Catching-up with some great articles

After coming back from Tanzania, I have been busier than expected, especially since last week I started a new and very exciting role as a senior strategist with M&C Saatchi, here in London! I will be working in their Central Strategy Unit on some exciting clients with great opportunities. I'm thrilled to work with a fully integrated agency where I can help organizations position, innovate and evolve with their purpose at the heart.


In addition to embarking on an new and amazing opportunity, I have plenty of great articles to read and catch-up on after being away for a month. So this week, rather than a post from me, I thought I would share some of the articles I have come across that have interested and/or inspired me... Enjoy:


I went to India and all I got was this lousy epiphany 
(Wolff Olins Blog)
I really like what Nick Keppel Palmer is writing about these days in terms of brand collaboration and finding partners that share your values and/or purpose to deliver meaningful solutions to society, which, in turn, makes your brand more relevant to people's lives.  This is a great piece about if brands want to shape the way we live, they need to be fundamentally collaborative, partnering with any player who shares a similar ambition.


Top ten ways CEO's must change to lead in the social business marketplace
This is a great post on how business leaders need to change their thinking about the organization's structure, services provided to consumers and expectations on employees, to become a more socially aware organization. I think this is particularly important considering how transparency is becoming a business imperative and social responsibility is becoming a key selection criteria when consumers are choosing a brand. 


LVMH opens heritage sites to public, reasserts roots in craftsmanship
(PSFK)
I thought this was a very interesting initiative by LVMH, as it creates a wonderful reason to believe in their dedication to craftsmanship, but it also provides an experience for people to delve into the life of the various LVMH brands and immerse yourself in the brand essence continuing the brand story.  This actually follows quite closely to a post I put together prior to departing to TZ - Meaningful Luxury Brands.


The Trouble with Context
(SlideShare)
This is a great presentation on what's going on with mobile technology and its influence on behaviour. More importantly, it emphasises that access to the web anywhere is becoming the commonplace.  It's now fully integrated into our daily lives that we don't consciously think "I'm going online right now" when we access information on the web from one or our many mobile devices.


in.gredients
This is a cool company I came across this week. It's a grocery store that is package-free.  Living in the UK, where I'm always amazed at the amount of packaging is used here, I think this is a great new grocery concept. I always get excited when I find brands that create new business concepts as a result of their meaningful brand purpose.


And here's a little something fun that always makes me smile: