Welcome to the Creative Age – Bananas, Business and the Death of Marketing

<p>Foreword by Adam Morgan vii</p>
<p>Acknowledgements xi</p>
<p>Introduction: Bananas at Dawn 1</p>
<p>The added–value banana 1</p>
<p>What s it all about, Alfie? 3</p>
<p>Marketing hilarity 4</p>
<p>Resistance is futile 7</p>
<p>The death of marketing as an organizational principle 8</p>
<p>The War for Talent and how to win it 9</p>
<p>The Creative Age as a new organizing principle 9</p>
<p>Too ambitious by half? 10</p>
<p>Talking to the preacher man 11</p>
<p>How to use this book 12</p>
<p>Structure 12</p>
<p>Creative Age heroes 13</p>
<p>And dear reader 14</p>
<p>1: Creativity Is Our Inheritance 15</p>
<p>The value of creativity 18</p>
<p>The man who knew too much 19</p>
<p>Creativity sees what isn t (yet) 20</p>
<p>Creativity is our greatest inheritance 21</p>
<p>Creativity in the public services 22</p>
<p>But I m not very creative 23</p>
<p>The creative individual 25</p>
<p>The creative personality 27</p>
<p>What are we to make of the facts of creativity? 29</p>
<p>Memories of the future 29</p>
<p>Team creativity = creativity to the power of N 30</p>
<p>Working together creatively 31</p>
<p>Leaving your agenda at the door 32</p>
<p>Diversity rules 33</p>
<p>Impro madness 34</p>
<p>Be kind to your fellow creators 35</p>
<p>Enjoy the journey, not the destination 35</p>
<p>Conclusions 37</p>
<p>Some questions 37</p>
<p>2: The Glorious Revolution 39</p>
<p>Looking forward and looking back 41</p>
<p>Change is a snowball made by many hands 42</p>
<p>Like frogs in a pot of water 43</p>
<p>The problem of history 44</p>
<p>The fertile ground 45</p>
<p>The Marketing Revolution and the doughboy 47</p>
<p>Something to believe in 48</p>
<p>Changing the world 49</p>
<p>The rise and rise of the brand 51</p>
<p>The final frontier? 55</p>
<p>What had happened? 55</p>
<p>Conclusions 56</p>
<p>Some questions 56</p>
<p>3: Tsunami 57</p>
<p>You ve never had it so good 59</p>
<p>Tides of change 60</p>
<p>R–E–S–P–E–C–T 68</p>
<p>DIY careers 72</p>
<p>The importance of people 75</p>
<p>Tsunami and after 75</p>
<p>Some questions 76</p>
<p>4: Who and How We Are 77</p>
<p>It s over 79</p>
<p>I am not who you think I am 80</p>
<p>The brain in action 83</p>
<p>Engaging the disengaged mind 84</p>
<p>Emotions and decisions 85</p>
<p>Humans as herd animals 87</p>
<p>The end of the individual? 92</p>
<p>Conclusions 93</p>
<p>Some questions 94</p>
<p>5: Ideas, Ideas, Ideas 95</p>
<p>Ideas and attention dollars 98</p>
<p>Home is here 101</p>
<p>This is the sound of the suburbs 102</p>
<p> Don t be so English 104</p>
<p>Ideas and B2B 105</p>
<p>Ideas and microchips 107</p>
<p>Key characteristics of the Creative Age Idea 109</p>
<p>Conclusions 112</p>
<p>Some questions 113</p>
<p>6: All that You Can t Leave Behind (but must) 115</p>
<p>Learning to let go 117</p>
<p>Tea with Andrew Ehrenberg 120</p>
<p>Asking silly questions 122</p>
<p>Shaky foundations and empty promises 123</p>
<p>More shaky foundations 125</p>
<p>Opinions aren t much use 127</p>
<p>So where does this leave market research? 128</p>
<p>The brand and the snake–oil salesmen 129</p>
<p>Problem 1: brand gets in the way of the real problems 130</p>
<p>Problem 2: the claims made for the importance of the brand are overblown 133</p>
<p>Problem 3: the brand ties you to the past 134</p>
<p>Conclusions 134</p>
<p>Using the bnard 135</p>
<p>Some questions 135</p>
<p>7: How to Have a Creative Age Idea 137</p>
<p>Not the idiot s guide to ... 139</p>
<p>Concept 1: purpose, not positioning 140</p>
<p>Concept 2: interventions it is what you do 144</p>
<p>Applying these concepts what to do? 144</p>
<p>Conclusions 151</p>
<p>Some questions 152</p>
<p>8: Interventions It is What You Do 153</p>
<p>Catalytic conversions 155</p>
<p>Ideas and interventions 156</p>
<p>Control is an (un)helpful illusion 157</p>
<p>The science of complexity 159</p>
<p>What this means for business 161</p>
<p>More modesty, please 162</p>
<p>Interventions as the expression of the purpose–idea 164</p>
<p>Benchmarking your way into a corner 165</p>
<p>Interventions as instinctive actions 167</p>
<p>Management interventions 169</p>
<p>The intranet fallacy 170</p>
<p>Conclusion 171</p>
<p>Some questions 171</p>
<p>9: Advertising is Not Communication 173</p>
<p>The big question 175</p>
<p>Advertising as communication 177</p>
<p>What s wrong with the communication model? 180</p>
<p>Advertising and politics 181</p>
<p>No market for messages 182</p>
<p>Other effects of advertising explained 184</p>
<p>Implications for advertising 185</p>
<p>Advertising a promotion can be an intervention 186</p>
<p>What advertising can learn from PR 188</p>
<p>The only good ad is an intervention 189</p>
<p>The end of specialisms 190</p>
<p>Conclusions 193</p>
<p>Some questions 193</p>
<p>10: The Shared Enterprise Putting purpose ideas at the Heart of Business 195</p>
<p>Changing the world 197</p>
<p>Pornography for the Creative Age employee 199</p>
<p>What this costs business 200</p>
<p>A sense of purpose at the heart of the company 203</p>
<p>(not to be confused with) Mission statement mania 207</p>
<p>Purpose–ideas and humans as herd animals 208</p>
<p>Back in the Apple hot seat again 209</p>
<p>Purpose–ideas and self–alignment 210</p>
<p>Conclusions 211</p>
<p>Some questions 212</p>
<p>11: A Place You Want to Work in 213</p>
<p>A purpose–idea is not enough 215</p>
<p>Something for everyone 216</p>
<p>Fulfilment and flow 218</p>
<p>Flow and the workplace 220</p>
<p>It is what we do 223</p>
<p>Enter the accelerator manager 224</p>
<p>Thinking–by–doing 227</p>
<p>A new model 228</p>
<p>Why don t we do the do more often? 229</p>
<p>Choose your weapon to avoid the doing 230</p>
<p>Who needs complete control? 231</p>
<p>Conclusions 232</p>
<p>Some questions 232</p>
<p>12: Us Together 233</p>
<p>Architecture as intervention 235</p>
<p>So what is a company? 236</p>
<p>The company anthill 238</p>
<p>Basic programming in the machine company 239</p>
<p>And in the Creative Age company? 240</p>
<p>The value of networks 241</p>
<p>Making this useful 245</p>
<p>I m special, me 246</p>
<p>Mr Blandings and his dream house 247</p>
<p>Advertising s 80:20 rule 248</p>
<p>What are we to do with the ad agency? 252</p>
<p>The new 80:20 rule 253</p>
<p>The network company 254</p>
<p>Our house 255</p>
<p>Opening up our house 255</p>
<p>Mutuality 256</p>
<p>Ideas, ideas, ideas (again) 256</p>
<p>Conclusions 257</p>
<p>Some questions 257</p>
<p>Postscript 258</p>
<p>All changed utterly 258</p>
<p>The most powerful force on the planet 259</p>
<p>A fresh start 259</p>
<p>Endnotes 261</p>
<p>Index 272</p>