It seems joy is having a moment - but in the guise of 'Forced Joy' - the more cynical, Severance-style trend outlined by Beth Kowitt in her Bloomberg piece ‘Forced Joy’ Is a Miserable Corporate Trend…

Three years ago I wrote a piece about Purpose in marketing. I gave it a quick re-read today, and to my dismay, my casual reference to the importance of DEI and ESG goals in business feels extremely dated. What were once expectations of corporations are now considered ‘woke’ and ‘bad business.’ And honestly, call me a shit strategist, or an eternal-optimist, but I didn’t see it coming…

This post isn’t really about the benefits of WFH vs hybrid vs RTO policies, or what I think the future holds for private and public sector businesses. But - if the decision is made to ‘get the band back together’ - here are a few ideas of how to prioritise budgets and effort, to make the transition back to the office smoother and more supportive:

Brand writing is having a moment.

Verbal identity development, language design, verbal branding - whatever you call it, the strategic older sister of straight-up copywriting is in its glowup phase.  (I'm not saying copywriters aren't strategic too - don't come at me).

What does ‘returning to work’ look like, when your work is your home and your colleagues are non-existent?

I recently had a client question the value of the brand and marketing audit I had proposed - wondering why they should pay for me to “do my homework.”

If the essence of strategy is sacrifice, why do strategists find it so hard to say no?

Anyone else ever feel embarrassed to admit they’re in marketing?

Or - like me - do you blatantly reject the word marketing and instead frame what you do with other, more palatable descriptions (brand strategy, anyone?)..

Purpose is an important word in the world of brand building. Regardless of whether you’re the client or the agency, making ads or identities, or using frameworks made up of circles or squares, you’re probably very familiar with the idea of purpose.

‘Brand’ means many different things to different people. Here are the three main principles that will guide our work together