Both former politician Ed Balls and former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen have found themselves unwanted in their respective fields, despite having dedicated most of their lives to their careers. Not so long ago, both were the darlings of their industries and no one would have imagined they would fall from favour so quickly.
Life at the top of the marketing ladder isn’t all that it seems.
In a world where flexibility of working is encouraged, we need to remember that marketing is still a people business and creativity demands direct engagement.
It is the time of the year when many businesses look at their financial performance over the past 12 months and decide whether to pay bonuses.
This week I had to deal with a very delicate subject that involved a matter that it is dear to my heart – diversity in the workplace.
This week, I was asked for my opinion on ‘emotional engagement’ within business-to-business marketing. In my opinion it’s procurement that stands in our way.
One of the worst feelings for the leader of a business team – much like the manager of a sporting team, I’m sure – is when one of your stars announces they are resigning to go to a competitor.
One issue that appears to return time and again to debates about business is the lack of women in top jobs. I was shocked to read that Liv Garfield’s appointment as chief executive of Severn Trent last month took the number of women running FTSE 100 companies to a mere four.
I was at a marketing conference the other day and mused at the average age of delegates, or more worryingly how everyone looked younger than me. While that bodes well for the future of our industry, it scares me to see myself as an ‘elder statesman’ as I have far too much to do and learn.
The last 100 yards of my walk to the office is along a busy retail thoroughfare. Today, as usual, I walked past the local Tesco and Boots and, as usual, their lorries were outside replenishing their stock, and the traffic warden was putting a ticket on each windscreen.