On Apple, Acast, Amazon, Deezer, Spotify and Strand – and wherever you get your podcasts.
The Fifth Phase, with Dr Mark Powell
Mark Powell PhD delivers a new take on the possibilities of AI, described in terms of opportunity and new ways of thinking. He argues that business spends too much time collecting and storing data, wasting money on data lakes in which many IT departments have drowned without being able to deliver useful insights to business…
Let It Go, with Dame Stephanie Shirley, CH
Dame Stephanie Shirley CH speaks about her life lessons, from child refugee to $3 billion IT entrepreneur to philanthropist – an amazing and extraordinary story told in her book Let it Go. An ardent venture philanthropist with an unrelenting energy for creating positive change, she arrived in England as an unaccompanied child refugee at the…
21st Century Business Icons, with Sally Percy
Author and leadership specialist Sally Percy talks about the lessons from very public business leaders such as Jeff Bezos to the secretive Satoshi Nakamoto. Sally writes about business, finance, banking, treasury and accountancy, and edits Edge, the official magazine of the Institute of Leadership & Management. Does leadership charisma, quality, or ability exist, or is…
The Social Brain, with Tracey Camilleri
Author and thought-leader Tracey Camilleri comments on her amazing book The Social Brain – The Psychology of Successful Groups. In The Social Brain leading experts from the worlds of evolutionary psychology and business management come together to offer a primer on great team working. They explain what size groups work and how to shape them…
Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy
On The Strand Review of Books, Author Phil Barden explains the behavioural science techniques that can be so valuable in sales and marketing campaigns. Decoded delivers a practical framework and guidelines for applying science to the marketing practices you use every day. As a marketing professional, you can look to this book for behavioural knowledge,…
Do influencers have a role in B2B marketing?
Briefly, the answer is Yes. Yesterday, Gordon Glenister spoke at a Strand breakfast (Claridge’s Hotel, London), asking “Do influencers have a role in B2B marketing?” Not all influencers have millions of followers. In specialized and B2B markets, a highly valuable influencer may attract a relatively small but intensely loyal following. Your influencer could be a…
B2B is really P2P, with Frank Somma
This week I was lucky enough to interview the charming, amazing Frank Somma about his outstanding book B2B is really P2P – how to win with high touch in a high-tech world. Selling is an art and a science. This book brings you both! Joe Calloway, award-winning speaker, and author of A Category of One…
Mechanical dinosaurs
How will our children and grandchildren view the combustion engine? Even now, a diesel truck seems as old as a pony and trap; the rorty-snort of a petrol-powered muscle-car seems quaint, almost from another era. Mechanical dinosaurs. We’re better off without them.
Digital Branding: a step-by-step guide
Interview with author Daniel Rowles for The Strand Review of Books. Author Daniel Rowles talks with conviction based on insight about the key elements in his book Digital Branding: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Strategy, Tactics, Tools and Measurement. Drawing together each of the core marketing avenues such as content marketing, social media, search engine…
Data and Analytics Strategy for Business
Interview with author Simon Asplen-Taylor on The Strand Review of Books Simon Asplen-Taylor talks about his book Data and Analytics Strategy for Business: Unlock Data Assets and Increase Innovation with a Results-Driven Data Strategy. Excellent insights in just ten minutes from an authoritative, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic speaker. The big question: is it worth reading? Buy…
The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks
Interview with author Joe Federer on The Strand Review of Books Author Joe Federer talks about the high points and themes of his book The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks. Great insights in just ten minutes into how B2B marketers can make social media work effectively. The big question: is it worth reading? Buy the…
Account-Based Marketing
Interview with author Jessica Fewless for The Strand Review of Books Author Jessica Fewless talks energetically about her book Account-Based Marketing: How to Target and Engage Companies That Will Grow Your Revenue. If you’d like the skinny on ABM in less than ten minutes, listen to Jessica’s sharp observations. The big question: is it worth…
What makes writing readable?
You may have come across software solutions that score text for readability. Often, the scores are based on the Flesch-Kincaid (F-K) system. Yet at an F-K of 65.88, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix rates close to Moby Dick at 57.9, which seems peculiar. Whatever happened to engagement, emotion, peril, revelation, surprise…? In…
What’s happening with ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a classic case of garbage-in-garbage-out. For one client, we trialled ChatGPT to write blog posts, which produced well-phrased outpourings of a lunatic. In that example, we asked ChatGPT to write posts based on prompts concerning industrial chemistry. But ChatGPT is not an expert; it generates content based on its training model’s sources, regardless…
How do you build a space rocket?
Word by word. Toby Chapman-Dawe [email protected]
Astrologers and Financial Pundits – are they related?
Astrologers and financial pundits use strikingly similar language. Your fortunes may soar, but storm clouds may be lurking. Jus’ sayin.’ Toby Chapman-Dawe <[email protected]>
ChatGPT is conscious
Consciousness appears to be the experience of an internal dialogue. As I think about what to write, my unspoken voice-in-my-head suggests the next thoughts; as I taste pineapple, it provokes a (very personal) revulsion. You, of course, do not hear my internal voice, or know why I find pineapple revolting. You take it on trust…
Santa’s favourite chemical: pyrogallol
C6H3 HO HO HO.
Quick intro, if I may…
Quick intro: Strand helps B2B technology companies sell the business benefits of their solutions, principally by writing case studies and thought leadership papers. “When I brief Strand, I have total confidence that the final job will be done exactly as we want. I find your service invaluable and unique, and see Strand as an extension…
The Nike swoosh is nothing without “Just Do It”
Let’s face it, you’re not reading this because of the typeface. You’re reading this because the words might convey a useful thought. How to get free stuff. How to make money. Find a partner. Dump a partner. Whatever. Many marketing managers start by looking for design, marketing, or branding agencies. Sooner or later, they discover…
If you hide how hard you work, people think you do not work hard
In March 2019 (aaaages ago), Harvard Business Review published an article on operational transparency (https://hbr.org/2019/03/operational-transparency). The summary is: If you hide how hard you work, people think you do not work hard. Yet in sales and marketing materials we constantly strive to make things look and sound easy. How many times do we say “smooth deployment” and “streamlined…
Marketing barometer 2022
Here’s a marketing stat that might be of interest to you: year-to-date, Strand has already handled around 10% more writing and design projects than in 2021. In fact, the 2022 year-end project numbers might be 15% higher than last year – though not necessarily more budget! Perhaps the figures above provide you with a barometer…
AI or Security?
For some time, a sure-fire way to gain media attention has been to write about Artificial Intelligence. No matter how obscure or tenuous the connection, AI was marketing pixie-dust, to be sprinkled liberally on blog posts, white papers, and solution briefs. However, here at Strand we think security may be emerging as the new hot…
Information security
Strand recently reviewed and renewed its ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems certification. If you would like to know more, please drop me a line. Toby Chapman-Dawe [email protected]
White Papers
Outside the technology bubble, the term “white paper” means a government policy document that sets out proposals for legislation. In the enterprise technology sector, “white paper” means a long-form (2,500 words or so) piece that describes an industry or marketplace, and its likely future. Strand is writing waaaaay more white papers than in the past…
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.” — King Charles III
Emotion vs Cold, Hard, Cash
The latest advertising, sales and marketing techniques borrow heavily from the B2C marketplace: emotional engagement and impact. For example, knowing that a logistics management solution helps to deliver humanitarian aid will engage potential buyers more deeply than ROI. But now you have their attention, what criteria will buyers use to assess the solution? My instinct…
John Donne
Read this book! Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, by K. Rundell. Toby Chapman-Dawe [email protected]
Summer: the perfect opportunity to relax, refresh and renew
…and to create new content for September onwards, such as eBooks, white papers, videos, and written case studies. Strand offers: Fixed fees per project No limits on amendments No retainer, no monthly fees Not-happy no-fee guarantee “When I brief Strand, I have total confidence that the final job will be done exactly as we want….
Best-practice mailshot
One of the most effective – in terms of response – mailshots from Strand… announced a change of phone number. No sales message, no Carefully Crafted Content™, just a new phone number. Toby Chapman-Dawe [email protected]
Strand offers…
In brief, Strand offers case-study writing and related editorial services, specifically and exclusively for enterprise technology companies. We help explain the business benefits of sophisticated technologies to your prospect customers, by writing your case studies, white papers, blog posts and more. Who at your company would find Strand’s content-writing capabilities useful? Send them an email…
Testimonial
Here’s what one client thinks of Strand’s services: “When I brief Strand, I have total confidence that the final job will be done exactly as we want. I find your service invaluable and unique, and see Strand as an extension of the team, not a supplier. I am really happy to recommend Strand to any…
Yes It Could
My favourite technology test is whether the same outcome could be achieved by other means. If the answer is “Yes It Could,” then the real benefit has nothing to do with technology, but the outcome that the solution delivers. And the answer, by the way, is *always* “Yes It Could.” Toby Chapman-Dawe [email protected]
It’s not about the technology
Yeeeeears ago, a Large Financial Institution launched web-based loan application solution. Punters entered their application details, which were processed by the bank’s back-end system and the results returned two hours later. Usually the in-branch paper-based process took weeks to return an answer. The slight hitch was that in those days nobody could get the web…
Combined written/video projects
As the year accelerates away from us, you may be interested to hear about the growth of combined video and written case study projects. In essence, the idea is to promote the business benefits of your solutions by asking your customers to go on-camera. We have found that today’s customers are very comfortable with being…
Ukraine
All our flags are Ukranian. To know the outcome, look no further than The Art Of War, by Niccolò Machiavelli.
Feed the Marketo-Mailchimp machine
Marketo, Mailchimp and the many, many similar solutions have transformed marketing. Sophisticated automation now powers the marketing machines of almost every large enterprise. Consequently, the appetite for compelling reasons-to-write has expanded, almost beyond comprehension. Some email nurture campaigns contain thirty steps, each with possible downloads or story hooks or new animations and images. The demand…
Strand moves
Strand has moved office, from 165 The Broadway SW19 1NE to 165 The Broadway SW19 1NE – two floors up!