Mythbuster

Opinion
26 January 2016 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like 'attribution fraud'.
Opinion
15 December 2015 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the idea that details don't much matter.
Opinion
09 November 2015 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the idea that advertising is a risky investment.
Opinion
15 October 2015 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the fact that heroes should be perfect.
Opinion
15 September 2015 The recent death of 92-year-old Olive Cooke, Britain's oldest British Legion charity poppy seller, highlighted a dark side of our business we rarely confront. Following allegations that Mrs Cooke was 'hounded to death' by charities begging for money, the press has raged about unscrupulous fundraisers, with the British Prime Minister promising tough action to protect the vulnerable.
Opinion
23 July 2015 When we started in advertising in the late 1980s, the 'Grey Consumer' was a hot topic. The proportion of older people in the population had begun to rise, and many were surprisingly affluent. These trends were forecast to accelerate as the Baby Boomers turned into 'Empty Nesters'. Soon we would all be chasing the 'Grey Pound'.
Opinion
16 June 2015 Recently we've been helping some of our clients assess their latest ad campaign. It's a great little campaign, which seems to have helped boost sales and market share, but evaluation is complicated because of the number of media used. The bulk of the budget was spent on traditional media, particularly TV and outdoor, but the remainder was spent on a mix of digital channels, mobile messaging and PR stunts. Working out the contribution of each is a challenge.
Opinion
14 May 2015 Some years ago, we met a client who was wildly excited about large customer data sets. "It's the granularity that's so amazing," he enthused. "For instance, people who shop in petrol stations on a Thursday…" and so it went on. Eventually, we asked a simple question: what was happening to market share? He seemed slightly annoyed. Market share wasn't relevant for a complex business like his, he said. He wasn't selling baked beans!
Opinion
16 April 2015 We had a briefing for a new campaign the other day. It was for a financial product, and it started with an explanation of how it worked. The briefing concluded with 'this is, of course, a very low interest category'.
Opinion
09 March 2015 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like pointless new product development
Opinion
13 February 2015 Returning to work after the festive season, we found ourselves comparing our children's respective Christmas present lists. And we noticed something surprising. Between us, we have three children, ranging from six to 21 years of age. And on all their wishlists, alongside the stuff you'd expect modern kids to desire – clothes, money and electronic gadgets – there were a lot of books. Not e-books, but real, paper books.
Opinion
02 December 2014 Recently, we were asked to help an ailing brand. After dominating its category for decades alongside a very similar competitor, recently the brand lost the top spot to its rival. What had gone wrong?
Opinion
12 November 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the question 'i s it ownable ?'
Opinion
03 October 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the idea that budgets don't matter
Opinion
16 September 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like treating music as an afterthought
Opinion
11 July 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the supposed virtues of collective thinking
Opinion
09 June 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the vogue for real-time evaluation.
Opinion
02 May 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the appeal of reality advertising
Opinion
02 May 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the appeal of reality advertising
Opinion
04 April 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the Rosser Reeves Fallacy.
Opinion
04 March 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the idea that marketing always needs to make sense
Opinion
09 January 2014 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the failure to realise that positive is not always good.
Opinion
06 December 2013 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the idea that we learn best from success.
Opinion
04 November 2013 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the mantra that 'mine is different'.
Opinion
10 October 2013 Les Binet and Sarah Carter get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like nostalgia for a past that never was.