, sometimes impossible, to answer. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Can a submarine swim? That kind of thing.

Can AI ask questions to prompt us to think in a different way? Could an AI open our minds with a Zen koan that makes us think more creatively (useful, new and surprising). The benefits would be great.

If there’s one thing that seems to unite all marketers right now it’s how busy they are. Everyone. Busy, busy, busy. Late for meetings. Lunch at the desk. Can’t make drinks after work. Miss the offsite event. No time to think. A real busy bunch. With all that energy, effort and expertise expended, we must be having the time of our lives?

Howard Luck Gossage (1917-1969), one of the ad industry’s true mavericks, died 50 years ago this year. On the anniversary of what would have been his 102nd birthday on 30 August, Beth Pope takes a look at his legacy, and the light it shines on the world we operate in today.

Let me guess - you think creativity at work is important, right?

Great, you should do. McKinsey found that companies in the top quarter of their creativity score ranking performed better on three key measures - organic revenue growth, return to shareholders and EBITDA, in their 2017 'Creativity’s bottom-line - How winning companies turn creativity into business value and growth' report.

Our Crew is a big part of how Firehaus approaches challenges differently. In this month’s Meet the Crew we chat to Dawn Walter, social anthropologist and founder of the Anthropology + Technology Conference 2019, about how the field of anthropology can help brands glean richer consumer insight.

UN Women UK has selected Firehaus to handle its 2019 #DrawALine campaign. 

The appointment follows hot on the heels of Firehaus’ strategic support for the organisation’s upcoming #SameBoat fundraising activation with Anna and Cameron McLean.