With its latest press ad, M&S is upping the battle for Middle England. However  in the light of all the recent positive press for the John Lewis campaign, it could be said that while John Lewis are playing to their heartland and heritage, M&S seems to be playing it for cheap laughs.

My offical title is Director of Branding but unofficially I am also known as the Director of Deviancy. I champion rule-bending and rule-breaking. To quote Frank Zappa I believe that, ”without deviation there is no progress”.

So I feel it only right and proper that we salute Malcolm McLaren – a man who broke the rules and succeeded. A man who deviated from the disco/glam rock pop norms of the seventies and breathed life back in the UK music scene.

He has been described in recent days as both a genius and someone who just happened to be in the right time and the right place, he was probably both but he certainly made a difference.

I would say RIP but I’m not sure he wouldn’t find peace a little too dull.

Simon’s post on Logorama and Alan’s on Nike reminded me of a wonderful little book by the Australian author Max Berry (which was titled “Logoland” in Italy and Germany but was titled “Jennifer Government” in many other countries) and is a brand cynic’s dream.

It is set in an alternative future where the government has less power but brands significantly more. In fact everyone is now known by the brand they work for hence the main characters are Hack Nike, John Nike and Jennifer Government.

The story revolves around Hack who is a low level but ambitious employee of Nike. To try and gain promotion he allows himself  to be contracted by one of his higher ups, John Nike, who has the glamorous job of Vice President of Guerrilla Marketing, for an ambitious but highly dubious marketing campaign. John and his team are planning to release the new Nike Mercury trainers – which will sell for thousands of dollars but cost pennies to manufacture - and in order to try and drum up the necessary desire for the shoes, John Nike plans to increase “street cred” in the worst way possible: by having Hack kill people who try to buy them.

Hack, bound by his contract and desire for promotion but unable to contemplate murder on his own, subcontracts to the Police, now a mercenary organization, beginning a chain of business transactions which could land Nike in hot water should word of the plot leak.

After several children are murdered at various Nike chains on opening day, agent Jennifer Government takes it upon herself to track down the perpetrators, even if she can’t get the funding for it…

Enjoy!