Why this blog?

A friend and I were having a debate on whether or not there was such a thing as a digital planner. Did being a good offline account planner automatically mean you could be a good digital one? What does it take? Since I love my job and the power it gives me to be a consumer champion I've decided to embark on a journey to prove that a 'traditional planner' can embrace the digital world.

Realising that I am going to be pulling from several sources who know what they are talking about and that there must be other planners out there in my shoes, I thought it would be worth blogging what I find. At the very least it's a good place to pull together everything for me. Without this I have a strange feeling that I will be as redundant as the banker who said 'yes buying another bank's bad debt is a really good idea'; wish me luck.

Monday, 5 July 2010

John Lewis' v Robinsons' Britain

It's taken me a while to write this post as it's on the difficult subject of diversity in marketing. Being  half Malaysian and half Guyanese you would have thought I would do this freely but living in the melting pot that is London, I've never had to consciously contemplate it.

For me the Britain I know is personified by the Robinsons Wimbledon ad. The whole spectrum of our society rooting for the same thing, no matter how far fetched the possibility of a British Champion. A collective ideal we can all be part of.



In comparison, the John Lewis ad which has gained so much notoriety leaves me out in the cold. It uses a White, middle class ideal-family life, from cradle to grave to illustrate the store's unbroken commitment to its customer. Unfortunately the ad's lack of diversity portrays a brand that is uninterested in engaging any other walk of British life.



I respect John Lewis for its decency in pricing and love it because it's an institution I felt safe with and relied upon. I saw John Lewis as the mum to B&Q's DIY dad.

Perhaps that's why I was so disappointed with the ad. I thought I was part of the John Lewis family, but now I am left wondering.

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