Andrew Armour's Benchstone Blog
On Marketing, Partnerships, Innovation & Collaboration – From Andrew Armour
In ‘As You Like It’, William Shakespeare described the world as a stage, upon which we as actors, will change the parts we play. In the world of marketing relationships its important to know who you are, the role you play – and where others fit into your world. There are different dynamics at play in different levels of business relationships –
Continue reading “The Parts We Play: Building Trust, Collaboration & Partnerships”
Last week I was lucky enough to spend an evening being entertained by scientific stats, facts and wonders presented by Professor Brian Cox, Simon Singh and Ben Goldacre on their Uncaged Monkeys Tour. Whilst at times the science both baffled as well as entertained – one particular part of the show struck a chord: that the natural response of a good and rational scientist to people making sweeping statements, should always be along the lines of – ‘things are a little bit more complicated than that‘.
Continue reading “Content: It’s All A Little Bit More Complicated Now”
Despite 300 years of business history and the best brands today consistently demonstrating that collaboration is the driver of innovation – why do most organisations still struggle to source and keep meaningful, long-term marketing alliances and partnerships? It is tempting to turn to issues regarding technology, markets, mechanics and commercial returns but one of the key hurdles is quite simple and very, very human: Trust is the magical ingredient and if you don’t have it, creative marketing partnership and innovative pioneering with a third-party is impossible.
Continue reading “Trust & Marketing Partnerships: Part One”
In an age of business schools and corporate marketing by rote (and people who never forget they’re clever) its interesting to see Godin mention the importance of craft. See the article below. One of my best ever bosses, who built an agency single handed always emphasised ‘craft’ over grand business academics and fancy marketing titles. Quite simply – ‘what are you good at and what are you improving on every day’. She preached that each individual needed their own craft, a skill they could specialise in. Not waffle, but tactical nouse – not just vague strategic buzzword bingo but the ability to deliver things. Godin often talks about the ability ‘to ship’ not just dawdle. Picasso was an artist, a thinker, a doer, who created and sold more than 30,000 pieces of art as he pioneered the new. Now that’s craft.
For more information, see Benchstone Marketing Limited
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/xrFdy-NsB_s/the-new-craftsmanship.html
This is a great piece by Godin pointing out that there is no single magic answer to run a business or manage a brand. Reminds me of one of my favourite axioms: ” everyone.has a different road to happiness: just because I’m on a different road to you does’t mean I’m lost”.
What on earth does Seth Godin have to do with al-Qaeda and the Taleban? What links Somali pirates to the story of the iPod? surprisingly – quite a lot. Godin brilliantly describes a new digital economy, one populated by super-connected Linchpins milking their Purple Cows. And strange as it seems – that world shares a lot with the 21st century asymmetric warfare of Iraq, Afghanistan and the horn of Africa.
Continue reading “Seth Godin And The Taleban?”
