Bonjour, bonjour mes amis privilégiés, comme vous pouvez le constater, mon français avance très bien. That’s right Foxy fans, we’re still having a ball in Orgy (in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France, of course) with our party host Pierre and now we’ve been joined by the rest of the team, that’s Fatty, Fatter and their families and even the golden grandchild to boot.
We’ve got a top weekend planned and a grand finale to our stay. Hopefully there will be enough CHEESE and CHOCOLATE in the region, otherwise there could be hell to pay.
Mind you, we’ve still got plenty of work to do before we clock off for the weekend, not that any other bugger is doing any. Admittedly, France always shuts down for the summer but from what I can make out, the UK marketing press has also taken a leaf out of the garlic noshers’ book.
Talking of which, do we really give a toss what marketers from Disney, TSB and Three are reading this summer?
Well, Marketing Week seems to think we do, telling us how “the summer is often quieter for many marketers, so it’s the ideal time to catch up on essential reading”. No shit Sherlock.
No doubt they picked up that golden nugget in the same piece of reader research which concluded that marketers want “essential insight into the big strategic and leadership challenges, and deeper dives into the customer, market and sector developments that will define the future of your brand and your job”.
And who, I hear you ask, is top of their wish-list of clients? Why none other than TSB’s chief marketing officer Pete Markey, a man who knows a thing or two about self-promotion. (At the last count, he has been referenced 99 times in Marketing Week, 80 times in The Drum and 166 times in Campaign). Anyway, he’s reading The Art of Making Sh!t Up: Using the Principles of Improv to Become an Unstoppable Powerhouse by Norm Laviolette.
Markey gushes: “This is a great book about how to use the skills from improvised comedy to be more creative and dynamic at work. It’s packed full of great insights, real-life examples and, with short chapters, it’s very snackable and easy to read on holiday too. Highly recommended.” Hmm sounds a bit like TSB in a nutshell. The difference is, as long-suffering customers, the joke is definitely on us.
Over at Campaign, meanwhile, we have been treated to something even more fascinating. “Remember last year’s Campaign summer playlists? Of course you do. Well the good news is that we’ve revamped this format this year – you can’t halt progress – and asked some adlanders to name their favourite box sets. First up is Sarah Golding, chief executive of The & Partnership London.” (Yep, the same Sarah Golding who has been referenced 246 times in adland’s wank mag.)
The thing is, we were all awaiting the next instalment when instead all we got was “What’s on creatives’ bucket and spade lists this summer?” in which yet another bloke from The & Partnership, and few others prattled on about nothing interesting…
It’s almost enough to make you pine for the fascinating LinkedIn feed of The Drum‘s Gordon “where did you get that hat, where did you get that hat?” Young.
Que Dieu nous aide, as they say round these parts…