Above: the flaccid Strategy Cow. Below: the erect Strategy Cow.

Richard Huntington’s blog Adliterate introduced us to the Strategy Cow. He wrote:

My eldest son has this toy. It is a cow (I think) which normally stands erect but when you push the base upwards it collapses. It perfectly describes how I feel when I come across lacklustre or cliched thinking – flacid, deflated and lacking in the strength to perform simple tasks like standing up properly. From now on I will submit the strategies of the moment to the Strategy Cow for her to pass judgement.

Richard has started a thing called The Advocate in which people debate the merits of current strategic thinking and first up for consideration was our Honda campaign. (This was last month so I’m a bit late in linking to it.

Anyway, the debate is interesting to read. (Or at least it is if you work on the campaign.) Some people see the work as a triumph of execution over strategy, some question whether the impact of the campaign can be isolated from other factors in such a way as to demonstrate effectiveness conclusively. But in the end we were awarded a strategy cow, complete with authenticity certificate. Stuart’s got it somewhere but I’m not sure what he’s done with it.

Alex and Stuart on the train to Leeds. Shortly before this there was a celebrity incident. As Alex made his way to his seat he passed Su Pollard (her out of Hi-de- Hi) in the corridor. She felt he had pushed past in an ungentlemanly way and loudly took him to task. She wasn’t a happy camper.