One of my favourite quotes from the great Jeremy Bullmore goes as follows: “People build brands the way birds build nests. Through the straws and scraps they chance upon.” It’s a wonderful summation of how it’s people who build brands – and why all channels, all the straws and scraps have to work together, to fit together to build the whole.

Disclosure: I help asi with their annual conference and will be chairing a session at the 2020 virtual event

At the start of this year (on January 9^th) The Cog Blog came out with the traditional list of predictions for the year 2020 to come. Amongst these was the following: ‘Media runs on measurement. If the measurement is wrong, or not there, or not validated objectively then we’re all in trouble. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in for a nasty shock when they wake up to find that the ground beneath their feet has turned into a rather nasty, messy bog’.

The Cog Blog a couple of weeks ago contained some lessons I’ve learned over the years, illustrated with real-life examples. I asked the great Cog Blog reading population – an ever growing not to mention discerning group – to contribute to the follow-up.

That great cartoon-strip philosopher Charlie Brown once said: “I have been repeating the same mistakes in life for so long now I may as well call them traditions.” Had Charlie Brown ever grown up he may very well have enjoyed a successful career in advertising.

In the last few days, egta, the European Association of TV and Radio Sales Houses published a comprehensive report into advances in hybrid television audience measurement. I don’t pretend to have read it – it runs to 104 pages and is really a source document outlining the options available – but fortunately I know a man who has who assures me it is both comprehensive and useful.