Stick to the plan, no matter what

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: is thought to be great by great architects—and to hell with the people who have to live in their buildings.) Again, account planners moved to the right on the scale, because they were increasingly judged by their success in contributing to and selling the most creative campaigns.

By far the most important change of the last 10 years has been the “new radical economics”. The British do genuinely seem to have turned away from making charming apologies for industrial failure and moved towards a zeal for success. There is a sort of national recognition that competition is here to stay and that it’s anyhow quite stimulating.

The first part of the process has gone quite well; there undoubtedly has been a big improvement in manufacturing efficiency. But of course you can play that trick only once. You can move from having 11 factories working at 30% capacity to four factories working at 83% capacity, just once. It’s absolutely necessary to do it, to keep improving efficiency, to be a low-cost producer, but it’s not sufficient; it’s merely the entry fee.

The harder part of the economic miracle is yet to come, but there are some signs that the issues are being recognised. There seems to be a dawning acceptance that long-term profits and success—even survival—for companies, whether they are manufacturers or services or institutions, will depend on the depth and quality of their brands. That is, on having something to offer that is “better and different”; that has a unique combination of physical, functional and stylistic values; and that has a clear brand personality, expre-ssed in every aspect of performance and communications.