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.

Experiments with Honda

Jun 24th, 2019 10m 23s

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

15th podcast Honda advertising and the Swindon campaign

Jun 14th, 2019 12m 19s

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

Special - Remembering Tony Stead

Jun 7th, 2019 30s

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

Links of London - no change there

May 31st, 2019 7m 48s

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.

11th Podcast Prospan cough predictor campaign

Apr 26th, 2019 5m 2s

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&inde

Heineken global sports sponsorship

Apr 18th, 2019 7m 26s

Heineken won an IPA effectiveness silver for this USEFA sponsorship campaign and demonstrated how much beer they had sold in the countries where they were an official sponsor. Here's a link to the IPA film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJn

Heineken global UEFA sponsorship

Apr 18th, 2019 7m 26s

campaign which scored a silver in IPA effectiveness last year when it managed to show how their sponsorship and focus on drinking a better beer with friends lifted beer sales.

9th Podcast Baileys and ingredient branding

Apr 12th, 2019 8m 32s

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 b

Lexus Car ad - written by an AI program

Apr 5th, 2019 9m 15s

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

7th Podcast Haagen Daz taking the sex out of icecream

Apr 1st, 2019 4m 28s

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.

Refuge - the hiddenness of domestic abuse

Feb 15th, 2019 5m 44s

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 t

Hard Soap from Paddy Power

Feb 13th, 2019 5m 25s

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

Depaul digital Unheard campaign for young homeless

Feb 9th, 2019 6m 16s

This week we look at the De Paul Unheard campaign on Spotify using playlists to highlight the plight of homeless young people and to build empathy.Here's the campaign page: https://uk.depaulcharity.org/spotify-playlists-tell-depaul-stories And

Alexa promoting product failings

Feb 1st, 2019 49m 35s

Here's the commercial Amazon are going to be showing at the Superbowl this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA1rqEn_7YU It takes all the things which people worry Alexa is going to do wrong and magnifies them. I talk about why advertising

Aero Mexico advertising that flags boundaries

Jan 25th, 2019 7m 21s

in which I reference the Aero Mexico DNA discount campaign which has got a second life this year. And I ask the question - why aren't brands using Brexit to get noticed? Here's the link to the ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v

2019/1 The Gillette Campaign - why a razor brand is irritating its customers

Jan 19th, 2019 9m 57s

the third outing of the podcast looks at today's advertising and advertising issues and where relevant references them against the book 98% Pure Potato written by John Griffiths and Tracey Follows. This week it is that controversial Gillette ca

Pitching for new business - the planners advantage

Nov 30th, 2018 7m 39s

A podcast which makes the simple point about the way account planners - even junior ones- can make a major contribution. The best way to introduce planning to clients.

Diversity and elitism in advertising now and then

Nov 23rd, 2018 8m 50s

There's a dust up at JWT about straight middle aged middle class male white creatives being let go in the interests of diversity. Cue a discussion about the diversity and elitism that clings to advertising and how the first planning agencies ad

Advertising for the long term - what's up with digital

Nov 16th, 2018 7m 28s

in this podcast I ask about how digital advertising has got so locked into short term activitation. By contrast the first planners in 1968 discovered the long term effects of advertising and turned TV advertising into a medium whose power is st

Likable advertising - does it matter?

Nov 9th, 2018 10m 49s

Talking about the likeability of advertising - when its useful and when its not. And doing a comparison with the approach to advertising of the first ad agencies with planning departments at Boase Massimi Pollitt and J Walter Thompson. Drawn on

The second podcast from the 50th anniversary

Nov 2nd, 2018 10m 45s

What I am doing now in the revived podcast is focussing on today's issues for communications looking back to compare how the first planners addressed them. You can of course find out lots more by getting hold of a copy of 98% Pure Potato but th

The birthday broadcast: Account Planning turns 50

Oct 27th, 2018 11m 11s

The week account planning started in 1968 with BM@P opening its doors and J Walter Thompson launching its planning department on Nov 1st. Where are we now? I talk about the significance of the beginning and how it differs from today.

12 things I wish I had known when I set out to publish via Unbound

May 12th, 2018 12m 23s

something I have been meaning to say for ages - the book 98% Pure Potato started its life in 2012 but it took until 2016 before it came out. So here are some learnings for fledgling authors