Pinball Wizard

Greetings and felicitations to one and all.

And as these words flow onto the paper in this corner of this green and pleasant land, winter is on its way, judging from the frost that needs to be scraped from the windscreens of the chariots up and down the via.

Many are now asking what Cicero has been doing since he left the warmth and comfort of the VTSSB, no doubt wondering whether the recent re-balancing of the State’s spending priorities are going to mean an especially bleak winter for Cicero.

Worry not, amici. Cicero is still in gainful employment.

And since he stopped being an Apparatchik, he has become a Marketing Luvvie, working with Creative Types dispensing wisdom and enlightenment and, quite frankly, marketing genius, to anyone willing to pay for said services. It might be said that, after toiling endlessly on your behalf to maintain the security and protection of the fine people of this land, Cicero has become a Marketing Mercenary. Now you know.

Of course you will still benefit from Cicero’s genius for free. And what a bargain you get.

And here is this week’s nugget of marketing genius.

Did you see any adverts on TV last night? And when you saw them, did you immediately jump from your chair and rush down the shops and buy the latest in toilet detergents, eyelash maximiser (whatever that might be) or mobile phone technology that seems to have the ability to make two people fall in love again.

Of course, you didn’t. Advertising doesn’t work like that. Although Cicero was tempted to give his eyelashes a boost. And yet too often Chief Bean Counters expect investment in advertising to behave exactly like that. Get real. And surely you of all people that marketing does not work quite that.

Indeed there may be quite a disconnect between your marketing being consumed and the point at which the consumer decides to get off the pot and buy your brand and in that time he or she, if we are still talking about eyelash maximisers, may well have seen more of your well crafted and well honed marketing communications. But that does not mean any of it is wasted. And beware the tyranny of believing that it was the last piece of marketing that was seen that drove the sale. Again the human brain does not work in such a structured way.

Instead we should come to think, and we should work to persuade our Chief Bean Counters to see, that our marketing activity slowly and imperceptibly nudges the consumer towards buying your brand. And when he, or she, is ready and when they decide it’s time to enter the market, it is the cumulative effect over time of all the nudges through all communication channels that gets your brand top of the mind in the filing cabinet that is the mind of our consumer.

And that, mei amice, is what marketing is all about, no matter what the Bean Counters might think.

And so, just like the Pinball Wizard in that iconic musical ‘Tommy’, use your nudges with care to deliver marketing that is highly effective. Reading these words may not make you a Pinball Wizard but we can help you become a Marketing Wizard.

Is it only me.......but I am not a criminal

It rather annoys me when supporters of the Two Caesars the media and other so called economic and financial commentators, who quite frankly ought to know better, lump tax avoidance and tax evasion together and threaten dire retribution on tax avoiders and tax evaders. It is even said that tax avoiders are as bad as benefit cheats.

For the avoidance of doubt, tax avoidance is perfectly legal. Tax evasion is not and nor is benefit cheating. Therefore anyone who so arranges their finances to minimise the size of their tax bill is only doing the right, sensible and sane thing. Why would anyone in their right mind want to hand over any more of their hard earned sesterces to the tax collector than is strictly necessary, especially when you know that much of what you hand over will be squandered?

Anyone who has an ISA is guilty of tax avoidance. Or has a pension. Or who does a salary sacrifice. So before anyone gets onto their moral high horse on this one and become sclerotic with fiscal policy rage, let he (or she) who is without sin, throw the first stone. Methinks we might be waiting rather a long time for the first stone to be thrown.

Now it might only be me but perhaps we should stop using the term ‘tax avoidance’ with all its pejorative connotations. Maybe the term tax efficiency should be used instead. And Cicero for one will do all in his power, which admittedly is not saying much, to continue to make his tax bill as efficient as possible. Cicero is not a criminal.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.