WPP agency Mindshare’s UK boss Mark Creighton on wearable technology and collaboration between agencies November 9, 2014 It's no secret that the media business is changing irrevocably because of digital technologies. But while some agency execs yearn for the age of bulk media contracts negotiated over a long, boozy lunch with TV bosses, Mindshare’s Mark Creighton comes across as positively electrified by the new digital frontier. He talks to City [...]
How to blag a job interview or presentation: Tips for covering up gaping holes in your knowledge November 5, 2014 Cryptic metaphors, analogies and banal facts will help you to blag it. Excruciating, idiotic, shameful and hilarious – some of the words that have been used to describe CNBC host Joe Kernen’s on-air grilling of Martin Shanahan, chief executive of development agency IDA Ireland, this week. “You have euros in Ireland?”, Kernen boomed, before [...]
How to guard against inflation when investing in bonds November 4, 2014 Periods volatility in equity markets typically see investors flee to the apparent safety of fixed income – especially the bonds of major Western governments, the yields on which are often described as the “risk-free” rate. But as Christopher Maule of the UK Bond Network argues, it’s a strange definition of “risk-free” that sees investors exposed [...]
Fall of the dragon: Is everyone far too optimistic about China? November 3, 2014 There's nothing particularly new about fears of a sharp economic slowdown (or “hard landing”) in China. And Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys released in the past few days will only add to the list of worries for those who see annual growth slipping well below the Communist Party’s target of 7.5 per cent this [...]
A digital billboard revolution: The top out-of-home advertising sites changing the face of London November 2, 2014 In creative terms, advertising mediums can be split into “hot” and “cool” media. This distinction was first put forward by Canadian media critic Marshall McLuhan 50 years ago. The difference is that hot media grabs you, whereas people actively choose to get involved with cool media – the audience does the grabbing. Print, cinema, [...]
The office horror stories to avoid this Halloween October 30, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud looks at the workplace gaffes that should keep you awake at night. Is smoking an e-cigarette at work the new eating soup with a dessert spoon? No one seems quite sure. Debrett’s, the etiquette taste-maker in chief and centuries-old chronicler of distinguished Brits, released its new handbook for modern politeness this week, [...]
Charismatic chief executives could be bad for firms October 29, 2014 Compelling as they may be, strong leaders can lack humility. I am soft, I am lovable, but what I really want to do is reach in, rip out their hearts and eat them before they die.” Not the words of a general before battle, but Lehman Brothers’s last chairman and chief executive Dick Fuld, [...]
What’s the right risk profile for you? Key questions to consider October 28, 2014 Think carefully about your ability to handle high volatility. Working out the appropriate level of risk for an investment portfolio has become a far more sophisticated process in recent years. Where advisers would once have asked clients just to tick a box marked “adventurous” or “cautious”, says Jason Hollands of Tilney Bestinvest, investors today [...]
EARN Media’s Jamal Benmiloud on how content marketing can help build brand love October 19, 2014 Marketers have long distinguished between paid-for, owned and earned media. With the explosive growth of content marketing (brands producing their own videos and shows, rather than paying for conventional ad slots), the latter two have attracted ever-greater portions of ad budgets recently, partly with the aim of achieving that Holy Grail of digital marketing [...]
Competition in the office: Does it boost results? October 15, 2014 Infighting can be distracting, but helps keep a company nimble. City firms are no strangers to internal competition. The leading investment banks and Big Four accountancy firms reportedly allocate year-end bonuses in part through staff ranking each other’s performances, while numerous companies (elite strategy consultancies included) have adopted some variant of the “rank and [...]
