Lifestyle

Are online retailers winning the battle for customers’ hearts and minds?

The run up to Christmas is always an ‘interesting time’ for retailers who need to gauge customer demand and deal with unpredictable factors like the Great British Weather. With recent reports highlighting the success of online retailers in particular with their Black Friday deals, how is the high street likely to develop in the…

CDR team gets trainers on for the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge

With our t-shirts on and trainers tightly fastened, the CDR team set off to make their way to Battersea Park to participate in the 5.6km London event of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge. It was clear an event was taking place at the park as large groups of corporate runners with water bottles, bright company…

The value of content

When it comes to entertainment, content has always been king. But hearing musician Viv Albertine being interviewed by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio 6 Music last week reminded us how things have changed. She described how when someone came round with a new record, they would play it over and over…

Fever pitch

The world is gearing up for the World Cup – teams are arriving and have been warming up (literally in the case of the Northern European teams) in nervous friendlies, fans are assembling and stadia are being hurriedly completed. Around the world, new TVs are being ordered, fridges stocked and the backing peeled off football…

Video game mania and the hunt for the next Candy Crush hit

Video games aren’t just for kids – adults and youngsters are now playing them more than ever on their tablets and smartphones. The video game industry has exploded in size and a new game release is now more lucrative than a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Now many investors are looking to grab a piece of the…

How does your brand rate on the Fotwometer?

A couple of programmes broadcast on UK TV over the last week have been the result of someone inside an organisation’s brand team answering “yes” to the question “Can we do fly on the wall filming with you?” Rolls Royce and high end jeweller Boodles both featured on Channel 4 with the companies clearly having…

Pin your colours to the mast: Should newspapers be compelled to overtly state their political allegiance?

With talk already turning to the next election we can expect the papers from autumn until May 2015 to be full of Cameron, Milband and Clegg peddling their pledges. What is interesting is the treatment of each leader and party by media according to their political persuasion. In the broadcast arena programmers are mandated…

Is it bye-bye to BBC Three?

In a surprise announcement last week, the BBC announced that it is going to drop BBC Three as an on-air channel, moving it to an iPlayer only channel. The move comes as a result of the “tough choices” outlined by director general Tony Hall, which are required to reduce the BBC’s budget by £100 million….

Never mind the brain drain – the brain boomerang is coming

I read this week that Manchester, like the rest of the country, is losing its most talented workers to London’s ‘brain drain.’ So says a report which also claims the problem is particularly acute among 22 to 30 year-olds. Except I don’t see it as a problem at all. Why not, you ask? Because as…