We are so much smarter than the average business or marketer gives us credit for. We are also so much smarter than a brand or segmentation analysis.People know.They know where a business “is” and whether it should be trusted.

There are many serious issues facing us as a world. Brands and their marketing have a big responsibility to contribute solutions. Marketing departments are, or should be, at the heart of understanding the external, human aspects of a business in the context of the market. Marketing teams, whether they know it or not, use the tools of the psychologist to change perceptions and behaviours. Fun is a powerful tool for creating trustful human relationships.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.What we have witnessed over the past few days with the closure of the News Of The World and the fast creep of the flames to other newspapers is proof that this aphorism is true.And let's be clear despite the best efforts of the Murdochs' to stem the blood loss what we are witnessing is a fundamental reshaping of the balance of power in the British media.

My presentation from an away day for the Marketing team at Ernst & Young. Slidecast with slides and audio.

What does a ceiling in Starbucks tell us about the experience they deliver? Brands are planned and developed centrally but they are always experienced locally. Bridging that gap is the challenge and yesterday in Starbucks a ceiling showed how difficult this can be.

I contributed to this thoughtful essay by Tony Langham CEO of Lansons Communications. In this essay Tony argues that the days of standalone corporate PR departments may be numbered, but their distinct function will remain essential even within companies' merged communications and marketing operations.

Video showing a great example of Innocent is using its brand and marketing for social good and driving a powerful values led connection with people as well as driving shelf presence and standout.

I contributed an interview to an article published by Marketing Week on Marketing Moving Beyond the Boardroom. There are many challenges for marketing how we respond to these will determine whether marketing prospers.

My from the 3rd CMO Conference in Zurich on the challenges for marketing as we move from shareholders to stakeholders. The pressures to change the marketing model are huge and this is both a threat and an opportunity for marketing.

Vodafone have got rid of the CMO position replacing it with a Chief Commercial Officer. Is this the start of a trend or just a one off and what does it mean for the Vodafone brand and marketing in general?

A great example of loyalty communications from Virgin Media with their Wow you're amazing email and web animation.

My presentation at the 3rd Annual CMO Conference in Zurich later this month will be on - Leadership in Marketing: from shareholder value to stakeholder value

Will Metro Bank rise to challenge the UK retail banking incumbents? They certainly have the right pedigree and are challenging the status quo by doing things differently and apparently the inert UK customer is responding positively.

What is the Future of Marketing? Marketing is on a collision course with the future. Our current marketing paradigm is inextricably linked to the driving of consumption and the creation of habits of consumption. Economic growth has been the single minded outcome upon which we have built our brands, our marketing models and our rasion d'etre. But unabated growth cannot continue. My hunch is that the future of marketing is not merely, or even, a "more consumer focused / digital / growth oriented / sustainable" (delete as appropriate) future but a complete reversal of the current paradigm.

It's just been confirmed that I'm going to speak at the 3rd European Chief Marketing Officers Conference in Zurich on the 30th September.I attended last year and you can read my thoughts here.It's a really great conference and this year the headline act is Jim Stengel who was CMO for Procter & Gamble. I remember meeting Jim once whilst I was at P&G (although he won't remember me!)I'm going to speak on re-thinking marketing as a driver of humanity in business. If you've got any ideas on this then please drop me a line!

Welcome to my new site and the integrated RE:Thinking Marketing & Brands blog. After many late nights its ready. Simpler, easier to use and more content rich. Sign up to the RSS or email feed. Thanks for reading. Justin

I read with interest Mark Choueke’s call for Marketing Leadership in this week’s Marketing Week. Mark and I have discussed this topic before and I am delighted that he is taking up a theme with which I have been concerned for a long time. However I would push even further than Mark suggests.I believe the future of marketing can be at the centre of a new approach to business that is built on balanced positive human outcomes. “Putting the human” back into business is where the leadership businesses, brands and marketers of the future will win.

I'm a Natwest customer of long standing, around 30 years in fact, ever since I took out my first bank account. Together with their stable mate, RBS, they have launched to much fanfare of posters and advertising their "Customer Charter - 14 commitments to make them Britain's most helpful bank". Yesterday in a comedy of errors I spent 25 minutes in a Natwest branch in London. So let's see whether my experience and those of my fellow customers matches up to their commitments:

This morning MBNA sent me a mailer to extol the virtues of their card proclaiming:"We're changing your credit card to offer even better value"How are they doing this? They are changing my terms so that payments pay of the highest interest rate balance first.

Yesterday I followed Lord Currie's keynote speech at the Reputation in Financial Services Conference 2010, in London, with some reflections on Trust in Financial Services.