communications – Strangers on the Shore

Johnny behavioural science mnemonics: EAST and MINDSPACE

It’s too late to improve Keanu Reaves’ acting, but there’s still hope for using behavioural economics to improve other outcomes. Here are a couple of ‘what to remember about behavioural economics’ mnemonics I thought I’d share, from my recent reading of David Halpern’s Inside the Nudge Unit. According to Halpern, the man behind the BritishContinue reading “Johnny behavioural science mnemonics: EAST and MINDSPACE”

Top Qual Tips 1: the generation vs illustration dichotomy

It’s time to post something actually useful – I hope – about qualitative research. After a long hiatus with this blog in 2015 for technical reasons – WordPress somehow produced an unbreakable security loop which prevented me and my IT guy accessing it for several months – I’ve managed a couple of ultimately quite self-indulgentContinue reading “Top Qual Tips 1: the generation vs illustration dichotomy”

Which party will Calm Persistence favour?

I was interested to hear on The World At One the other day about the voter segmentation Populus (who have advised the Conservatives) have been using: BBC on Populus voter segmentation. There’s a test on there so you can see which category you’re in. The Populus segments are: 1. Comfortable Nostalgia: “They tend to be older,Continue reading “Which party will Calm Persistence favour?”

From the archives: God’s gift to British advertising

Call me old school, but for me George Whitebread is still unrivalled as an all-round ad man. In this masterclass, he shows himself to be both an astute critic and a brilliantly original creative in his own right. Though his Yorkshire accent does slip a little towards the end. I delved back into the HarryContinue reading “From the archives: God’s gift to British advertising”

Black Mirror: Trailer Trash

Looking forward to the new batch of Charlie Brooker Black Mirror dramas, starting on Channel 4 on Monday 11th Feb. For the unitiated, Brooker’s darkly comedic vision delivers pacy drama, acidly accurate social commentary and dyspeptic belly laughs in equal measure. Bring it on. But regardless of the show, this trailer itself is worth aContinue reading “Black Mirror: Trailer Trash”

Empathy, Outrospection (and Qual): an RSA Animate

Here’s an RSA Animate talk (see http://www.theRSA.org for more) from last year on the importance of empathy. As Krznaric sees it, more widespread practice at empathy – particularly cognitive empathy, where you fully step into another person’s shoes and see things as they see them – could revolutionise how we think about our lives andContinue reading “Empathy, Outrospection (and Qual): an RSA Animate”

Tips from an even better writer than Joey Barton

Start The Week on Radio 4 this morning is about political writing, using George Orwell‘s essay Politics and the English Language as a launchpad: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q8l31. Orwell came up with six practical rules to help people avoid bad writing: Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing inContinue reading “Tips from an even better writer than Joey Barton”

Mind the gap between the audience and the brand

As a massive London-phile (not sure it’s a word but I can’t stomach asking Boris Johnson what London would be in Ancient Greek), who no longer lives there, I’ve enjoyed on my recent trips into the Smoke the video advertising alongside the Tube escalators. The ads are on to celebrate the London Underground’s 150th birthdayContinue reading “Mind the gap between the audience and the brand”

Kahneman in conversation with Evan Davies and Prof Paul Dolan

Kahneman discusses Thinking Fast And Slow at LSE with Evan Davies and Paul Dolan For those interested in psychology and behavioural economics, here is a quick link via Prof Paul Dolan’s site to an hour’s discussion between Evan Davies, Dolan and Kahneman about Thinking Fast and Slow, which took place a while back when theContinue reading “Kahneman in conversation with Evan Davies and Prof Paul Dolan”