27 June 2017 | 2:00 min read

Once I lived in a house on stilts. A blue-tongued lizard owned the back garden, and in the front, a lone tree dominated a steep incline. The tree accepted Darwin’s tropical gifts with equanimity. Basking heat, warm pearly raindrops, shocking electrical storms. It could take anything. Lucky tree.

26 June 2017 | 1:00 min read

Last month’s World Social Marketing Conference 2017 (WSMC17) in Washington DC was attended by 500 people from around the world – all engaged, in one way or another, in good causes.

But one speaker had a rally cry that challenged our good intentions, exhorting us to “cause good trouble”.

30 May 2017 | 1:50 min read

The airline industry has long been a role model for companies wishing to understand what crisis management is all about. Ever since the 1988 Pan Am Lockerbie disaster, carriers have developed and proved their ability to communicate well in a crisis.

25 May 2017

Pacem in diebus nostris *

Steven Joyce’s first Budget is an interesting balancing act and clear indication of his party’s approach to the election.

8 May 2017 | 1:50 min read

Dr. Martens are my favourite shoes. At university, I wore them almost every day. But on the day I graduated, when I walked onto the stage to collect my degree, I was in black heels.

26 April 2017 | 2:10 min read

The title is a modern restating of one of Benjamin Franklin’s quotes: “By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail”. It is also similar to what Winston Churchill said: “He who fails to plan is planning to fail”. Two great world leaders who knew a lot about success against adversity.

21 April 2017 | 1:10 min read

Probably the surest sign of trouble is when people starting mangling the language. United Airline’s claim this month to have “re-accommodated” a man who was dragged with a bloodied nose out of his airplane seat surely marked a new low.

20 April 2017 | 1:00 min read

In a world where everyone’s tuned into their digital devices 24/7, getting the news media’s attention requires different thinking, writes Client Executive Rebecca Ashcroft.

13 April 2017

Accedite candidatos *

Parliament rises today and will resume next month with a new-look Cabinet in charge.

Judging by Bill English’s pre-Christmas reshuffle, Cognito expects minimal change in this iteration.

The only real surprise would be if Nikki Kaye didn’t get the Education portfolio – she’s a rising star and has been groomed as a replacement for her friend and mentor Hekia Parata.

3 April 2017 | 1:10 min read

I once heard about a mother who’d been asked by her six-year-old whether bread should be put in toaster ‘landscape or portrait?’ I mentioned this to a friend’s eight-year-old, who responded, ‘Why didn’t they just Google it?’ To which they added, ‘Google knows everything?’