“Uncertainty” is a word I think I’ve heard used more in the last three years than in the previous 43 that I’ve been on this planet. Not a day goes by now that I don’t see a headline or strapline informing me of the woes of the business world (well, the UK portion of it … Read More

There are a couple of frequently used adages that anyone in the commercial world will be familiar with: Time is money. You have to speculate to accumulate. Both are proved true time and again. However, linking both together would form what I like to call “The New Business Paradox.” (Note to self – register that … Read More

As anyone who may have read any previous blogs of mine might gather, I’ve been at Alchemis for a VERY long time. But prior to that – in the final 6 years of the last millennium in fact – I had a somewhat different role. I used to work in contract publishing. Not just any … Read More

15 years ago, when I was in my relative infancy as an Alchemis employee, I remember a great murmuring resonating through certain parts of the marketing industry and national press. An event was about to happen and its ramifications were so great that they were almost unthinkable to thousands of sales organisations across Britain… Companies … Read More

The latest Bellwether report from the IPA has stated that marketing budget growth hit its slowest rate in three years during the third quarter of 2018. You can read the report here but one major factor seems to be uncertainty over Brexit, with marketers adopting a cautious stance. A few snippets taken from this report claim … Read More

After enjoying the hottest summer on record, it’s hard to believe that we are now entering autumn and before you know it winter will be upon us. However, before you get too depressed at the nights drawing in and settle down for evenings binge-watching box sets instead of enjoying BBQs in the garden, there is … Read More

How will GDPR affect your agency’s new business efforts? Like it or not, the new GDPR regulations are just a few months away now. Unless you’ve been living in a cave it is almost impossible to avoid the constant bombardment of information and advice from all directions about what your business needs to do to … Read More

In the “good old days” before the internet and when you could leave your front door open and nobody would rob you, you might have been forgiven for thinking that large companies with their fancy brands based in Central London wouldn’t ever consider working with a regional agency in somewhere like Bristol, Birmingham or Sheffield. There … Read More

  There have been some rather negative stats of late from the AAR in relation to the decline of new business pitches. Looking at their chart below, you could be forgiven for wailing “We’re all doomed” before retreating into a corner of self-pity and waiting for the world to end. However, our experience so far … Read More

  Reading Andy Jex’s article in Campaign this week really struck a chord with me. The gist of it was that you shouldn’t ignore “the quiet ones” in your agency, given that people in the marketing and advertising industry are often expected to be (or maybe stereotyped) as extroverts. When it comes to sales, the … Read More