Mary Queen of the High Street is not really about retail or the high street. It’s about politics. It’s about economic policy. It’s about local government planning. It’s about the kind of place we want to live.

Sure, Mary knows a thing or two about presentation, and her retail savvy is indispensable to making the programme watchable. But what struck me is that her answer to making the Roman Road commercial once again – listening to local residents association, getting the council bureaucracy to dance to their tune, trusting in the creativity of local people – amounts to a vindication of what David Cameron’s Big Society could do if properly understood and energetically executed.

Cameron and Portas agree on this: people do care about where they live, and they’re willing to get involved. Give them a say through voluntary associations, and influence over where community money is spent, and things improve – individual creativity and initiative is unleashed, and local needs are met. Everybody wins. And this episode proves it.

What the programme shows is that local business can thrive or die as much at the hand of local government policy as it does through its own efforts. Local business depends on letting people have their say, not through the moribund and unresponsive channels of local government, but through the vital and energetic efforts of local association and private endeavour. If you’re a fan of political philosophy, it’s Burke’s ‘little platoons’ (people associating freely to get something done) in action where it’s needed most, in one the country’s most deprived boroughs.

You wonder if Tower Hamlets council would have done anything had it not been for the cameras. It takes over 20 emails and calls to get through to Andy from the Council, and then he protests that his diary is too busy – doing what, you wonder? It’s telling that Andy at first turns up his nose at the idea of a fry-up stall at the entrance to the market – it’s contrary to council’s healthy eating policy. Little does he consider that his policy is contrary to the health of the Roman Road. And he’s just plain wrong in any case – the food stalls that spring up from Portas’ efforts are as varied and healthy as he could have wished for.

So what are the lessons for business? Well, in some ways it’s nothing new: listen to your customer. What are their needs? What are their tastes? But what’s novel is that you don’t need to spend crazy money on market research – focus groups, quant surveys, ethnographic studies – to gain this insight. Simply take part in the relevant associations that spring up on their own. Go to a meeting of the local resident’s council. Listen to what they want. Be active on their behalf. Harness the power of these ‘little platoons’. There’s a deep well of goodwill, initiative and experience to be drunk from, for free, and Portas does it well.

“Just because she’s Mary Portas, doesn’t mean she’s right,” says one of the veteran stallholders. Well, she might not be wholly right, but at least she knows who normally is: the sum demands and views of local people. Not the market. Not the government. She knows the answer is invariably more confidence in people, and confidence in what people can do when they associate freely, whether it’s in business or in real life. We’re at risk at times of thinking that the only ‘associations’ that matter, or have the power to do anything, are either business or government.  Let business alone have its way, and the local communities we’ll end up with will be Tesco superstores with Giraffe restaurants attached in out of town strip malls. Let local government have too much say, and you get the lacklustre energy and failing businesses of the old Roman Road. But listen to society at large through local and voluntary associations – call it ‘Big Society’ if you really must – and it’s surprising what springs up: vibrant places that people actually want to live in.

Ed Woodcock, Strategy Director

I have a confession to make: I’m not particularly interested in formal menswear. So yesterday I was surprised to find myself staring longingly into the window of the Brooks Brothers flagship store on Regent Street.

The theme of the display was The Great Gatsby, in anticipation of the release of Baz Luhrmann’s visually spectacular film adaptation.

Brooks Brothers helped create the costumes for the film’s male stars, and the American label has released the limited edition Gatsby Collection based on its creations for the movie.

So why did I notice these suits, which I would normally have passed without a second glance? What did the window display have that made it stand out?

It had a story.

Interest declared: I’m a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original novel (if you haven’t read it, you should, especially this beautiful Penguin hardback edition). But anyone who’s seen the trailer will get a feel for the story: we’re in prosperous Long Island in the roaring ‘20s; a world of hazy summer parties, ice cold champagne cocktails, passionate affairs and terrible secrets.

When I saw the display – with its immaculate suits, art deco typography and fresh flower bouquets – I immediately found myself thinking about this fictional world, and feeling the same kind of intrigue and excitement I felt when reading the book.

As a fragment of the Brooks Brothers brand (more on brand fragments here), the window display performed exceptionally well because:

1. It worked in its own right

as an attractive and impactful piece of retail design

2. It linked back to something bigger

the story of The Great Gatsby, and all of the moods, imagery and emotions which that story evokes

It just goes to show that a great story has the power to imbue a product with a rich tapestry of associations. It’s these associations, with their emotional potency, that do the hard work of stimulating desire and changing consumer behaviour.

Of course, it helps a bit if the story you’re using was written by one of the finest novelists in American history

All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.

– F. Scott Fitzgerald

Warner Leisure Hotels has announced the appointment of Aesop to create a brand identity to be communicated across all its platforms, following a two round pitch process.

Aesop will now create a brand identity and communication idea that can be applied across multiple platforms, from website to TV advertising and everything in between.

Mat Finch, Warner head of sales and commercial, said: “We chose Aesop to capture the essence of our brand and really bring it to life because their approach was highly creative and thoughtful – the team really understood us and our business challenges.”

After the brand identity is created, Aesop will create a full suite of marketing materials for the hotel brand.

Aesop executive creative director Martin Grimer said: “Warner is a really exciting client to work with. It is a great brand and a really interesting marketplace. We’re talking about – and will be talking to – people who grew up in the 50s and 60s at a time of huge social upheaval; in effect they are the first generation of young-minded older people and finding stories to engage them is a fabulous challenge. We can’t wait to get cracking.”

Warner Leisure Hotels specialises in holidays for grown-ups.

I’m not normally one for the more left-field of art exhibitions, but last year’s show at the Hayward Gallery, Invisible: Art About the Unseen 1957-2012, made me think about how the subconscious parts of our brains make connections that influence and even determine what we value and appreciate, and as a result how we make choices.

The exhibition exhibited nothing. Literally. It featured 50 invisible works produced over the past 55 years: from Andy Warhol’s empty plinth imprinted with the aura of his celebrity, to Tom Friedman’s ‘Untitled (A Curse)’ is an area 11” above a vacant plinth that he had cursed by a witch.

With all the emphasis on invisibility, there was a clear cognitive bias towards spotting what’s visible. Each installation revealed its story without the object obstructing the view.  Within cognitive neuroscience, narrative is strongly recognised as the organising principle of memory. As well as stimulating the release of endorphins;  stories are ultimately easier to remember. Walking around that gallery involved a two-way engagement with each exhibition akin to that utilised by the most successful consumer brands.

Behavioral psychology has proven that our brains have evolved to seek out stories to make what we see and experience understood. Story then is our central learning and reference system in decision-making.

There is also a danger in brands telling stories that don’t seem genuine, when the brand experience is counter to the story being told, or if there is too much information missing. We sense it and require more processing and conscious involvement to create action, sometimes creating negative perceptions. Unlike invisible art, which happily exists in the realms of personal interpretation, brands cannot afford that risk.

Take the success of P&G’s ‘Thank you mum’ TV campaign during the Olympics. No P&G product is ever shown, but the emotional connection forged by telling stories about the individual athletes, and the support they are given by their mothers, is arguably more powerful than it might have been were the products visible throughout.

Just as the gallery-goer has to use their imagination to piece together a story, so the consumer has to use their imagination to fill in the gaps.  Absence can be as important as presence.  If you get people emotionally invested in what you’re communicating, it can ultimately affect purchasing choice.

I paid £8 to see nothing at The Hayward. The moral? Brands with rich stories are able to charge a little extra.

Click here for our Spotify playlist

Hurts – Wonderful Life

Copacabana – Barry Manilow

Tell Laura I Love Her –Ray Peterson

Eleanor Rigby – The Beatles

Escape (Pina Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes

Pedro Navaja – Ruben Blades

Translation here: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/pedro-navaja-pedro-navaja.html

Regulate – Warren G

She Said – Plan B

Love Rain – Jill Scott ft Mos Def

Machete – DJ Hazard (NSFW)

Where Are We Now? – David Bowie

Fast Car ­– Tracy Chapman

The A Team – Ed Sheeran.

All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem

Homecoming – Kanye West

What I’ve Done – Linkin Park

Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed

Bat Out Of Hell – Meatloaf

Hurricane – Bob Dylan

It doesn’t matter if you’re penning a poem or filling out a feedback form, sometimes writing can be damned difficult. Here are some tips that might make it easier.

1. Free write.

To get started, write anything. A shopping list, a story about a grumpy courgette, a description of how you think humans will travel around in the year 2645 or an introspective analysis of why you’re finding it hard to start writing. Anything to get your ink flowing, your mind active and the paralysing potential of a blank page out of your way.

2. Write everything.

When you’re drafting something, make sure you get all your thoughts down. Don’t agonise about including a certain sentence. Chuck it in. It’s much easier to cast a critical eye later, when you can better assess your work in a broader context.

3. Write in threes.

If you’re trying to construct an argument, explain a point-of-view or even plot a story, it helps to reduce your narrative down to its most basic elements. Limit yourself to three word sentences to summarise what you’re trying to say.

Tortoise races hare. Hare speeds off. Victory seems certain. Confident hare snoozes. Persistent tortoise overtakes. Lazy hare loses.

If you can do this, it’s likely that your readers will find your writing easy to follow. If you can’t, it’s time to take a step back and re-think what you’re trying to say.

4. Write the opposite.

Trying to persuade your reader to do something? On another piece of paper, persuade them – with great relish and plenty of evidence – why they shouldn’t. This can help you think about the issue laterally, and offer up a new way in to the problem. It can also be refreshingly cathartic.

5. Leave it.

If you’re really struggling with a piece of writing, put it down. Start something else. When you return to it (preferably after some time away, ideally when you’ve forgotten about it completely) problems will be blindingly obvious and solutions will come much more easily.

6. Read.

Read everything. Novels. Poetry. Adverts. Small print. Packaging. Maps. Screenplays. Utility bills. Graffiti. Ask yourself: do I like it? Why or why not? Is it effective? How come? Can you recognise any techniques that the writer has employed to improve his or her work? And, most importantly, can you apply this to your own writing?

Many thanks to Will Awdry and the D&AD Writing for Advertising Workout, from which I nicked some of these tips.

Without fail I receive a diary every Christmas. Last Christmas I got four. And I’ve used precisely none. Those day-to-a-page ones particularly fill me with dread; is anyone that interesting or self-interested enough to write that much about themselves?

But then last week I learnt something thanks to a performance for National Storytelling Week: it’s not always the things you do that matter, but the way you live through the everyday – making sense of the crap, rather than the constant pursuit of happiness.

I have Ab Solomon’s life story to thank for this pearl of wisdom as told through his autobiographical drawings.

Every week Ab would take out what he needed from his wage packet, scribble a little drawing on it and hand it to his wife. But these little scribbles were beautiful and gave us the audience an insight into the life of an ordinary Jewish family in wartime Britain.

It was his weekly ritual and way of talking to his wife, and as an audience we followed the journey of his life through money troubles, kids and domestic fall outs. One of my favourite illustrations showed the couple in bed together, a war breaking out between them while a real war was happening all around them. His version of everyday life was so interesting, because things that were ironic then are just as funny today.

At the beginning of the performance the presenter, Danny Braverman, showed the audience the shoebox that contained Ab’s history in the form of illustrations. At the end of the performance the scale of Ab’s life story was revealed. Danny went backstage and started bringing out hundreds of shoeboxes. Ab couldn’t bear to let go of his illustrations; they were his memories and those wage packets kept them alive for him when he got old.

Without even really meaning to, many of us today regularly record our lives through social media. Photos and tweets can tell a story, but you wonder whether modern electronic means will ever be as meaningful as Ab’s scribbles. Maybe someday someone will scroll through my Facebook timeline and see the story of my life told in a similar, although perhaps less crafted way. Or maybe I should make more of an effort to keep a diary, learning from Ab that even everyday memories will be treasured in the future.

An embarrassing thing happened to me the other day. Not horrible, but enough for me to face-palm. After dragging my boyfriend out to the cinema (during Match of the Day even), my Christmas vouchers were rejected at the box office. Why? Wrong cinema. Doh!

But then I thought: is it such a hard mistake to make? Am I the first to do this?

What differentiates the major multiplex cinemas? Range of films, snacks, shocking prices, special offers? Not really. Would you even know which cinema you were in if the Vue/Cineworld/Odeon sign disappeared from over the door? I’d find it really hard.

While trying to understand the essence of the different companies, I found that they missed out one important factor in the cinema equation – the audience. Online, the major players talk a lot about revenue, number of screens, “innovative and differentially priced offers, varying experiential benefits and the latest technology”, oh, exciting. Where’s the passion? And what about people? These companies would really benefit from looking at the customer journey, and enhancing it to encourage a brand loyalty.

Compare cinema brands to two successful food industry brands: Pizza Express and Starbucks. Is it just their super tasty products that make them stand out? I don’t think so. In both instances, they have a great brand mission.

Pizza Express expresses itself: “What floats our boat? Four simple things. Beautiful music. Stunning design. Unique experiences. Exceptional food. To us, these are special. Always have been. Always will. It’s just who we are.” Nice. Succinct, passionate without being too quattro fromaggi.

And Starbucks? “Our mission to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, one neighbourhood at a time.” Heavy, but ambitious and really focussed on the customer and potential customer. The multiplex cinemas could learn how to put their audiences first from successful international brands like these.

When a new Starbucks opens, it will never look like any other Starbucks because “we believe a coffeehouse should be a place to find connection. We believe it should fit seamlessly within its neighbourhood.” (Well, they should in theory…) Could this theory be applied to cinemas? Cinemas have long been part of the British high street, why not reflect that relationship? With a sprinkle of magic, of course. Or conversely, going to the cinema should be like entering a nearly fictional world, a storyverse. Cinema is about escapism, in ultimate comfort. After all, a trip to the cinema should be a rich experience, a break from reality. Alfred Hitchcock said “For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.”

Like everyone at Aesop, I love stories. I love going to the cinema. I love the big screen, watching something with a room of strangers, sharing the same emotions. I’m happy to pay for those parts of the experience. But the journey from box office to the main event leaves me disheartened. Shouldn’t this time be more build-up than let down? Where’s the filmic magic? And can we bring it back?

Best Marketing Campaign Award of 2012 caps brilliant year for brand storytelling experts

Aesop, the brand storytelling agency, has just won Best Marketing Campaign in the FoodBev Awards for its brand film for The Glenlivet, which the judges described as “very impressive…helping to convey a feeling of luxury, heritage and narrative” “imaginative and engaging” and “very well executed”.

The win tops off a great year for the start-up, which has won over £1m in new business, created acclaimed work for a wide range of clients and attracted top talent.

Aesop has won significant projects this year for Boeing, HSBC, Sainsbury’s, Kellogg’s, Heineken and Ovo Energy, in addition to crafting work for niche brands to multi-nationals, such as fashion brand Project D London and craft beer LittlePod, Ribena Plus, GSK’s biggest drinks launch in 20 years, and the world’s second biggest selling single malt, The Glenlivet.

Ex-Iris board director Paul Bentley has been brought in to lead client service, which has made four new hires in 2012.

Aesop chief executive Roger Hart comments: “Winning an award for The Glenlivet is a great way to wind up the year. People said we were crazy to launch an agency in the teeth of recession – particularly an agency that didn’t fit into one particular box – but we’ve had a really exciting year producing work across brand strategy, advertising, experiential, activation, internal communications, design, packaging and sales promotion. Can’t wait to see what 2013 brings.”

The new ad campaign, which is designed to engage consumers through witty copy and bold art direction to trigger brand recognition in store, will run in mass circulation lifestyle, women’s weeklies and monthlies and food magazines. Titles include Hello, Closer, The Sunday Times magazine, Red, Olive and Delicious.

GreenVale Farm Fresh is packaged in a revolutionary bag that keeps its potatoes in top condition, unlike plastic bags, which result in sweaty spuds. The ads play off this attribute with lines such as “Our tasty potatoes last longer in the sack. Stop smiling, we know what you’re thinking.” And “To make our potatoes last longer we use a preservative. It’s called paper.”

Aesop executive creative director Martin Grimer comments “Busy mums don’t generally spend a lot of time thinking about potatoes – it’s a staple product that tends to be bought on autopilot. Our campaign gives us license to connect with them on an amusingly honest level that will get them to notice GreenVale in the supermarket.”