How does your brand make people happy?

Nobody likes bad news. It's a downer. We like to hear good news. It's how we're programmed.

So far most talk of sustainability has usually been
framed in terms of apocalyptic outcomes rather than creative possibilities. But it doesn't have to be that way. Brands like Tom's create happiness in spades.

Now take a look at your category through a happiness lens. 

What makes people miserable about it? Can your brand could turn that around?

Our Breakfast Club: the 'S' Words

Our Breakfast Club is an idea we've had to share and debate brand challenges and opportunities before work, and with coffee and croissant in hand. Each small session will offer simple straightforward advice on some of marketings sometimes complex topics, and we'll hear from people who've been there and done it. Our inaugural club is happening on 7th June with special thanks to our experts Alex Cole and Robyn Pearce and our client friends who are participating.

We agree with David Jones (Who Cares Wins) when he says, "Two of the biggest issues and opportunities facing business today are how to cope with the dramatic rise of social media and how to be more socially responsible."Social media and social mission are not two different things, but very much interlinked as I hope this first session will go to show.

We'll be posting content after the event and sharing the ideas discussed and soundbites.

If you are interested in attending or speaking at subsequent events please get in touch.

Is your brand improving quality of life?

There's a shift of focus happening in our society. From standard of living - a financial measure - to quality of life - based on our sense of wellbeing. But a study of 50,000 people in 14 countries, the Havas Media's Meaningful Brands study, showed that in the UK only five per cent of respondents believe that brands have a positive impact on their health, fitness, happiness or social relationships. 

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has a shortlist of 5 ways to safeguard wellbeing in our everyday life. Which one is right for your category or your brand?

1. To connect with people
2. Be active
3. Take notice
4. Keep learning
5. Give

What's the best way for your brand to champion your consumers' wellbeing?

Goodness can give you oomph!

If you're in branding and in Western world you want to be top right quadrant - right? Top right is the place to be. Brands that occupy that space are generally game changers. They've got energy and they're differentiated.

There's now a new axis that can help you get there: the 'goodness' access. Brands that are moving in the market with purpose as the ones that've got oomph! These brands have social energy. They've got great purpose and they know how to be a true social brand. Ideas with social energy are the ones we remember, the forward looking ones, and the ones most likely to be shared by consumers.

In a Havas global study(Social Buisness Study 2010) 86% of consumers want to buy from and do business with brands that share their values and beliefs.

Could a great social idea get your brand moving in the right direction? A great social brand idea is where your brand's goodness and purpose meets it's creativity and energy.

Our philosophy? Simple, do what we do best.

We live in an age where we’re swamped with information. But information and technology don't always make life simpler. Last night, for example, overwhelmed with the number of take-away-options I could order on line, I reverted to a boiled egg and it was quite lovely.

From confusing charts and models, to uninterpretable jargon and wordy propositions, modern marketing has become a highly complicated and frustrating business.

As agencies we might feel we're not doing our job, or haven't earned our fees, if we haven't made things seem complex. But in doing so we are undermining our value to clients. It’s little wonder that so much of what it delivers misses the mark and leaves consumers baffled and boards nonplussed.

What’s needed in today’s complex business environment is some good old fashioned simplicity, or as we call it - black and white thinking. We need to have confidence in our own thinking. Fewer slides and simpler language should be celebrated. We need to go back to basics and remember that creativity is our currency.

We focus on what good design and design strategy has always done well: creative problem solving. The pencil is mightier than the mac, so we sketch all ideas and insights, share them with our clients so and build them together. Let's face it brilliantly simple ideas are always the ones that we all remember.