The Grumpy Old Blog

Just finished a dreary marketing zoom meeting (yes, I know, I was in marketing myself for years!) with some disinterested "facilitator" who had such bright teeth implants I had to wear my sunglasses. It was to "garner opinion" on a potential "new" comparison website (yep, another bloody parasitical venture that also asked about the ridiculous test names [a common word spelt incorrectly of course - how creative] and branding that they had come up with). Further than that I can't reveal, otherwise they will find me and they will kill me. Mr Implanty kept droning on at every opportunity that it is "all about the brand". No Mr Implanty, it's not all about the brand if the product turns out to be utter and total crap. The brand that is Kanye Hitler is a perfect example. Expedia is another example where they play off Trivago against their own other Expedia brands, namely hotels dot con (sic), ebookers and Expedia itself. And if it's just yo...

A columnist in the Independent said that he felt sorry for the public relations people of the Olympic sponsors. The games on BBC meant precious little advertising during the live games, the huge television audience therefore being hard to reach, blah, blah and etc. I don't feel sorry at all. I've had my own uphill struggles during my work in PR over the years. I took the knocks on the head, but got up and continued, without crying into the glove compartment of the BMW I've never owned, dressed in the designer suit I've never bought. However, I appreciate their difficulties, to a certain degree. They are only carrying out the requests of their rip-off Britain masters. Even the £10,000 a week Max Clifford (at least that was what he wanted some 12 years ago to manufacture me into the hottest radio presenter since the previous hottest radio presenter - I declined, only on the grounds of not having the money) could never defend the monopoly on cash machines that Visa...