Think BR

Let's just bloody well get on with it now

Oh for goodness sake, stop moaning and man up. PRWeek just hosted a round table in a penthouse looking out over the bay of Cannes and the overwhelming sentiment of the assembled guests was that we need to be louder and prouder of what we do.

The challenge of NHS comms

It has been a challenging time for NHS communicators yet again over the last few weeks.

A view from the top

It's Monday morning and I wake up in New York. Nothing particularly new in the fact that I'm not in Chicago (my home base) but, this time, I'm travelling with my wife and kids, so the benefits of "nearing retirement" are becoming increasingly evident...

Don't count your chickens in a nine-block grid

The nine-block grid is Jack Welch's famous method for evaluating staff. There are two criteria: potential and performance.

The lesson of 'think small' is that we must all think big

As I write, much of the advertising and media world is preparing to jet off to the Côte d'Azur for a few days.

Whatever the progress of technology, real people still trump robot meetings

I was once asked to run a training session on international planning. I got the wrong end of the stick and, instead of banging on about multinational brands, cross-cultural synergies and harmonising global toolkits, I decided to focus on techniques f...

On the Campaign couch

We're shooting a new ad but our client, who is a notorious pain in the arse, wants to get involved in all aspects of the casting - even down to choosing the wardrobe. How do we politely tell him to go away before he irritates everyone, particularly t...

A wealth of Olympic and Paralympic work brought emotion to D&AD Awards

Remember last summer? The country went into a kind of joyful meltdown, kicked off by Danny Boyle's brilliant Olympic opening ceremony - for many people the finest ad for Britain ever made.

Scandal is unlikely to sour the rosé on La Croisette

Maybe it's just a coincidence that Cannes week also marks the halfway point in the year - an ideal opportunity for agency senior management to reflect on their performance to date and assess how the rest of the year looks financially.

Arif Durrani: Media has come a long way, and not without growing pains

Fifteen years ago, there were no Media Lions at Cannes. Its growing presence at the 59-year-old festival is testament to the central role media now plays in marketing communications.

Parliament's power players hide in shadows

The devil is in the detail. And for an organ such as PRWeek detail matters. It's really not that hard to goad a public figure into extravagant boasting, whether it's Tulisa 'of course I can score you some coke' Contostavlos or Tim 'told him what to s...