2023

Advertising mirrors our collective concerns

2020

Happy Congratulations and Merry Christmas

Bitdefender renewal: an annual hinky customer experience

Covid-19 reveals the deadly use of PR to solve actual problems

From Darkie to Darlie (but only in English)

Is your Unsubscribe function working?

Don’t show me what I can’t have

Situational promotions

2019

When the shop doesn't match the merchandise

Preparing for and responding to mistakes

Gaslight marketing

Mimicry - flattery or exploitation?

2018

Odd fashion shot

A worker who dreams; a maker who sells

Perpetuated product UX fails

An exercise in non-differentiation

2017

Experience design must move beyond marketing

Don't marketing-speak to your people

Human- vs machine-centric content design

Context (in an alt fact universe) is king

Can your business bank help (with innovation)?

Seeing clearly and mastery

Tech mags: from news to guidebooks

Constructive versions of lying techniques

How to lie in a post-truth world

2016

A body of worth

The pros and cons of being nice

Over-marketing?

Marketing masks mediocrity

2015

What does your brand sound like?

Social media is not advertising

Live your dream: a tableau

Selling game alphas is the ultimate lean

2014

What I do Wordle 2014

Content marketing lessons

McDonalds: our food, your questions

One small cable

2013

Making a mark in a world of slim

Being different: two ways

You ignored my spam; can I call you?

2012

Apple a narcissistic organisation?

C2C

Two Diamonds: Look deeper for better fit

Doubt and advocacy

Pineapple upside down loyalty programme

Advertising facts vs emotion; then and now

Anti-radiation mouse pad

New mobile pop-up spam or scam?

Authenticity: Victoria's most complained-about frock shop

What Samsung could learn from Apple

Understanding your audience

New resource: Strategy, Plan and Process

China - service differentiation

"Price Sensitive People are Not Loyal"

If we could hear ourselves

The Bios Urn

What future will the price paid buy?

Forging emails won't earn you trust

Your Singapore Get Lost

Computer monitors marketing full circle

Does business poison passion?

Trading crutches for scaffolding

Gender-based pricing and the illusion of choice

2011

The perversion of words

Perception is everything

Consumer habits reflect business habits

Reduce options, increase sales

Attraction marketing

Gamification

Signs of a successful culture programme

Customer is king...

Booty-call marketing

Is playing movies to demo laptops unethical?

When is marketing irresponsible?

A case of say but not quite do?

Mercure email user-centric communications fail

The Dark Matter that is consumer-led innovation

What’s in it for me?

I think I will stop buying design books

2010

Brand essence or brand caricature?

Why ads are rude

Design and fun as differentiation

China the Ikea of businesses - service differentiation

Unboringfying brands (doing social media)

I hate dislike Apple but still I talk about them

Crappy trend in TV documentaries

When the brand is worth more than everything else

Boo to perception management

Marketing still fail

The threat to word-of-mouth authenticity

Cool Lego ad

US = fast food

Mass media and Internet advertising

Another meaningless marketing line

Insipid LG’s “Borderless TV” advertising

The role of customers in products and services development

The big picture in service design

Valuing the service component of products

If we value people, they will value our service

Service design and the attention economy

A fashion industry “revolution”

Two aspects of service design

Inappropriate cultural borrowings

VISA and MasterCard fail

Japan day 5

2009

Four university websites, two different experiences

The Art and Science of Pricing

Deliberate or unwise image choice?

Sensitivity to subtleties

No soliciting telemarketers

Allybank

Effort of love

Brüno movie marketing

Another meaningless message

Look-down vs look-up consumers

Shallow commoditisation of “meaning”

In-bus merchandising

Animals and integrity

Branding Only Works on Cattle

Incongruity at ad:tech Singapore exhibition

Nature versus nurture

Camera ads

Two Coke campaigns

Competing with everyone

RBS business as usual

Pork for Valentine's Day

Best customer service experience

Taxi video advertising

Re-imagine

2008

How much?!!!

Buyology - sex does not actually sell!

Meet Mistress Mia

Sandwich fail

Anonymous televisions

Which one is the real brand?

Market Fragmentation

A Manifesto for NonProfit CEOs

Cat earned Japanese city millions

Love attracts

Embarrassing ineptitude at an awards event

Sales/marketing techniques in Singapore

The simplest techniques

A different kind of car ad

Sticky

TV shows and emerging musicians

Antioxidants

Five most important questions - adapted for marketing

Positioning, vision, mission statements

Creepy LG mobile ad

A worthwhile twist on advertising

Keeping fast food vendors honest

Freedom Escapes revisited

Weird LG viral marketing piece

Saying vs Being

Death does not deter telemarketers

Nudie lies

Website barriers to effective communications

Interactive brands

We will be heard

Cigarette pack books

Advertising tags on train handrails

McDonald’s Nudie

Marketing, intrinsic motivation, happiness and Joy Ninja

ANZ Bank – Simon had a great idea

BankWest – Happy Banking

Commonwealth Bank “Determined to be Different”

Southern Phone Company – missed opportunity

Identifying email hoaxes

Attracting vs coercing customers

"Australian Mobile Dealer" phone spam

“Domain Registry of America” scam

It is about people; not the technology

Substance behind Coke?

2007

Marketing dellusion vs real life

Authenticity in spam!

A simple and effective customer loyalty sign-up process

Customer participation

Global product experience uniformity only skin deep

Selling blenders…

Educate or sell?

How many web designers say this?

Brand transition in action

Packed in box

Talc in rice? WTF

Is “W Mobile” dodgy?

Dust collectors

Authenticity in branding and marketing

The best brand differentiation ever

Thinking of writing a best seller?

Permission to be passionate

Abstract vs material value

Meow Mix event marketing

No boring bits

The end of ecards?

I am buying a Suzuki

Freedom Escapes still at it

Sending strangers to your home

Dog food, exploding laptops and chlorine dioxide

“Freedom Escapes” spam / scam

More on Integration and differentiation

Sh*tty marketing lies and radical transparency

Differentiation is in how you act

Forget logos

Fashion designer fantasies and eating disorders

Naming primer

A vision of the world to come?

Another take on the attention economy

Like your drink spyked?

Will spin fix it?

Life vs lifestyle

The Cluetrain Manifesto

Why I won’t buy Apple (ever again)

Is marketing this powerful?

“Fortune 100 investment software”

The Yellow Envelope

What is Astroturfing?

Spam call from GoTalk

Lugging water

A little slip of paper can say a lot

Weird sign: a lesson on context

It takes a village to raise a child

Conversations: the big thing

A personals ad for your business

Showing visitors around your city

Only your wallet can tell the difference

2006

Spam call on my mobile - 08 844 737 36

Advantages of a value net

Traditional org chart vs value nets

Puss puss puss

When line extension is a bad idea

External perceptions, marketing and integrity

First impressions … oh poo!

Making cents with no sense

Organic vs clinical

Buying non-features

Brand Branching Workshop

Have you done your marketing?

The Origin of Brands

Too good to be true

“Now with more than 50% water”

Stupid marketing words

Now all natural

Put your money where your customers are

Greed and fear

WebJet

Tell me something useful

Smelly improvement

David Jones vs Myer - pointless

The blessings of peripheral pains

Exercise your creativity at the supermarket

The power of little things

Get out of your customer’s way!

Another take on cross-brand advertising

Still not getting it

2005

We are air-conditioned!

Comparing apples to apples

Design effective signs and posters

Five branding boo-boos

Branding ABC

Pull your head out

Advertising is not the easy way out

Saying “our objective is to make money” is contrary…

Hello hello?

Reputation replaces image

Out in the cold

Think big

Just like dating