John Griffiths reflects this week on the difference between promotional ideas and product ideas and the danger of coming up with product ideas without proper support - straying well beyond the original brief.

Early Honda online experiments which showed the way advertising would break boundaries into content marketing. 20 years on I have second thoughts

With the prospect of Honda closing its factory in Swindon I talk about the way advertising misses the bigger picture (eg factory closures) and tell the story of how we used Swindon to make a point about a new range of Civics, a campaign pulled at the last minute.

Today Tony Stead's death was announced. As he was the one who came up with the name Account Planning it seemed appropriate to remember his contribution. John Griffiths talks about his meetings with Tony Stead one of the only interviewees for 98% Pure Potato who he encountered as a young planner

dropping into Links of London in a Canadian Mall this month I was struck by how the brand had not changed from when I worked with the management team 15 years ago. So a ponder about brand consistency and invention.

IPA award winner for best use of Tech Led data - this cough predictor managed to increase sales while spending less on advertising. Take a look at the film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szUossECitM&list=PLPnfQnOwrhzZul3CNJSj5dZkC8m2rNa18&index=19

I was startled to find myself soundbitten by the IPA talking about the Baileys campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=74&v=mj5Arjcx22E And worse appearing to say nothing at all! So here's my right of reply - what I tried to say before I was cut! And it gives an opportunity to talk about the elements of ingredient branding which is why I like this campaign. you can get the whole silver awarded paper off the IPA site if you're a member.

So how does an ad written by artificial intelligence actually perform? Here's a piece by Adweek which explains what the AI did: https://www.adweek.com/programmatic/an-ai-tried-to-write-the-perfect-lexus-ad-heres-a-scene-by-scene-look-at-what-it-was-thinking/ And a piece by System 1 which explains how well the ad tracked with real people: https://system1group.com/blog/advertising/robot-revolution-how-good-are-ai-ads?utm_campaign=S1G%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_4M6SJNshWEF7RuTDamIg-5Kmb4Yr6WdepkMO1e49h-ldo4CMOJB_2lyg5lo0-VkKJuLxZGFruIrBdQKaHMFqnr_WXHg&_hsmi=71453334&utm_content=71453334&utm_source=hs_email&hsCtaTracking=61eab5e8-cd0d-4705-97e5-107013e93dcd%7Cf1e1a2eb-780f-45d7-a610-23ec85a5cdf4 And I discuss the implications for how we might use AI to make ads that are brilliant not just better than average

the famous ice cream brand has to appeal to a younger generation appalled that parents might find it sexy. The solution to take the sex out and focus on simple luxury instead.

Reviewing the press campaign for Refuge who support those suffering domestic abuse - here's a link to the Campaign including a Valentines day poem https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/refuge-valentines-day-mccann-bristol/1525442 Plus a link to Refuge itself https://www.refuge.org.uk/refuge-unveils-chilling-reversible-poems/

I review a new campaign whose interest is entirely borrowed from a footballing scandal from years ago to make a point about the value of rewards versus loyalty. Chip off the old Paddy Power Block but I don't think this cynical ad is doing much for advertising or the gambling industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=EQL4tl0U_5o