Between 13th and 18th of May we conducted a survey to explore how attitudes and behaviours in the area of arts and culture have changed since all of the UK’s cultural venues closed their doors. We have provided some topline findings below. If you are a cultural venue...

Along with many others, our email has been affected by what appears to be a problem with some versions of Microsoft Outlook. We have therefore been unable to send or receive emails today and we don't know when this problem will be resolved. We apologise...

Digital and cultural venues seem a marriage made in heaven. Cultural venues are usually very visual, and digital does visual very well: Instagram is the fastest growing social media (depending on how growth is measured) and YouTube gets two million views per minute...

This week’s blog extols the benefits of membership schemes and offers some of our learnings for those managing them. “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member” So said Groucho Marx. These days however it would appear that the nation very much wants to...

Today's blog hopes that the recent Honda spoof encourages car advertisers to be more adventurous.   Last week the web was all a-chortle with an ad for a second-hand (that’ll be ‘pre-owned’ these days, Ed.) Honda Accord. If you didn’t see it, here it is: It’s well...

Today’s blog praises a rigorous approach to brand development. Uncommon as it is for us to blow our own trumpet, we’re going to make an exception for a good cause. We’re delighted to say that City Year UK have appointed Muse and our creative agency Technique to define...

It’s at times like these that the benefits of a well articulated brand, the proposition that encapsulates it and the ways in which that brand is manifest all become the focus of attention. And the values that were easy to put down on paper suddenly have to pay their way when held up to the harsh glare of negative publicity. A strong brand should be able to act as both weather vane and litmus test for any potential and real time problems regarding potential or current corporate partners. And whilst the role of corporate social responsibility continues to grow, marketers should be the first in line to articulate, guard and engage staff with brands.

This week’s blog mourns the death of the silly season and celebrates creatives for keeping us on the straight and narrow. A curious side-product of today’s ‘post-truth’ world is that it has made the Summer silly season for news a redundant notion. Sadly, there’s very...

Congratulations to The Hepworth Wakefield, (above) on being awarded Art Fund Museum of the Year 2017.   Very well deserved winners of the prestigious £100,000 prize. We have worked extensively with The Hepworth Wakefield for a number of years and consider them to...

Baristas, broken hearts and customer experiences – aligning brands and people This week Caffe Nero announced a new customer app, a move into FMCG coffee sales and an upgraded food product range. But what Nero won’t be fiddling with is the brand. Key to their...

How the application of some simple principles can increase the success of culture hubs. This week’s headline comes courtesy of the Style Council’s ‘Come to Milton Keynes.’ It’s fair to say that for many years, New Towns such as Milton Keynes, Thamesmead and...

“It’s a storm in a teacup, brewin’ up double, over any little trouble” – today’s blog reflects on the pitfalls of tampering with membership benefits. This week Waitrose announced that the hot drinks free to members will only now be available after they make a...

Our blog takes a leaf out of Orwell and turns Japanese in defence of a book retailer. No, the exclamations in the title aren’t new Boy Scout badges inspired by the Orwellian antics of President Trump. They were applied to a local bookshop in Rye. Yes, last week...

Today’s blog gets sniffy ahead of Red Nose Day and waffles on in defence of on-brand charity campaigning. Sagely words from the irrepressible Siobhan Sharpe, Head of Brand in the BBC’s wonderful W1A. In the current trailers for Red Nose Day 2017 the team has been...

This week’s blog spills the beans on the meaning of life and heaps praise on an organisation for practising what it preaches. Whilst we’re always loyal to our clients we aren’t in the habit of religiously promoting their brands (err, actually, yes we are). Anyhoo,...

Our first blog of 2017 bows to the wisdom of the Famous Five, shudders at terrible workshops past and offers an alternative that doesn’t involve re-birthing or abstract mime.   “As the hollow ping of yet another anodyne Outlook invitation to ‘get together and...

Above: Beyonce, a new feminist champion. It seems that feminism as a publishing genre is on the up. In the last few years the number of books published on the subject has grown by over 35%. Our friend Louise Burfitt-Dons, is an expert on the subject having addressed...

This week’s blog indulges in a little head-wetting, a modicum of boasting and invites all our readers to share the moment with a rare offer. a We’re pleased to announce the arrival of Technique. Technique is our new creative agency that delivers outstanding creativity...

With fears that new fundraising regulations will create a 20% drop in donations, charity boards are pressing fundraisers to provide greater certainty around income generation. So if you’re a charity fundraiser looking to attach a number to the word ‘enough’, today’s...

As we shan’t be strolling La Croisette in person this year, on the eve of MIPIM 2016 we thought the very least we could do to look out for our favourite property marketers is to offer a few tongue in cheek “do’s” and “don’ts” on how to endure the excesses of La...

Today’s blog considers the importance of understanding the consumer journey for train passengers, labels spaghetti product placement ‘pasticide’ and shows that using tissues to connect with your audience is not to be sniffed at. We were all given cause to revisit the...

This week’s blog is uncharacteristcally, perhaps mercifully in the eyes of regular readers, brief. “Why the short-change?” we hear some of you, or at least Rick’s Mum, cry. It’s because we have one big thought to share and one big question to ask. The thought is one...

Break out the bunting, de-frost the turkey twizzlers and warn the neighbours. Why? Well if we’re to believe what we read, 2016 will mark the point when asset managers’ social media strategies reach “maturity”. Apparently the launch of M&G’s new Equities Forum may...

Today's blog optimistically embraces ‘out with the old and in with the new’, inspired by the appropriately entitled ‘Stuffocation – Living More With Less.’ “What’s to be optimistic about people living with (and therefore buying) fewer things ?” you ask. Well, before...

For those who should have been at the Remix Summit but opted instead for Xmas shopping on Oxford Street, here’s a Xmas present from us to you – a diary of highlights (and otherwise) that you can drop into the conversation whilst admiring your new Jimmy Choos. So...

This week’s blog plunders the oldest jokebook in the world, considers the conundrum of tracking brands in specialist sectors and shamelessly plugs our own solution. ‘Well we know where we're goin', but we don't know where we've been' A city motorist lost in the...

Today’s blog considers the threat posed by Amazon’s flagship store opening, highlights the role of brands in the book world and offers hope for a Hollywood ending (as well as a free bottle of wine). It had to happen, didn’t it? Just as the Kindle looks as though it...

A rather unnecessary post in truth, but we wanted to celebrate a couple of the more pleasing places we've found ourselves in this week as result of our work. We'll leave you to guess / work out where they were. Both within an hour of our office in the centre of...

“And that's when I realized there might be a meaning to life, you know, like an organic power that connects all living things, God, Yahweh, I dunno.” On the subject of fate we’re happy to go with Martin, star of the classic “Grosse Pointe Blank” on this one....

This week’s blog reassures publishing marketers that dust jackets are as important as ever and sighs wistfully at the thought of defining the Ted Dawe brand.   ‘My grandmother looked at me with a fierce look on her face. “What does that word mean, Ted?” “Oh that?...