Keeping it real.
Welcome to Field Notes, miniature digital postcards from my multiple worlds to yours. A little bit work, a little bit life. Having a wonderful time, and glad you're here.
Omnicom’s Layoff PR Disaster
Lots of chatter around this For Immediate Release podcast episode, looking at “the stark contrast between the polished corporate narrative aimed at investors and the raw, real-time reality shared by staff on LinkedIn and Reddit” … and “how organizations have lost control of the narrative.”
Sorry, good people, and I say this with deep empathy for those who’ve lost their jobs as a result of this or earlier decisions, but there was always only one narrative that truly mattered. And so far, the market has liked what it has heard.
Mark Ritson’s Top Marketing Moments of 2025
Always insightful. Ten insights, and my favorite is the first: sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do. Thanks Andrew Bruce Smith in London.
Corporate Storytelling
A Wall Street Journal article says companies are “desperately seeking” storytellers, which many in the PR business see as reaffirming a place in the world. Does it?
The Week Unspun
Friday’s livestream with Farzana Baduel, Doug Downs and me is available to review on YouTube, Spotify and Apple. Topics: the Suzy Wiles interviews in Vanity Fair, the Trump primetime Survivor finale interruption, and the great Sorrell-Waddington debate: Is PR Dead?
The Lion Never Gives Up
I was skimming through the print edition of the New York Times (some habits can’t be broken) and this full-page, four-color ad was hard to miss:
And the QR code led to this YouTube video.
I’m still scratching my head over the whole thing. But I’m also still talking about it. And sharing it. Reminded me of an interview I had once with Maurice Levy when he was running Publicis, but that’s a story for another day.
Living Through The Pretty Mess
This interview with friend, former colleague and fellow Texan abroad Fiana Tulip popped up on my feed and I think it might resonate with a few of you, too.
Chiefs Of Staff And Tiger Teams
Earlier this year Danielle Leach suggested to me that corporate Chiefs of Staff play an unsung role in shaping organizational reputation and that we should do some research to better understand what they’re up against. And she was right.
Here are a few insights from interviews we conducted this autumn, which has encouraged us now to follow up with a wider survey early next year.
Book Of The Week
I’m half-way through the Audible version of Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbeck, reviewed here in The Conversation. The romance seems a little implausible, but I’m beginning to think that may not be the point. No spoilers, please.
Predictions!
It’s that time of year. Here are a few from the UK PRCA, including one from me. You’re welcome, Mark Zuckerberg, and thanks for the opportunity, Candace Kuss and Kate Matlock.
On Stage
KENREX. Lordy, I’ve never seen anything like it. Reviewed here in London Theatre. At The Other Palace until February.
Memory Project
I read about a suggestion to write down personal memories from as early as possible as a kind of journaling exercise, and I got as far as age six or seven. There’s a funny story about studying Mallard ducks in class that my family has heard for years, but then I suddenly recalled an accident involving my friend Melissa (hit by a car as we walked home from school). She survived and recovered, but I had buried that one really far down. I guess that’s part of the process?
Keeping It Real
Last week’s Field Notes led with an image I created with Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro (don’t blame me, that’s what it’s called). I thought it, the image, was kinda cute and plopped it in. Not everyone liked it, though.
From a past colleague who thinks carefully about these things: “…your ideas are genuinely interesting and your analysis is sharp. In my opinion, the AI graphics are cheapening what you're saying.”
I’ll take that to heart.
Jagged Frontiers
Related: another piece brought to my attention by Andrew Bruce Smith: The Shape of AI from the One Thing substack by Ethan Mollick. Relates to both the tools used in the image mentioned above and to the bigger questions about AI. Also, I wonder if this is how blacksmiths felt at the dawn of the industrial revolution?
Santa Claus
Anyway, this week’s image, Portrait of Santa Claus, by Thomas Nast, is human-generated and rights-free. I found it in The Public Domain Review, my first-look site for interesting art and inspiration, in this particular rabbit-hole.
Merry Christmas
Which brings us to the end of this week’s notes. Have a great Christmas if you celebrate, and a great week ahead to all.