Karen Boswell MSC, BA, FCXP-I

JUST HOW DO YOU MITIGATE RISK IN DESIGN? In this ADWEEK article, Simon Preece and I explore the power of neurodesign in business. Helping brands to reduce the risk in their design choices by understanding how the brain works on autopilot mode. Just why are eyes (and animals important) useful assets, what are cusps & curves and how do you use them, why is error so powerful in stopping us in our tracks? Let me know if you are interested in learning more, we've been running Learning & Development programmes for some of the world's leading brands: rtaylor@brandon-consultants.com ADWEEK, as ever, thank you for the support in spreading the word. #brand #marketing #design #neurodesign #neuroscience

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Will you join the fight against radical reductionism and learn how to release behavioural science and creativity in your business? It’s just one week until we kick off the latest MAD//Masters course and I thought I’d share what I’m hoping to achieve from the current intake. I really want people who do my course to learn to push back against the more insane beliefs and delusions of the kind of rationalist reductionist, mechanistic school of marketing and finance. Measurement and accountability are good things - it’s better than skating around on the thin ice of assumptions. This school of thinking has transmogrified into an insane belief and accountability - unless you can predict and prove in advance the dollar value down to the seventh decimal point of a particular kind of activity, then you shouldn't be allowed to do it at all. This is clearly a false god. We need to push back against this and fast because an awful lot of marketing, in fact, nearly all marketing that doesn't sit right at the bottom of the funnel is fundamentally and mathematically incapable of that kind of predictive, precise evaluation. And if the requirement for marketing activity is that you prove its efficacy in advance, then 90% of what you could do that is valuable, profitable and worthwhile will be impossible to do at all. If you look at more innovative companies like Amazon, they don't do it that way. They start with what's valuable to the consumer, and they work out whether it works and how much money it makes afterwards. That's the right way round. There's absolutely a time for evaluation and quantification. But it isn't right at the beginning. We really need to fight that and find the right place for creativity, behavioural science and innovation in marketing/media. Care to join me on MAD//Masters? Book your place for £1295 + get a FREE ticket to MAD//FEST LONDON (worth £895) where I’ll be hosting a special Lunch & Learn/Meet & Greet on 4 July. https://lnkd.in/eBXJD2ek The course starts next week and places are almost gone so make sure you act quickly! P.S. Contact Sam Benton for group discounts and team benefits! Sam Benton Dan Brain Harry Clark Ian Houghton Ben Phillips

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Future of Work and AI Skills We’re always on the hunt for brilliant digital learning initiatives and we noticed these from IKEA and AstraZeneca. IKEA’s embedding AI literacy for 30,000 people and 500 leaders. ➟ It includes AI Fundamentals, Responsible AI and much more (which is based on their brilliant Digital Ethics and Al policy). ➟ Hej Copilot is designed to assist people, from test and image creation to generating ideas and crafting presentations. ➟ They’re also addressing the mixed emotions surrounding AI, from excitement to fear, critical in help people cope with the shock of the new. Astra Zeneca have launched its Generative AI accreditation program to all employees. ➟ They have people engaged in a range of practical, peer to peer learning experiences, keynote seminars, lab sessions, strategic thinking workshops & reflective exercises. ➟ Data and insights gained from participants are being used to shape the future of the programme. IKEA and AZ are both highlighting a more progressive and optimistic approach to people and AI (links below). They’re both taking a human-centric approach where technology enhances rather than replaces human potential. Both of these initiatives sound incredible, but they do feel like we’re just at the beginning of this journey. The content is new but the modes of delivery are well-established. Where are the coaching agents, the role-playing chatbots, personalised learning based on user needs? What stories have you heard of great AI skills initiatives? #FutureOfWork #AI #Upskilling #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #Leadership #IKEA

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Intrigued by what makes marketers tick? The latest issue of Catalyst from CIM | The Chartered Institute of Marketing explores this topic, featuring an interview with Henkel's Nikki Vadera and her refreshing perspective. *Editor's Letter: Finding Joy at Work. Morag Cuddeford-Jones, Editor of Catalyst, reflects on the importance of finding fulfillment in your career. She highlights the Easter break as a time to reflect on what brings you professional happiness, and uses herself as an example of someone who genuinely enjoys going to work. *Does Sex Still Sell? Catalyst questions the effectiveness of using sexuality in marketing campaigns. The article explores whether this tactic is still relevant in today's marketing landscape and examines alternative approaches. *Data Mavens and the Unsung Heroes of Marketing. The profile of Nikki Vadera sheds light on the lesser-known yet crucial role of data analysis in marketing success. Vadera discusses her passion for data and how it fuels her marketing strategies. Catalyst Magazine: A Rich Source of Marketing Insights. This issue promises a variety of thought-provoking articles beyond those highlighted here. The magazine encourages readers to share their thoughts and engage in discussions;   Comment below marketers what motivates you in your role!

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Why when we commit to something are we more likely to do it? 🤯 This is due to the commitment bias, which says that we want to remain committed to our past behaviours - especially when we've demonstrated them publically. How can we use this in marketing? 💪🏻 #behaviouralscience #commitmentbias #mediastrategy

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Your loyal customers are your best customers and that's why understanding what creates, sustains and motivates that relationship is so important to any business. As someone who has long pioneered and adovcated for the importance of involving behavioural science in marketing, I was pleased to contrbute to Mailchimps new guide "The Science of Loyalty". It's free and includes my insights and those of several other thought leaders and is well worth a read. I hope it helps you with your own marketing efforts! https://lnkd.in/eKMisHDX #emailmarketing #emailstrategy #mailchimp

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Quick reads, big impact. My kind of book. We've been reading lot's of books lately for our 'Place Feel' research. This one by Joy Nazzari and Simon Yewdall is great. The breakdown of seven point's to creating places with purpose, is perfectly concise but loaded with insight. Thanks Ben Davies fr the recommendation. Joy Nazzari and Simon Yewdall I notice the book was published in 2018 - is there anything you wished you could add to it now, six years on?? #placefeel #placepurpose

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I chatted with Rory Sutherland today, about our venture, Scoops. His insights reminded me of the 'coming wave' and potential of AI in marketing—that it is not just there to crunch numbers but to help us (humans) create better brand experiences that make an impact. It also backed up a simple but significant understanding that Sam Judge and I have about our tool: "Marketing is most effective when it feels personal and human, and to do that, we need to involve them, people, customers, clients, you know humans..." That's the philosophy behind Scoops. It’s not about distant, months-long research but about immediate insights from customers that add value to brands' marketing decisions. Rory's opinion? It's not just a pat on the back. It's a signal that we're on the right path, the path that understands marketing is about people, not just data. #foundersstories #scoops #hyperrealinsights #directtoconsumer #research #dataanalysis

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Feeling privileged and grateful to witness a pool of brilliant ideas and be a part of an amazing community! Shoutout to EMMA J MURPHY Jack Lydon Anna Hughes Rachel Gott Here's what I learnt ⚡ 💡 83% of disabled music fans have been deterred from attending live events/gigs due to poor access 🤚🏾 78% of deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals found that venues rarely or never provide captioning or sign language interpreters ❓ What can brands, music organisations, live event promoters, venue operators, agencies, and broadcasters do? 📢 Approximately 14.6 million people in the UK have a disability, which represents about 22% of the overall population 1️⃣ Expand your market reach - Over 1 billion people worldwide live with disabilities—a significant demographic with substantial purchasing power 2️⃣ Brand Reputation - Demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility and become preferred choices for consumers who value inclusivity, especially Gen Z and Gen A 3️⃣ Integrated fan experiences - Embracing and investing in seamless digital experiences at live events—mobile ticketing, interactive apps, and live streaming options, sign language interpreters, etc— to enhance accessibility #Accessibility #DisabilityInclusion #Inclusion #Diversity #MusicIndustry #Branding #Leadership #CSR #SocialImpact

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Nice piece in Marketing Beat about our campaign to encourage people to take action to help remove the barriers society places in the way of blind and partially sighted people living life. The campaign - created with GOOD Agency, and driving people to download our Be Helpful Guide - is running across social media, out of home and radio, so have a look out for it appearing on a billboard near you. 👀 If you haven’t yet downloaded the guide, please do - it includes lots of tips for sighted people on making getting around easier for people with sight loss, from leaving wheelie bins in the right place to knowing how to guide people appropriately; it was created with blind and partially sighted people. The link is in the comments so no excuses! We want as many people as possible to download the guide - and turn themselves into allies for changing society for people with sight loss through simple steps. #socialchange #marketing #campaign #sightloss #behaviourchange

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Can you please turn the comments section into a suggestion box of alternative words to 'brave'? And, ahead of #Cannes next week, please share this PSA with anyone who will listen... Perpetuating the notion of 'bravery' in brand-building does more harm than good. It makes big, unexpected, attention-grabbing creativity feel like a risk. Just look at the dictionary definition. 'Having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty.' This has nothing to do with creative advertising. Creative work works. Dull work is risky. Signing off dull work will invite difficulty and require mental courage to face it; so you could say that *dull work is brave*, not creative stuff. On a related note, Adam Morgan and Jon Evans from System1 will be sharing some brilliant new findings on the #CostofDull at #canneslions next week. If you're going, make sure not to miss their talk. Details in the comments. In the meantime, what word do you think is best to applaud genuinely new work, without reinforcing the false belief that boring, same-y work is a safe bet? #advertising #creativity #marketing #challenger #challengermindset

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Brands and Prof G Jon Evans spent some quality time with Prof G, and it was a good show. Scott is entertaining, smart, and pulls no punches when conveying his beliefs, especially regarding social media. He clearly believes in brands- he’s a brand himself, values the importance of storytelling, and understands that products and experience are key to brand success. He challenges that brand advertising is how to build brands in 2024 because people have better ways of getting information. He doesn’t acknowledge that advertising has helped many brands grow in many categories. For many others, it has transformed their businesses. He also doesn’t get that the big agencies do far more today than make ads- he’s stuck in Don Draper’s Mad Ave. Those points aside, he’s a compelling listen. It’s just that brands aren’t dead—far from it.

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It’s mental health awareness week this week. In all honesty, it doesn’t need a week for us to be aware of our mental health and the mental health of others, but so be it. Yay for awareness. We all need to be aware of our own mental health, and we should also look out for ourselves and others who are struggling. And we should support each other in any way we can. Laying bare my own stuff - I’ve suffered from some form of mild depression for 14 years. Tbh, it’s longer than that, but 2010 is when I first started therapy. In reality, it probably goes way back. Who knows? Anyway, this is a LinkedIn post, not a therapy session. Why post this on LinkedIn? Well, I’d like to think it helps (in some small way) those who are struggling or feel a stigma attached to talking about this stuff. It’s good to talk. Depression impacts my home and work life in different ways. Some days it’s hard to actually get out of bed and get on with your day. Some days it’s hard to control oneself after leaping out of bed, ready to take on the world. In many ways it maps to agency life - you’re up, then down, then up, then down… and repeat. With depression there is no neat line going slowly up and to the right. If you’re suffering, you’re not alone. You’re free to reach out to me, or to speak to any of the fabulous people giving up their time for the organisations listed below. https://lnkd.in/eACvVemM https://lnkd.in/eXVtXhZi https://lnkd.in/ejj3c8n5 Big love X #mentalhealth

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How do you come up with ideas and campaigns that change behaviours? That’s the question we talked about in our HeyHuman webinar this week. It’s ten years since we launched HeyHuman with that question in mind, striving to be a creative agency using new tools and techniques from neuroscience and behavioural science. The reality was that some of these tools flew and some of these failed, sometimes with clients and sometimes with us, but we learned a lot long the way. Back in 2014, it felt like Behavioural Economics was the thing, including in our industry. Since then there have been times it has fallen out of favour, and the data scandals along the way haven’t helped. Rather than swallow BE whole, the approach that worked best for us has been thinking about challenges from a behaviours perspective rather than focusing on the tips and tricks of BE nudging. Our Campaigns that Changed Behaviours webinar focused on doing just that. If anyone’s interested in hearing more about what we’ve learned and how it works for us I’m always happy to have a chat!  

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Let your clients do your marketing for you…. The best marketing you can do is to do a great job and deliver value. Delighted to wake up to this review from Matt Pugh of Hägen Wolf today. Love the “no-nonsense, pragmatic approach is the perfect fit for owner-managers!” bit. Thank you Matt. ----- 🔥 I'm Gary King, I help frustrated business owners to stop dithering & take the next vital steps to gaining greater focus, clarity & results. Ring my 🔔 for more tips, tools and stories to help you on your business journey. #SmallBusiness #BusinessMentoring #BusinessPlanning #2024goals #backtobasics #DontBeYourExcuse #SoundingBoard #AccountabilityPartner #TeamTendo #TakeAction #GetResults #KeepItSimple #JFDI #SME Tendo Ltd 💜💙🖤

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We are yet again in a time of deep change, disruption and in fact evolution. Have we ever really left it - that's the ultimate question. Times of global change ultimately trickle down and directly impact consumer behaviour and from a marketing perspective that's a critical ingredient for the decisions we make in our businesses. I'm a huge advocate of keeping on top of global trends so that you remain constantly aligned with your own potential for success. We do not live in a bubble even though at times it might feel like that. 4 Key trends are emerging which are both encouraging and filled with opportunity - Perceived Inflation by consumers is the greatest threat over the next 12 months however according to the European Commission Ireland's economy is expected to rebound and grow by 1.2% this year and by 3.6% in 2025. This is good news as we were technically in recession in 2023. - Social Media driven consumption has surged in Ireland driven primarily by influencers so your digital strategy has become more important than ever. - The Environment is increasingly affecting purchasing decisions incl. everything from travel, food, power, politics, family size and cars. It's time to see the impact sustainability is having on your offering to the market. - Privacy and AI are of greater concern to Irish consumers than our global peers so building trust into your brand and how you message that will be critical. If you'd like to discuss how this might impact your business growth strategy reach out and let's have a chat. #consumertrends #marketresearch #trends2024

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Are you fed up of growing in your role as a Strategic Planning and Measurment Lead? I've given this a lot of thought and truly believe success is not for everyone. So here are some stand-out ways you can intentionally fail at Strategy, Measurement and Insight.   Craft your Flawed #Strategy: 🌍 Ignore the Landscape: Don't waste time researching your competitors, target audience, market or category trends. Focus on your own assumptions - we all live in a bubble right? 🎯 Set Unrealistic Goals: Set goals so ambitious that they're impossible to achieve. This will ensure constant demotivation and a lack of any progress. 😕 Clarity? Who Needs It?: Keep your goals and answers so unclear everyone's confused. Confusion breeds chaos, which is perfect for a failing strategy. 1️⃣ Always One-Size-Fits-All: Apply the same generic strategy to every situation, regardless of the unique circumstances. A luxury bag needs the same marketign strategy as a carton of milk. ⭕ Don't communicate - Work in silos, hide information, be as vague as possible when conveying your thoughts to others.   Stifle the #Insight: ❌ 🔢 Discount the Data: Data and research are just pesky details. Trust your gut feeling over any hard evidence. No data is better than any. 🤫 Silence Everyone: Don't get feedback from team members or anyone outside your area of focus. They may share information that's helpful and could lead to better ideas/executions. 🤩 Implement Confirmation Bias: Always seek information that confirms your existing beliefs. Why challenge yourself with new perspectives - you know best, right? 🤙 Embrace those who only echo YOU : Surround yourself with yes-men and women who will never disagree with you or challenge you. 🙈 Always Fear Failure: Avoid calculated risks. Stick with the status quo, even when it's failing. Don't tell anyone about failures because history never repeats itself.   #Measurement Missteps: 💄 Measure the Wrong Things or Nothing at all : Track vanity metrics (if anything) that look good on paper, but don't actually reflect progress. Focus on likes and shares over customer satisfaction or sales conversions. ⚰ Build a Data Graveyard: Collect mountains of data, then let it gather dust. Insights are overrated. 🔀 Track Inconsistently : Change measurement criteria constantly, making it impossible to identify trends or gauge progress. Confusion over Consistency. 🎤 Fear Feedback: Avoid sharing measurement results, especially if they paint a negative picture. 🌒 Use Short-Term Tunnel Vision: Focus only on immediate results. Sustainable growth? Who needs it?   Remember, the key is to avoid critical thinking, ignore valuable information, and cling to unrealistic expectations. You want to ensure your strategy remains mysterious, with no way to identify what's working and what's sinking your ship Good luck (you WON'T need it!)   ~I believe in giving credit where credit is due. This was drafted together with Google Gemini and enhanced with a human lens~

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The best bit of advice I was ever given by a coach (Matt Follows if you're interested, brilliant for leaders in the creative industries) was that when you start your own business, don't create a 'job'. I pass this piece of advice on to anyone who asks me for help when they start their own consultancy or business, because running a business is hard. So at the very least you need to define your own parameters of how you want it to work. With LookUP the same applies, and at nine months in, it's essential to take regular opportunities to look at where the business is heading, to redirect, to pivot, to ensure we are creating something that works for us. This week Matthew Hook wrote about how we applied our Big Reset methodology to our own business. It's a peak behind the scenes of how we are evolving the proposition, but also if you've read our other pieces this month on future planning, it's a simple case study on how to get started. The link, as ever, is in the comments, as are the original pieces we wrote, incase you missed them. What future are you planning for today? If you're a business looking at their annual planning (or you don't have annual planning, but you're just looking for a reset), get in touch to hear about the sessions we run in this space.

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🎙️ Had a lovely chinwag on #CreativitySucks talking 'Diversity in the Creative Industries – Is it Working?' Spoiler alert: There is still work to do. What’s not working is agency and brands’ understanding of the difference between DE&I and Social Impact. When diversity is boxed in as an HR issue and headcount is limiting, we need to treat it as a creative opportunity, not a tick-box exercise. It's about baking these values into your agency’s DNA from pitch to production. When every department—creative, accounts, or production—champions social impact, it becomes more than a policy; it turns into a narrative we all live and tell. My key takeaways: 1️⃣ Quit short-term gestures and really commit to a long-term vision. And stick to it.  2️⃣ Is your approach embedded across your people, your culture and the work?   3️⃣ Is your work leading towards a more equitable and inclusive world? 4️⃣ Can you substantiate and measure your impact? Basically, do you have your receipts? Thank you for having me Creative Review 🙏🏾   Eliza Williams Anoushka Khandwala Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock https://lnkd.in/ehZKukh2 #DiversityInCreativity #InclusionMatters #CreativeIndustries

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