Tim Malbon

Why the Best Business Decisions Are Made in Conversational Settings Paul Ferry and James Wood spent years talking shop as industry peers in pubs, so much so that they decided to launch their London-based brand and experience design studio ShopTalk together in 2017. Then, reality set in — they had never technically worked together. At their first client presentation, they shared a mutual thought: I really hope this other person is as good as I think he is. While they didn’t win that first project pitch, it went well enough for them to trust the other and continue on. Good thing, too, because over the past five years, they’ve doubled their team size and worked with clients such as Heinz, Coca-Cola owned Innocent, and Swiss electric car brand Piëch. Over the summer, Ferry and Wood took another leap to grow their business further. ShopTalk was acquired by Dutch digital agency group DEPT®, bolstering DEPT’s digital creative practice in Europe while opening up DEPT’s full service offering and global roster to ShopTalk. Here, Wood (creative director) and Ferry (director) share the key to a successful partnership, how they built and sold their company, and the importance of ‘talking shop’, i.e. why the biggest and best business decisions are made in the most casual and conversational settings: https://lnkd.in/eahVdh7A

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B2B media leaders: Build brands audiences can't ignore Our recent webinar focussed on how B2B editors can create market-leading brands. Business Information Practice Lead Andy Baker spoke to Editors of The Lawyer , Catrin Griffiths and the Health Service Journal, Alastair McLellan on how they have built market-leading brands. Find some of the key takeaways below 🔍 Know your audience: Craft content that resonates with each segment, not a generic mass. 🔍 Fuel subscriptions with innovation: Fresh ideas from your editors keep subscribers engaged. 🔍 Move incrementally: Gradually expand your offerings for a smooth transition. 🔍 Go digital-first (Plan Carefully): Ditch print for a streamlined, modern approach. 🔍 Empower your editors: Attract top talent with strong leadership & autonomy. Watch the full webinar in the comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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For this month's Problems Worth Solving podcast, I spoke to Rochelle Gold, Head of User Research and User-Centred Design at NHS England. She has been working quietly behind the scenes to build up a user centred focus across the NHS's digital work. We framed the discussion around how to make the digital side of the NHS more human. I loved this example that she shared when we were discussing the value of integrating research with technology investments: “One example I give is observing someone using a hospital system. They asked for a ‘print’ button on a screen, but by watching their behaviour, we realised the real issue wasn’t printing—it was integrating that information into another system. User research isn’t about what people say they need; it’s about understanding the outcomes they’re trying to achieve.” We also talked about how NHS England is tackling one of the biggest challenges in research—breaking down silos. They have over 130 user researchers now in their team and have developed an AI-powered tool to organise and surface insights across the organisation. “We want to allow anyone in the NHS to query what we already know about a topic. It’s transforming how we manage and share research knowledge.” We discussed the importance of collaboration between policy and service delivery and how transformative this was during the the pandemic, when teams from digital, policy, and operations came together under intense pressure. “The pandemic showed how collaboration could deliver faster, more effective solutions. That’s how we should be working across the NHS—not just in emergencies, but every day.” Rochelle talked about a her vision for the future where barriers to excluded groups are removed to ensure health services are truly inclusive. “If we address the barriers faced by the most excluded, we make services better for everyone.” Link to listen to the podcast in the first comment below. #servicedesign #ai #ucd #userresearch #nhs #healthtech #healthcare

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How do you sell creativity into multinational companies and get buy-in from the C-suite? Richard Brandon Taylor and Simon Preece speak to ADWEEK about harnessing the power of Neurodesign and mitigating subjectivity in matrix decision-making organisations. Read the full article here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gMDkBar6 #branddesign #neurodesign #creativity #csuite

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🎮 How does a small city like Dundee go from industrial roots to being a global gaming hotspot…? Find out in our latest #PlayableFutures article - in partnership with Ukie GamesIndustry.Biz and Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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Some thoughts from our head of UK Russ Wilson on the use of AI in B2B (and other research). Would love to get other feedback including from Evidenza if you'd care to comment :) Thanks Russ. #mrx #insight

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💥 We’re getting our sh*t together (pun fully intended!)💥 I am over the moon to share that we’ve WON the Innovate UK Creative Growth Grant! 🎉🥳 After 6 months of hearing "NO" on repeat: ❌ NO, we don’t fund consumer products. ❌ NO, it’s not “deep-tech” enough. ❌ NO, it’s not “life-science” enough. ❌ NO, you’re not Forbes Under Whatever and, oh yeah, you don’t have a p3nis. ❌ NO, you’re just a mum making products for other mums. ❌ NO, you don’t have enough traction. ❌ NO, you’re pre-sales, it’s too risky. ❌ NO, come back when you’ve got an MVP (spoiler alert: we will! 😉), and… ... 👻‘ghosted👻….. The good thing about rejection is it makes you better than ever before. Because of those “no’s”, we finally got the YES ✅ that matters. 🙌 And that's what counts! 💪 A MASSIVE shoutout to Asadullah Khan (more on him below) for his incredible work in helping us develop our Proof-of-Concept, which has been instrumental in securing funding 🎉 The grant will fund research that informs product development while proving that our game-changing, innovative product is exactly what parents need—and, crucially, something they’re willing to buy. 💥 🔍 We’re diving into some seriously cool stuff—working alongside the brilliant Isabel Lydall and Allyson Binnie from Curious to Clear Collective to kick-start ethnography studies. 👉 What’s that you ask? We’ll be listening to lots of parents (mums AND dads!) diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and with babies aged 3-30 months to understand their priorities on health, sustainability, convenience and affordability. We’ll be giving them an exclusive first look at our current design during focus groups and backing up insights with a significantly large quantitative study. We’ll learn exactly what functionality to prioritise in development, and—most importantly—why👏. Basically… we’re getting some SERIOUS traction🚀. And traction means more investment 💰. Stay tuned for what we’re working on because who doesn’t "love a good change®"? 😉 ===================================================== Before I wrap up: ✅ If you’re looking for a biomedical device design engineer with razor-sharp CAD skills and a can-do attitude, look this way. Asad interned with us over the last 6 months through our collaboration with the University of Southampton. His contributions have been nothing short of brilliant. Asad is a total gem 💎, and I highly recommend him. ✅ If you’re an expecting parent, or have a baby under 3 and want to be involved in the development of one of the most exciting products of our generation, DM me! ====================================================== Please like, comment, and share to celebrate this huge win with us AND boost visibility for Asad as he sets off on his next exciting adventure.🚀 #Onwards and #Upwards!!  🔥

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How the times are a-changing. 📰 "The news that John Lewis Partnership (including Waitrose & Partners) has created an in-house content agency was surprising - you mean they didn’t already have one? The best FMCG and retail brands think on their feet and make content that reacts to what’s going on. But it’s not just about being reactive. Having great in-house creative improves marketing across the board. The everyday beating of the drum becomes louder than their competitors. Who’s already doing this well? Moju, Nice Wine, Surreal, what3words - and Kraft Heinz, on the bigger brand side." Full article here: https://lnkd.in/d2KhqqGP

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A report on AI adoption in UK agencies shows what good looks like - and how agencies need to adapt in today's world. But I'm most interested in what people are using AI for today... Yes, all the things in the image below, "efficiency, ideation, content creation, creative collaboration..." but also measurement and optimisation, surely? Later in the report (link in comments) it does mention AI & Strategic Planning... "uncovering consumer trends, streamlining research process, identifying market opportunities, informing strategic decisions with data-driven insights"... it's that last one my colleagues and I spend most of our time in, but we're sitting inside WPP's media team, GroupM, not the creative side. I wonder if media agencies are streets ahead of creative? I doubt it, but this research suggests it might be. (Research by Jules Love & Emma Wharton Love)

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📢 Join us for the launch of Shape What Britain Buys 2025 🚀 Retail media is evolving faster than ever, with brands and agencies discovering fresh opportunities to engage consumers across the marketing funnel. From shifting consumer behaviours to groundbreaking omnichannel innovations, the landscape is brimming with potential. But what does 2025 hold? On Friday, 17th January, at 11am, we’re unveiling the trends that will shape the future of retail media in our exclusive Shape What Britain Buys 2025 webinar. With insights from over 23 million Tesco Clubcard households, we’ll share our #retailmedia well-informed big bets for 2025 and beyond—and how you can harness these trends to maximise your retail media strategy. 🎟️  Don’t miss your chance to stay ahead in 2025, secure your spot now: https://lnkd.in/eNvsSkv3 #RetailMedia #ShapeWhatBritainBuys #Webinar #Trends2025 #FutureofRetailMedia

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Following his engaging(!) talk at Acquia Engage last week, we're shining a spotlight this week on our Business Design Director, Paul Peet. “I head up our strategy studio; our team focuses on the strategic application of digital at a product level but also across a wider transformational lens. We take a business design mindset, which targets iterative value delivery closely aligned to our agile and user-centric design thinking culture. I also lead on some of our key communities of practice, including our planet and ethical benchmarking standards, as well as our product owner practice. My background is across product, programme and project management. I’ve been described as an agile evangelist, and have helped many organisations, both internally and externally, build agile teams and establish agile processes, governance and culture. I’ve worked with Unicef, RSPCA, Parkinson’s UK, Save the Children International and UK, and more, across the delivery of digital products and services, creating digital strategies and roadmaps, and the iterative rollout of organisational change and transformation. Before my agency/consultancy days, I was at Chatham House working across its Digital Experience (DXP) architectural changes including its new CRM, CMS and Preference Centre projects. Before all of that, I was a Digital Producer at Pearson Education, using Dreamweaver to support and manage custom CMS platforms. My mission at manifesto, quite simply, is to deliver products and services that make a difference to the lives of the audiences they are aimed at. As my background might suggest, I’m obsessed with value delivery. We have the privilege to work with clients who are trying to change people’s lives for the better. So my mission is to enable teams to deliver the experiences that will do this, and we demonstrate that success, and that return on investment, to illustrate the positive impact digital can have in our society. We can do this in an ethical, inclusive, and sustainable way, as flag bearers for showcasing a better way to do digital. What brings me pride in my work at manifesto is the drive, desire, and passion of the team around me, and the teams we work with, to strive to help our users. Where everyone is prepared to go the extra mile. Belonging at manifesto feels like one team, in the detail, striving towards the same vision on a project or programme of work. Supporting one another and never forgetting the people aspect of what we do.” #Design #Strategy #Impact #Value #manifestoForChange Carousel image descriptions: ID 1: A photo of a smiling Paul sits in an arch shape against a lilac background. Text says: Paul, Business Design Director. Under this is a small black lozenge with the words 'who we are' in white on. ID 2: a snippet from the caption above ID 3: Paul on the beach holding his dog in his arms. He's wearing a coat and hat while the dog wears a jumper so it's likely a cold day. IDs 4-5: snippets from the caption above

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HIRING! STAND-OUT-IN-THE-CROWD DATA DYNAMO REQUIRED Data insight takes us to more creative spaces. Like this….our data team spotted conversations around Glastonbury being full of Waitrose shoppers, & voila, meme accounts go wild. If you are a creative thinking data person who can spot interesting insights in a sea of sameness, then Wonderhood Studios could be your new Soho home. A creative environment, a host of cool clients to cut your teeth on, and a variety of disciplines (we create cultural visibility through TV programmes, social content, advertising, and brand boosting customer experience). We’re not interested in demure and mindful insights…we’re all about the colour not the beige when it comes to data (when it comes to people, everyone with a creative mind is welcome, wherever you are on the demure-scale). To find out more and apply, click here. https://lnkd.in/eZaw7SYu And if this isn’t for you, well you probably know someone who it could be for (please share and comment). Wonderhood Studios DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK #opportunities #data #insight #hiring #dataledcreativity

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Are loyalty programmes killing brands? Too often the answer is yes. But they don't have to. In fact the best loyalty programmes are brand builders. Not killers. They tend to look a bit different. Less like an old fashioned, transactional loyalty scheme that you grudgingly join for a better deal. More like a membership programme you want to be a part of. Read our manifesto for modern membership here: https://lnkd.in/eDcdKxwr TL;DR 1. Beyond Promos and Points 2. Differentiating Experiences 3. From Personalised to Personal

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Excellent investigation into the ethical concerns using GenAI imagery in advertising. The authenticity gap is real and can't be overcome. Thanks, Jasmine Glasheen for bringing us the story on The Robin Report #genAI #marketing #advertising #authenticity

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With a focus on top tier UK-based agencies, we've observed branding service suppliers over two decades. While methodologies, technologies, people and markets change the core requirements effectively remain the same. Without a professional body standards vary dramatically and the space is precarious. Tapping into the zeitgeist, some agencies shine brightly for a while. Others adapt. Some fade away. Many die. Whatever clients say about agencies, and whatever agencies say about themselves, the proof is in the work. Sustaining the ability to originate supporting brand assets is one thing. Sustaining the ability to originate core brand assets is altogether different. #understandbranding

Looking to understand the value design systems bring to organisations seeking to differentiate their brand experience and win in-market? Head of Design at Merkle and dentsu, Dave Calleja collates some of the best insights and trends for you to dive into. #designsystems #brandexperience #fastcurrents #MerkleProud #dentsu https://lnkd.in/dKcfVYdR

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