During the tough times when budgets are being scrutinised at every corner it’s the business guardians who need to make the decisions about what’s important to ensure sustained reputation. Because if you don’t continue to invest in the reputation of your business it will make for an even bumpier ride, and you won’t be best placed to capitalise on the upturn, when it comes.

According to an article in the FT today businesses are planning to reduce charitable donations by at least a third. I absoultely agree that in order to protect ‘good cause’ interests the competition is going to be greater than ever and the charity sector is going to have to work harder to develop more creative ways in convinving businesses to support their causes. The key to all of this is being able to develop a measurement tool that’s integral to the campaign that provides the ‘value-for-money’ evidence.

All of the charity campaigns that we’ve developed and managed on behalf of clients has included a formulaic approach that’s provided insight (the rationale), ideas (the strategy) and influence (the impact). Now is not the time for businesses to lose sight of the positive impact investment into corporate social responsibility can have, especially in the current climate, but it’s also up to the charity sector to help those businesses think more creatively and evaluate, evaluate, evaluate.

On Friday I attended the Tommy’s Let’s Get Baby Friendly Awards and picked up two accolades on behalf of Tesco - ‘Best Supermarket’ and ‘Best Online Home Delivery Service’. The Tommy awards are voted for by parents, so they are real votes that count.  They’re recognition of Tesco’s continuous commitment to making those shopping experiences as easy as it can be.

The other reason we, along with Tania Bryer, Terri Dwyer, Carrie Grant, Gaby Roslin and Nancy Sorell were there was to award a remarkable couple who finally conceived their 15 month old daughter after going through a very brave 23 years of trying.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The full story is posted on the Tesco Baby & Toddler Club site.

Whatever economic climate us Brits have to weather, there is always one thing that never wains and that’s our patriotism for all things British.

The 40,000 people who put forward and voted for the building they were most proud of in our recent ‘Building with Pride’ campaign for Wickes (Speed client) is just another example of the power ‘Britishness’ can have for the right brand.

The value of a brand’s Britishness or heritage still holds resonance today, as long as brand guardians are devising creative and engainig ways to communicate it.  This ‘pot of gold’ territory will help to keep loyalty and above all peoples’ trust – which in today’s climate is something that all brands need to harness more than ever if they are to come out the other side.

Our very own Prince Charles has been named by Esquire magazine as the world’s best dressed man. Good on the 60 year old royal, however I have questioned on numerous occasions his choice of double-breasted suits, come on Esquire, surely not the best dressed man in the whole wide world?

I reckon that Esquire has cleverly chosen someone more likely to make headlines in other media rather than for his sartorial elegance per se. With the world of male lifestyle publications suffering a high profile casualty last week in the form of Arena magazine, it’ll be publications that regularly get their stories cross promoted in the nationals that should stand the test of time.