Ad Age’s list is limited to just 30 brands, including many of the names people in the marketing industry would expect to see included: Facebook, Ikea, Nike and BMW for example. That The Economist, a brand with a fraction of the number of consumers of these companies, is considered to be of the same calibre says much about both the quality of the product and the rigour of the publication’s marketing.

In both cases, it’s The Economist’s refusal to compromise that has made it so successful. Editorial is always disinterested – unaffected by background forces – and marketing is always true to the essence of the product. That may sound simple to achieve but to not waver over the course of 167 years deserves great praise.

This week, the winner of our ‘Wall of Shame’ competition (on the basis of the submission of this super snap), Simon Matthews, answers some suitably random questions about fetishes, football and the role of PR in today’s business climate.

Q – Tell us about your worst habit – throw in any fetishes.

A – I’m far too generous which has led to at least one of my friends owing me £600

Q – List the 3 most embarrassing things you’ve ever said/done – whilst sober.

A- Inadvertently accusing my step-step-grandfather (step-dad’s step-dad) of using inflatable sex dolls – in my defence I was young and didn’t really understand what I was talking about.

In ‘Nam I fell down an open manhole while walking across a field with my friends, after an interesting run in with some prostitutes who stole 100,000 Dong (about 5 of her majesty’s sterling pounds) – without any form of professional services being exchanged I hasten to add.

I once ate a habenero chilli in one mouthful because an attractive lady bet I couldn’t. I was successful in the attempt but my mouth was in such a state of pain and dribbling that I was rendered insensible.

Q – What’s your take on today’s business climate and the role & importance of PR?

A – It’s still a little rocky out there in places and PR is as important as ever – if not more so. A company with no PR will struggle for awareness in a competitive business environment, so they need us to put them right in front of their customers in a way that advertising and other marketing disciplines can’t.

Q – Are you a football fan? Why? Who do you support? Have they won anything?

A – Crystal Palace. Winning is for chumps.

Q – I hear match.com will soon have a new member – what qualities do you possess that one might…consider?

A – In the name of research, I have bravely volunteered to sign up to match.com. Apart from being generally great at everything, I’m a pretty good cook. All I can ask is that the ladies form an orderly queue.

Q – Name your top 3 Speeps and the reasons why you love them/don’t love them so much. We’re an honest bunch, don’t be afraid of the possibly hostile repercussions.

A – Very difficult to choose as I do like all of you lot, despite your best efforts – here’s an arbitrary selection:

Bex has to get a look in on this – she’s lovely and, as a bonus, hasn’t fired me.

John Brown – often looks quite dapper and is the source of many japes.

Nicole – lunch buddy extraordinaire.

The recession has had a massive effect on B2B sales and marketing – but not just in the obvious ways. Yes, companies are buying less and projects have been cancelled or put on hold, but research by TAS into the B2B sales cycle, quoted on the Inflexion Point blog uncovers some surprising facts.

Despite the recession, successful sales cycles are getting shorter. Essentially companies are only going out to the market when they have a clear idea of what they want and the signed-off budget to proceed. So time from qualifying a prospect to signing the deal has reduced by just over 23 per cent. The flipside of this is that if the sales cycle drags on, the opportunity is more and more likely to turn to dust, wasting time and effort.

Where does this leave PR and marketing? I’d say it strengthens the overall part they play in the sales cycle. Prospects are doing due diligence and research before they call you, so you need to ensure you are providing consistent information to them across the whole marketing mix. Get into the publications they read, make your website relevant, have a strong presence in the right digital channels and keep this up on a sustained basis.

With the sales cycle moving from a marathon to a sprint preparation and warming up prospects is even more vital. This is absolutely where integrated PR and marketing delivers, and careful investment here will reap major benefits further down the sales process.

In fact, I love it so much that I went online and joined its email newsletter database – and perhaps more to the point, I’ve actually stuck with it. Its humorous tone and snappy content means it’s a welcome arrival in my inbox and more to the point, its quite good at giving away free stuff. Not that I’m cheap or anything.

It seems that others share my love of Tossed as it has been nominated as a finalist in the food and drink category of Metro’s Venture Candy Awards. To help the company clinch the title, they have emailed their database offering a free coffee for anyone who can prove they’ve voted for them.

I’m slightly dubious about the morality behind essentially bribing your way to first place but I guess if Gordon Brown et al have taught us anything, it’s that sometimes you’ve got to whatever it takes to win.

Now, where’s my free coffee…

I find how brands integrate digital with the rest of the marketing mix fascinating. Many still don’t get it, as seen by high profile cock-ups by the likes of Nestle but savvy companies realise it opens new channels to their audiences.

My colleague Chris McCrudden blogged on Nike’s new campaign, and, continuing the shoe theme, Jimmy Choo is getting in on the act. For the launch of its new ultra cool trainer range, the CatchaChoo campaign updates the treasure hunt idea with technology. The trainers appear at a fashionable London hotspot, announced via FourSquare, Facebook and Twitter and first person to get there wins a pair of their very own.

What’s great about CatchaChoo is that it is simple, straightforward and uses the strengths of digital to best advantage. Not being a Jimmy Choo type I’ll leave it to others to chase the trainer but look forward to seeing the impact it has on sales. Maybe then it will encourage more brands to use digital positively in the marketing mix.

So you make money, but oridinary people hate you. What do you do?

What Nike’s done. That’s what.

Nike started the 21st century as a corporate social responsibility whipping boy. Na0mi Klein’s demolition of its brand in No Logo transformed its public image from being a world-leading manufacturer of posh trainers into the kind of villainous organisation that, had it been around in 1830s London, would have been pushing small children up chimneys armed with toothbrushes.

To its credit, however, Nike has slowly and carefully repaired a lot of its damage to its brand. And not by the kind of defensive top down activity that huge global companies default to, but by initatives designed to build a strong, positive relationship with the people who consume most of its products. Runners.

Nike’s marketing over the past few years has been a textbook example of how to do ‘relationship marketing’. After working out that runners liked listening to their iPods as they ran it teamed up with Apple to develop the hugely successful Nike+.  It picked runner-friendly celebrities for its charity tie-ins, it blogged and offered exclusive content on Facebook. Basically everything you should do to get a constituency of hobbyists who could act as your brand ambassadors on side.

Now this strategy has taken an interesting turn with the Nike Grid campaign. This is a street-running competition devised by Nike that people join via Facebook (through Facebook Connect) and which encourages them to race each other through the streets of London, using the capital’s under-used network of phone boxes as staging points. The more phone boxes you connect, the more points you score. It’s a cute idea, and one that indrectly associates Nike with ‘reclaim the streets’ activism – a subtle kind of activism that puts Nike on the same level as the (running) man in the street.

It’s not something you’ll care about if you’re not a runner, but that’s exactly the point. Nike has done very well out of cultivating niche markets, and this is a brilliant example of how a brand can harness the various tactical methods of keeping in touch with people in today’s connected world, and turn them into an elegant integrated campaign. It makes you feel part of a community, but also reminds you that you need a new pair of running shoes…

I had some great news on Friday – my final results for my Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Diploma came through in the post.

I scraped a pass in the final module, meaning after 18 months study I’m now a ‘proper’ marketer.

However imagine my surprise when a couple of hours later I had an email from CIM telling me that my results were now online. But (and rather a big one this) “due to an unprecedented flow of web traffic to our site“, I may not be able to access them. I could telephone during business hours, but “our lines are very busy and there may be a delay in answering your call.”

Luckily I’d already got my results through in the post but imagine the frustration of anyone still waiting. Your potential life-changing results are there, but you can’t get them. Given one of the major topics on the course was integrating multi-channel communications and being able to predict web demand surely it is time for the CIM to practice what it teaches…………

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

Click here to find out a bit more about our weekly competition.

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

Click here to find out a bit more about our weekly competition.

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

Click here to find out a bit more about our weekly competition.