January 2005

It's been over two months since my last update - I spent much of the time on a mini-sabbatical in New Zealand (these were my first impressions).

Here are a few highlights from my weblog for the last few weeks...

Mixed messages from cold cures

I came back to London in winter, and found interesting discrepancies between the advertising of cold remedies and the information on their websites. Read more.

Princess Leia's Expanding Breasts

Apparently, if you compare the Princess Leia doll produced after the original Star Wars movie circa 1978 and the ones out today, there's a difference. In the intervening years, her bust size has tripled. Meanwhile, the bodies of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo have mutated from kinda normal to those of bodybuilders. More here.

Unlikely success of an agency

The interesting story of how a failed restaurant owner won the Singapore Airlines advertising account - and kept it for decades.

Problems for brands

James Surowiecki - author of The Wisdom of Crowds - predicts problems for brands: "Because consumers are more promiscuous and fickle than ever, established brands are vulnerable, and new ones have a real chance of succeeding - for at least a little while. The obsession with brands, paradoxically, demonstrates their weakness." More here.

Meanwhile, an anti-capitalist former stockbroker and the son of Sir James Goldsmith have launched an audacious attempt to halve the value of Coca-Cola's shares. More here

More links..

Have you played Business Buzzword Bingo? it looks like the folks featured in Weaselwords haven't.

Eight organisations from Ceylon to Seattle are named Brands with A Conscience for 2005

My short review of the fascinating book, Natural Capitalism.

I take a heavy swipe at Lovemarks, a new wheeze from Saatchi and Saatchi. Old wine in new bottles. More here.

Chris Corrigan says "Strategy is figuring out which way to muddle. Good strategists are great muddlers. They seem to muddle in the direction of the resources or of the political will or of the greatest benefit to others." Here's his full post.