Our blog
What's on our mind at the moment. Sometimes serious, sometimes not. Usually work related, however loosely.
Bad marketing needn’t be difficult!
We recently wrote praising the local businesses in Devonshire Road, Chiswick, for their simple but effective approach to marketing. They hold a high quality street party every year. The locals love it and so the businesses benefit: everybody wins! You can find our...
“It aint what they call you, it’s what you answer to” – W.C. Fields
For those cultural marketers working to place their audience segments at the heart of the organisation, today’s blog flags a couple of reminders regarding nomenclature. Man walks into a room. Turns to the audience and says “Flasks and fleeces”. Crowd goes...
Man-up or the Puppy Gets It?
Charities shouldn’t get it in the neck for employing modern marketing and fund-raising techniques but to operate in that space they must have the appropriate skills and commitment of their staff. ‘A message to Big Charity: stop grovelling and stand up for yourself’....
The Beautiful Game and the Value of Asset Management Brands
How marketers and their brands can provide shelter from the financial storm. The recent turmoil in the financial markets has given everyone the jitters. In times like these folk seek reassurance from trusted sources. For those more familiar with the markets,...
It’s Only Rock’n’Roll But They Like It
Today’s bloggery considers the prevalence of rock-inspired exhibitions dominating the cultural scene and asks what next? “What kind of a fool do you think I am You think I know nothing of the modern world” Strolling around Somerset House’s excellent ‘About the Young...
You say tomato, I say tomato. Let’s call the whole thing a rebrand.
Have you recently rebranded? Or simply repositioned? In the week that Google became Alphabet we challenge marketers to spot the difference and suggest their best and most needed make-overs. We enjoyed this recent piece in the Guardian for several reasons. Firstly,...
The (he)Art of Marketing
Today’s blog sends its wedding best to a client and takes an advertising trip down Lovers Lane. Never let it be said that we at Muse aren’t in touch with our emotions. Only last week Rick was moved to tears by the symmetry of one of his own six-cluster audience...
Lost dogs, flying pigs and ‘Pointless’ property marketing.
Today’s blog heaps praise on the world of property marketing whilst admitting to a secret panel show habit. It’s not easy to exist at the bleeding edge of best marketing practice and simultaneously keep a firm finger on the pulse of popular culture. But then again not...
The Dark Art of Blogging
Overcome your inner wizard to sharpen your blogging skills This week James and Rick have been running an updated version of our training course on blogging. So if you’re interested in a bite-size summary of how to improve your blog this is for you. Sitting in...
Muse duet with Lianne La Havas
OK. So this possibly wins the award for our most misleading headline ever. What it really should read is something like “James pretends to be lead-singer of (the other) Muse in order to persuade genuine star to appear in photo with him”. Or at least that’s how we...
“I’ve done a lot of research into what makes a psychopath.”
We've worked with many book publishers over the years, helping them to define their authors as brands. One of the very first of those was the crime-writer Minette Walters, so we really enjoyed this interview that she gave recently....
The dangers of excessive concentration
We were fortunate enough to be working in Beverly Hills recently. We stayed at the excellent Avalon, once the residence of Marilyn Monroe. It is rumoured that the pool was reshaped after her figure. The shape of the pool is important to this story and so we've shown...
The UK election: How did the polls get it so wrong ?
"In the end the debate between online and phone polls, and different methodologies, proved irrelevant. " Much has been, and still continues to be written, about how the pollsters could have been so off the mark in the recent elections. The article below is a prime...
James at the London Marathon, 2015
As you know, James ran the London Marathon on Sunday. What? You didn't know he ran the marathon? Where have you been for the last nine months? We wish you'd told us. We'd have joined you there. He finished in 4 hours 13 minutes in his first (and please God, let it be...
Carmen for the ENO
“But look at us now, quit driving, some things hurt more much more than cars and girls.” Wise words from the sagely Paddy McAloon. Well there was nothing painful about our sister agency's recent shoot for ENO’s forthcoming production of Carmen but we couldn’t miss a...
Spitfire Ale
It’s no secret that at Muse we love beer. In fact there is only one thing (that we can write about in this blog) that we love more than beer. And that’s brands that know what they stand for and how to behave. That’s why we like Spitfire Ale. Spitfire Ale is produced...
Our brand of the year 2014
Controversial, provocate, loathed by many, a P.R. disaster on occasion. But it just plain works. Exceptionally well. Step forward Uber. Whilst we had heard mention of it before, we first properly heard about Uber when London's black cab's brought the city to a...
And so what do you do?
We bumped into a friend of ours who owns a specialist digital agency today. He had been at a digital marketing awards dinner last night. As is always the case at digital events there were lots of junior, inexperienced people there. He had been impressed by one of the...
A quiz
This is where we were working yesterday. A good day. Where were we?
Unappreciated!
Above: Soho, New York….scene of the car crash! We have been working with a very enjoyable client recently and because they are a pleasure to work with we have made a particular effort for them. The project is largely over and a number of their team working on the...
Nice to see
Sometimes we have to resign ourselves to our clients ignoring our recommendations! So it's always nice to see our advice acted upon, even in a small way. We have done some work for the music venue Sage, Gateshead (above) recently. It is perceived as a 'grown up'...
Strange…but true
Our Accounts had to be filed yesterday, so we met in Cote, Wimbledon Village (above) to sign them before sending to our accountant. We needed to use their WiFi, which was fine at first, but we noticed it was cutting out from time to time. We told the waitress of the...
Tom Cruise at the weekend
We were amongst friends this morning, discussing our respective weekends. Some of us had been watching the Ryder Cup, some had been to see Chelsea play, some had been to a heritage property with their family. Then we asked another of our party what they had done? ...
Good Marketing needn’t be complicated
There is a road in Chiswick, West London, called Devonshire Road. It is one of two roads in Chiswick particularly known for it's premium independent shops, restaurants, cafes and bars, and for its sense of community. It is the location of the celebrated Michelin...
A girl called Aimee and a florist called Birch
Aimee lives in San Francisco. She hasn't been well and so we decided to send her some flowers. We have always thought the best florist in San Francisco is Birch. It's a very elegant place. Their clients include: Vanity Fair Chanel Hermes Christies Isaac Mizrahi...
That wasn’t where we were supposed to be!
Our flight from Heathrow to San Francisco started normally enough: The flight was delayed a bit, but the first hint of bigger trouble was when several hours into the flight, the pilot asked if there was a doctor on the plane. It transpired that a passenger had had an...
First World War
So today marks the centenary of Britain's entry into the First World War. Britain entered the War at 11pm on 4 August 1914. Lights will go off all over Britain for the hour leading up to 11pm, including at the famous Arts and Crafts pub, the Tabard, above. We've done...
Amusing advertising, Part 2
The biggest response we've ever had to a blog post was the one about the pub sign. It seems there is a whole witty pub sign industry. Perhaps adland should recruit from pubs rather than art colleges? After all that's where most creatives spend their….oh it's too...
Excessive communication?
Simon likes restaurants and cooking, and spends time in the U.S. As a result of both these things he knows the premium U.S. cookshop, Williams-Sonoma. It's a very good store. He signed up for their newsletter. This is what happened. Look at the dates. Why does a...
The World Cup again: Not so mixed messages
Adidas and Nike have always shared territories by using a roster of stars to say nothing much in particular (apart from something about aspiration), but here they seem to be stamping on each other’s boots like never before: We don't think much of either of them...
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Examples of our work
(Click on the image for more info)
Nestle
Nestle impress us. Of the multinational FMCG businesses it is the most flexible and adaptable, maybe along with Pernod-Ricard.
We were appointed to identify portfolio priorities and define key brand propositions.
Minette Walters
Our first publishing project.
Defining audience, brand, and communications plan.
Very successful.
Stella Artois
Stella Artois has long been one of Britain’s most successful beer brands. But it hasn’t always been plane sailing. It has gone through several periods of decline.
We got involved during the last one. A repositioning was planned. The ad agency wasn’t sure that was right. They suggested we have a look.
V&A
Big initiatives hadn’t resulted in big growth in visitor numbers.
We were appointed to find out why and propose actions.