Author Archives: Julian Stubbs

I recently gave a speech on branding in the business to business sector at a well known venture capitalist company’s annual meeting for technology companies. The venue – a fantastic castle, just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. My co-speaker for the morning was Christer Fuglesang, the first – and to date only – Swedish astronaut. There were around 70 people in the audience, mostly CEOs and CFOs, who, like me, were transformed by meeting a real live astronaut! Instantly there was a queue of very senior people in suits, forming a line like ten year olds for his autograph. Christer kindly began his presentation by referencing mine, and saying he’d been particularly interested in the part concerning ‘elevator speeches’. ‘Well’ he said, ‘when I meet someone in an elevator, I just begin by saying, I’m an astronaut’. Game, set and match. That has to be the ultimate elevator speech of all time. Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Sale Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Discount Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Sale Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Cheap Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Discount Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

December 7, 2007 I love San Francisco! Now, there are not many places on earth that can draw such an immediate response from me. But this is certainly one of them. I’m here for a couple of days, visiting our local office and team as well as meeting a very well known biotech company out here in the valley, who we’re discussing a re-branding project with. Our office here is on the 21st floor of a very centrally located building, close to Union Square. The view is to die for. Well, actually the thought had run through my brain, what if there’s an earthquake? Don’t these people lie awake at night worrying about ‘the next big one’ and the fact that their very prime piece of real estate could easily be relocated into the pacific at any moment? Well, the funny thing is, the place is so hypnotic, you kind of end up thinking, ah well, it probably won’t happen – just yet. And even if it did, this is one great view…San Francisco has this effect. A quick sample of life since July when Dowell//Stubbs joined the Gyro Network. Been to London (5 times), New York (4 times), California (twice), Las Vegas (en route somewhere – but what an experience – slot machines at an airport!) and Gstaad in Switzerland for the management meeting (where the management team was encouraged to ‘jump’ off a 500 foot cliff with the aid of a very thin rope – not joking ) and finally Azerbaijan! Is Gyro truly international? You bet! In that time I’ve worked on projects involving cell phones, water, cancer diagnostics, diesel fuels, run a biotech seminar and we’ve even managed to move office in Stockholm. Not bad for the first five months I guess. But we’ve only just begun. Dowell//Stubbs has now fully integrated into Gyro Scandinavia and we’re already looking at the next steps when it comes to the branding side of our global business. Building strong, vibrant brands that really connect with people has never been more important in our digital world. We have some really exciting plans in the pipeline, and within the next few weeks we’ll be able to reveal more of what we’re thinking. As I’ve said before, watch this space! Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Sale Windows 7 Ultimate Order Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Buy Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

‘When you are through changing, you are through’. Bruce Barton DOWELL//STUBBS JOINS GYRO INTERNATIONAL For some months now, we’ve been in discussion with a UK-based marketing services group – Gyro International. On July 1st, Dowell//Stubbs formally agreed to join the Gyro International group of companies. GYRO IN BRIEF Gyro International fits perfectly with the Dowell//Stubbs spirit and service offering and will add an exciting new global resource. Gyro has offices in London, Manchester, Paris, Geneva, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Dublin, Madrid, Munich and Stockholm. In North America it has offices in New York and San Francisco. Altogether the group employs around 500 people, and its major clients include Virgin Atlantic and Sony. WHAT THIS MEANS Our first priority is to maintain the high level of service and close relationships we enjoy with our own clients. The account teams and people involved on all our client accounts will not change or be affected by this announcement. What will change is the access our clients have to the wider Gyro network. This includes access to the international network as well as the specialist competencies available within the group, such as event planning, research and film production. Gyro’s Scandinavian office, which is also based in Stockholm, will merge with the Dowell//Stubbs office. This will create a company of over 50 people in Stockholm, making us one of the largest Swedish agencies. Claës af Burén will continue to head up the D//S Sweden operation as managing director and help bring the two Swedish offices together over the next few months. In the US Eric Dowell, who heads up our own office in Princeton NJ, will join Gyro New York as a creative director, where he will continue to work with his existing clients. The combined offering of Dowell//Stubbs US and Gyro New York will give us much greater resources in the US for all clients. For myself, I will take on a Gyro group role as Head of Branding World-wide for Gyro International, working with existing clients as well as building the groups brand related services on a global basis. I will also join the Gyro Global Management Team. Check out the Gyro website below for more information. www.gyrointernational.com Cheap Windows 7 Ultimate Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Sale Windows 7 Ultimate Buy Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Sale Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Discount Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Buy Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

It’s a beautiful sunny morning in Rome and I’m writing this as I enjoy my first cappuccino of the day in this incredible city. I’m staying at the extremely modernistic SAS Radisson hotel, which is opposite Rome’s main rail station. My bedroom actually looks out over the side of the station, with a view of its many platforms and frenetic activity, that seems to carry on both day and night. The view from my room happens to be a very appropriate one for me personally, as the last time I was in Rome was actually over twenty years ago, when I was backpacking my way around Italy, and living on a budget of a pound a day. My first night in Rome on that occasion was actually spent sleeping at the railway station on platform eight – ‘Binario otto’ – opposite the very fine hotel where I’m staying now. But more on that – and how I ended up sleeping on the platform later. So why am I in Rome this time around? Well I’m lucky enough to be attending a two day seminar with re-knowned Finnish Philosopher, author and broadcaster Esa Saarinen. (http://www.esasaarinen.com/?kieli=en&etusivu). Esa’s topic for the two day seminar is ‘In search of the magnificent life’. Much of the focus is actually about how to gain more – in every perspective – from both work and personal life and how to be sensitive to the sometimes small or micro behaviours, that can often bring about a dramatically enriched result. My Rome week-end seems to not only be held in an appropriate location, but also at an appropriate time. I’ve been traveling for the past 10 days, working with clients in New York, Washington DC and Munich. It’s a good representation of our business focus – which is truly global and seems to be accelerating as our business grows and we acquire new clients. With broadband internet access, Apple iChat (see last Dowell//Stubbs e-magazine http://www.dowellstubbs.com/threeminutes/no1.html) global outsourcing and ease of international travel, business is increasingly globalising and companies such as ours find their business changing rapidly along with their clients. I’d say there has never been a more exciting time to be in our particular business, as large, old fashioned advertising agencies become a thing of the past. Change is the name of the game. And change can be a frightening concept for some people. So, what about that original night in Rome – over twenty years before? It was early July and I remember receiving an intriguing postcard from two friends who were backpacking their way around Italy at the time. The postcard held the simple message ‘Italy magnificent. Give up job and meet us July 25th, Rome Central Rail Station, Binario otto (platform eight) – ciao’. This postcard happened to change my life – mainly because I followed it’s advice. I gave up my rather safe, but boring job, in favour of a rucksack and sleeping bag and two weeks later I found myself on platform eight, waiting for my two friends – who happened to show up a day late – and hence my night sleeping out on the platform. The following few weeks touring Italy by train opened my eyes in lots of ways to both new and ancient cultures, and what can be learnt from them. It was a truly life changing experience, but most importantly it made me realise that often to make real progress, one has to make some dramatic changes and do something really different – to really push oneself to new levels of discovery. Which brings me full circle to my current weekend in Rome. Professor Saarinen delivers both a moving and thoughtful two day induction into some of his thoughts of how to achieve greatly enhanced performance, in both a personal and work dimension. In some respects I feel like an observer of a fantastic performance, I feel again I have a room with a view. And again, to acheive new results, one has to consider making changes. And we have some exciting changes coming up at Dowell//Stubbs over the coming few weeks, changes we feel will dramatically enhance our performance for our clients. Watch this space… Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Cheap Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Windows 7 Ultimate Order Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Cheap Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Buy Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Sale Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

Sitting at Eladios a restaurant on the beachfront in Santa Barbara California having my breakfast. And it’s a beautiful sunny December day. Holiday? No, work, but with work like this who needs holidays. Chatting with the waitress she asked me where I was from and what I did for a living, and I replied I worked for a Stockholm based brand communications company. ‘So why are you here’ she asked. Good question. Well at Dowell//Stubbs we’re fortunate enough to work with some great clients, involved in interesting, demanding marketing situations. Nearly all of our clients have an international focus, and that’s what brings me to Santa Barbara. We have a client with a facility here. On this trip I’ve been in the US for 10 days, and pretty much covered this vast country. I started in Princeton New Jersey, to visit the new Dowell//Stubbs office there; then New York, to work with another of our multi-national clients; on to Washington DC to meet with the American Association For The Advancement of Science (AAAS) publishers of the journal Science to discuss the next steps in our work with them; next was Toronto (snow!) to meet with a client for whom we are developing web based solutions, and finally to California and Santa Barbara. The world is shrinking as we speak. Some term it flattening (‘The World is Flat’ by Thomas Friedman, Penguin Books). But the fact is at Dowell//Stubbs we work in a totally international environment helping our clients market their products around the world. And that means we need a truly international mix of people working for us. American, English, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese even. And that’s half the fun. With work like this who needs holidays. Order Windows 7 Ultimate Order Windows 7 Ultimate Order Windows 7 Ultimate Sale Windows 7 Ultimate Order Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Order Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus