I admit I went to see Miley Cyrus at the O2. Whatever rumours exist to the contrary, it was my kids that wanted to go. They badgered me at least once to buy tickets. I spent the first few tracks ogling a blonde dancer with my daughter's binoculars, and then there was a pause. The music lowered and Hannah, I mean Miley, addressed her adoring fathers. I mean fans. "This Summer I had to, you know, get away from everything and everyone and do some growing up. So I made a movie called ‘The Last Song'," she husked. I...

Guest blogger Chris Bagnall, managing director for DWA, questions whether there is the right share on the time, effort and budget spent creating content versus promoting it What content can doThe Internet has fundamentally changed the traditional B2B sales and marketing process. Prospective customers for a huge percentage of products and services can access a wide range of information to aid their purchasing decisions often without learning about a company through direct dialogue. The amount of content available online to aid decisions is vast but is it necessarily in the right format to be consumed by your audience and can...

At the beginning of the 'recession' I was interviewed by Radio 4's World This Weekend about what we wanted the Chancellor to do in his first recession budget.  I said nothing.  I don't mean that I didn't say anything, I mean that I said could he please leave us alone.  Instead they increased NI to a laughable amount which penalises anyone like us who wants to hire people and put up taxes for high earners (great, thanks for that).  Have just asked local MP (Jonathan Djanogly, Conservative) what they will be doing for business if we all vote for them....

In the next few weeks I become a Dad. So, over the last few months I have spent a lot of time reading about what my wife can and can’t eat or drink, buggies that cost the same as a car, sleeping routines, leaving your baby in the garden with the foxes and a lot more – what did people do before the internet? You may think that, true to form, I am now going to go on a rant about something -  paternity and maternity leave as a business owner, perhaps? But no, I actually want to share with...

It’s now back to reality after a fantastic Christmas and New Year break, the latter part of which was spent with friends skiing in the French Alps.  Don’t worry, the irony of returning to the UK in the midst of the most extensive snow fall for decades was not lost on me! That said the skiing was great and the company excellent. I went with a group of friends, a couple of whom are business owners. One of whom had organised the accommodation (yes all sourced and booked online), and very nice it was too, but knowing him as I do,...

A recurring theme within these pages seems to be creativity in B2B marketing… or more specifically, the lack of it, writes Joel Harrison. The ‘big idea’ is all too often conspicuous by its absence in B2B campaigns, and real cutting edge creative thinking is almost an endangered species. As my fellow commentator Scot McKee would most likely explain, this is largely due to a ‘lack of balls’ on the parts of brands and agencies (I’m paraphrasing here)… but the migration to a more ROI-centric and lead-focused approach has hardly helped. Suffice to say, the situation is petty dire, and both...

I hope I am starting or at least being a part of something, a revolution of sorts. On the 20th October this year I tweeted “People who complain about receiving too many emails. Opt Out from the ones you don't read, instead of deleting them” http://twitter.com/edweatherall/status/5020730534 I also then started telling people at events “ http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/blogs/in-business-blog/make-more-time-your-life-unsubscribe-spam “ Today I got a tweet about a Return Path blog http://savvyb2bmarketing.com/blog/entry/346771/how-to-improve-the-unsubscribe-process-yes-this-is-something-to-think-about Too often people sit with their BlackBerry or iPhone in hand saying “I hate email as it rules my life, I get so many messages”, to which I respond, “Opt Out it's your inbox, or get...

I’ve been talking to people about ‘crowdsourcing.’ They’ve listened to me, and then looked at me like I’m a twat. So I started to doubt my own visionary brilliance and thought maybe I’d best shut up. But then again, I’ve never been one to run from a stupidity contest so I thought I’d persevere. In years to come you can all look back and say, “That McKee bloke – genius.” Or, alternatively, “twat.” Crowdsourcing broadly means using the power of many to solve problems. Rather than rely on a single person within an organisation, whole companies their clients and people...

Before starting to write this blog I took a bit of advice, from two of the girls (Ladies?Women? - why don't we have such good collective nouns for more than one woman? Guys and chaps are so much better) who constitute The Travelling Geeks (see www.tg2009.com for more details of their recent visit to the UK) - Susan Bratton and Renee Bloggett (I promise that really is her name). Both said the same thing. Be yourself. Be transparent (I think that means don't try to slip in stuff about how brilliant I am or my company is). Find a 'voice'....

I was just on our B2B Marketing LinkedIn Group (a plug already!) and I read a response to a question I have heard a lot lately. “Where do I put my marketing spend in 2010?” Do I keep a good mix or bin traditional marketing in favour of digital, as it’s cheaper. The thing is, in today’s market I think this general talk of shifting away from traditional spend to digital is already outdated. “Digital” is not new anymore, I know we’re not yet hanging out with Star Trek's Captain Picard but come on; we’re online most of the day...