Category Archives: Business

Is there something in the driving seat that should be in the toolbox? Thoughts on a recent keynote by Rory Sutherland

Posted on January 14, 2020 by neilsharman

Rory Sutherland was the keynote speaker at the Media Research Group annual conference recently.  As usual it was a thought-provoking presentation and a whistle-stop tour of a thousand great ideas. Let me see what I can distil from it for … Continue reading →

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Feel the fear and do it anyway: safety and security issues when booking travel

Posted on June 20, 2017 by neilsharman

At the beginning of this year I was commissioned by the holiday company Travelzoo to conduct a global survey about people’s attitudes to safety and security on holiday. Do safety and security concerns have a big impact on where people … Continue reading →

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Seven reasons for SMEs to do more business overseas

Posted on September 12, 2016 by neilsharman

Recently I wrote a report for JCDecaux Airport on the SME market and particularly SMEs doing business overseas. It was launched at Coq d’Argent in the City of London. To write it I did extensive desk research, interviewed six SME … Continue reading →

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Brexit: Blitz or Bug, there’s a capital idea for advertisers

Posted on September 2, 2016 by neilsharman

This is a piece I wrote whilst working on a contract as the Interim Head of Audience and Insight at ESI Media.  I wrote it to suggest an angle for a piece written by ESI Commercial’s Managing Director, Jon O’Donnell. … Continue reading →

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Will we accept robots on holiday?

Posted on July 25, 2016 by neilsharman

Imagine the following scenario. You walk into a hotel after a long flight and the person behind the hotel desk isn’t a person at all but a robot. The scenario sounds futuristic but there are already robot receptionists in some … Continue reading →

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Will driverless cars and unmanned drones be adopted by developing countries first?

Posted on January 4, 2015 by neilsharman

Will the adoption of driverless cars and drones boost the economies of developing nations before they make a significant impact on Western economies? Developed nations are leading the development of driverless cars. They are partially legal in California, Nevada and … Continue reading →

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Is there an engineering skills gap or has Britain got talent after all?

Posted on September 19, 2014 by neilsharman

Did you know there’s a skills gap in engineering? If you’ve read the business pages of newspapers over the last few years you probably associate “skills gap” with “engineering” like you associate “Maidstone” with “Kent”. You can’t say one without … Continue reading →

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Data: fighting hard in the newsbrand trenches

Posted on May 15, 2014 by neilsharman

Here’s a piece that I wrote for The Media Briefing about the use of data in media (they serialised it and ran it over two days).  I thought it might be about “big data” when I started out (see a … Continue reading →

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How is your shopping arriving? 3D printer or drone?

Posted on January 6, 2014 by neilsharman

This Christmas an increased percentage of my shopping was, of course, done online. I also used Click and Collect for the first time. Perhaps next year I’ll be picking up packages from the spaces in London Underground stations where once … Continue reading →

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