Summary
This article argues that successful business strategies tend to be simple, easily understood and, rather than characterised by intellectual excellence, composed of the core ingredients of curiosity, a keen sense of context and common sense. Several examples are discussed, including how curiosity led to the repositioning of Weet-Bix, the cereal brand, as a dietary aid, and how an awareness of context raised the price of a previously worthless fish (by renaming pilchards, "Cornish Sardines"). But despite clear evidence that successful strategies tend to offer simple direction for many to follow, the article argues that many business strategies remain over-intellectualised by the clever minds that devise them.

Summary
Larry Light, chief brands officer of InterContinental Hotels Group, is one of America's most-heralded marketing experts. Having implemented major initiatives like the global introduction of the "I'm lovin' it" tagline for McDonald's, Light believes it is now time for marketers to take a localised, personalised and customised approach. This reflects a new line of thinking that moves away from the global, or one box, approach, and the 'think global, act local', or two-box, model. Light's three-box strategy combines global know-how with tailoring product portfolios locally, and genuinely empowering business units in each market.

Summary
Even brands with quite different functional features or positioning end up selling largely to the same people as rivals. This means that most targeting strategies are unlikely to drive growth and are potentially a route to declining market share. Byron Sharp explains how if marketers are prepared to be patient, they can gain reach very cost-effectively, so long as they don't target a niche market. He adds that we live in a 'sometimes world', so the aim should be to get all sorts of people to sometimes buy your brand.

Summary
The president and COO of Cheil UK is influenced by: The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway; One Hundred years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith; The Confucian Mind, by Daniel Wang; Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro and Far Eastern Tales, by W Somerset Maugham.

Summary
In this opinion piece, Jeremy Bullmore warns that brands that try to be your best friend need to realise that relationships are a two-way process. Bullmore cautions that in attempts at personalisation, brands can become too pushy with their efforts seen by consumers as ingratiation. Instead of trying to dupe consumers into a sense of familiarity by clumsily wielding data, a canny brand builder leaves room for each member of the audience to respond to brand clues and to contribute as much to the relationship as the brand itself.

Summary
One of fashion's leading icons, American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, uses basic branding principles to engage her consumers in innovative ways, expand her portfolio, grow ROI and, most importantly, remain relevant and differentiated in an ever-changing, copycat industry. In this article, Trevor Wade suggests 10 insights that brands can learn from Wintour.

Summary
This article discusses two recent and conflicting viewpoints on the state of B2B marketing. Recent research on the topic by the Capsicum Group painted a gloomy picture of the sector, suggesting that B2B marketers are not close enough to customers and do not understand the businesses they work in: this has the overall effect of holding the B2B sector back. But Omobono's research, conducted with the Marketing Society among senior marketers from over 150 companies, paints a more positive picture. It has found that customer relationships are a top priority, and that marketers clearly understand their role and are aligned with buyers.

Summary
This article summarises the big themes that came out of the 2012 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy. The first, as demonstrated by the Prize Winner, was that simplicity rules. The other themes were Asia coming out as a global leader in marketing, scepticism over brands claiming the ability to start a movement, cultural connection is Asia's strong suit and strategic thinking is becoming more widespread.

Summary
This is the story of how the Prostate Cancer Charity rebranded to become Prostate Cancer UK. It was a process than ran counter to much of the conventional wisdom recommended by branding consultants that state that radical rebranding processes should begin with a clear strategic blueprint for what the brand should become. This brand Key or Onion is then used to brief agencies and only when the new identity is ready, is it revealed and sold in to the organisation. However, Prostate Cancer UK took a different route in which strategy, execution and cultural change were all allowed to emerge together. This article examines the challenge for charity, the process that the team went through to reach the strategy and offers ten principles to follow for anyone looking to undertake a major rebranding project.

Summary
The managing director of Arena Media chooses: Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher and William Lury; Riding the Iron Rooster. By Train Through China, by Paul Theroux; Ogilvy on Advertising, by David Ogilvy; How to Stage a Military Coup, by Ken Connor and David Hebditch, the IRB Rugby Law Book and The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson.