Words. We say a lot of words every day. To ourselves. To each other. In text messages, WhatsApp groups, emails. Sometimes cards and letters. Sometimes. In conversations, in meetings, in presentations. In Fishbowls like the emotionally charged event the brilliant Gemma Greaves hosted on World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2018. With 1 in 6.8 people experiencing mental health problems in the workplace, 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK being attributed to mental health conditions, and lack of mental health support costing UK businesses up to £8 billion a year*, the focus of the Fishbowl was to open up, smash the stigmas and take action. 

With the nature of media consumption changing faster than ever before, the importance of context in the delivery of brand communication has never been higher. Recent IPA touchpoint research has revealed almost all UK adults consume two or more different types of media in the space of 30 minutes; a quarter even admit to alternating between three. In this environment, the context in which brand communication is delivered, and the nature of the user experience, have arguably become just as important as the creative content being delivered. In this rapidly evolving world, big data is hugely compelling and indeed, gives fast and detailed feedback about audiences reached and the number of impacts achieved. But there is often a lack of more nuanced insight about the nature of the experience delivered and, in particular, the impact of device, channel and surrounding content on the way people respond to brand communication. This is where methodologies that focus on subconscious responses can help to deliver a new layer of understanding, and companies like Neuro-Insight, which use neuroscience to track brain response, are being asked to do more and more work in this area.