You may remember that I've posted before about Nike's marketing strategy. I've also posted about Converse. So you might have gathered that I'm a bit of a trainer obsessive. Imagine, then, my delight when I saw that number one in the viral video chart today was a new Nike SB video. I just had to check it out...

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The Guardian today published a copy of a research note written by Matthew Robson, a 15 year old intern at Morgan Stanley. Apart from wondering why any 15 year old would choose to be an intern at Morgan Stanley rather than hanging around on street corners looking sullen and trying to get an ASBO, and simultaneously feeling a bit jealous that I wasted my teenage years hanging around on street corners looking sullen and wishing that Tony Blair would come along and invent the ASBO so that I could aspire to it, I was genuinely interested in this report. It confirms a lot of what any parent knows about teenagers, and a lot that most media people with half a brain could take a very good guess at. But there are a couple of nuggets that surprised me:

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My bike is tricked out with Hope gear.

If you watch to the end of this video you'll see why.

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A couple of months ago, I did something a little bit sad. I Googled myself.  I can’t be alone in having done this, can I? We’ve all done it, right? Whatever. I did it.

I was nowhere. For one thing, my name is Richard Parker, which is a name that has 13 entries on Wikipedia (none of which are mine) and includes:

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I went to the pub on Friday night. No real surprises there. No surprise either that I was drinking imported bottled lager. In fact, let's just dispense with this surprise thing altogether: I was drinking a beer that I often drink and have drunk for a while. I was drinking Vedett: a Belgian lager that is, by it's own admission, just a tasty beer. As they say on their site: 'drinking Vedett won't solve your problems, make you better looking or stop glabal warming. It's a tasty beer, nothing more, nothing less'. And I like it very much.

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I was reading the Guardian on Sunday. Yes, the Guardian comes out on a Saturday, not a Sunday. I was being lazy, reading yesterday’s paper over poached eggs on toast before venturing down to my friend’s allotment to plant some carrot, beetroot, bean, leek, shallot, garlic and onion seeds. Wearing Hunter wellies. That’s how middle class I am.

I’m straying. On page 2 of the guardian I saw an ad encouraging me to ‘egg a politician’. It was beautifully placed, just underneath an editorial piece worrying that police language was increasing the possibility of vi...

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You may have noticed that we talk a lot in this blog about Post Advertising. I think post advertising is put into practice brilliantly by ASOS.com

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Nike. What do you think when you hear the word Nike? Greek Goddess of Victory?  Polish literary award? Or do you, like most of the world, perhaps think of Nike Inc. of Portland, Oregon. 

Often maligned as a corporate behemoth or a sweatshop operator, Nike has bounced back over the last few years and I like to think it’s something to do with its frankly cool approach to marketing.

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I was reminded today (as if I could forget!) what storytelling was all about. I was visiting one of our clients, Harrods in London, talking to their Director of Design, a guy called Bill Mitchell. One of the old school, Bill has had an incredible life. You can read all about it on his website, but as a taster it encapsulates: painting and decorating, the Royal Navy during the war, travelling the world painting murals on NAAFI canteen walls, flogging insurance, courses at the Southern College of Art and the RCA, and architectural features work for many, many municipal businesses and councils.

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Here’s a thing. We talk a lot on this blog about the importance of storytelling, and specifically about how the brands that tell the best stories win.

But it’s not just the story that the brand tells about itself that’s important. It’s also the story the brand tells about an individual.

Let’s play a little game:  Who am I?

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