The archive

Writing archive

A running collection of the LinkedIn posts and long-form pieces I’ve written over the years, mostly on hospitality, marketing, loyalty and building the tech that runs the sector. Being rebuilt here post by post.

24 of 50 posts archived so far

2025

16 Sep 2025 The First Value Exchange - Lessons from The Deep End How a £10 membership card at The Deep End in 1999 became my first Value Exchange, and why the same principle still drives loyalty and CRM today.

2023

29 Dec 2023 Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Launched My Business An Authority Magazine interview: the pub fight three weeks into my first tenancy, the week Airship lost 70% of its revenue, and five things I wish I’d known before I started. May 2023 What’s Loyalty? Part One A deep dive into loyalty: the why, the types of scheme, how to measure it and the methods for tracking redemption. 31 Mar 2023 What happens in Vegas... gets written about here... (almost) Notes from a whirlwind hospitality tour of Las Vegas: the operations, the loyalty, the scale, and what the UK is ahead on.

2022

1 Feb 2022 2022: The Year of______________ Our minifesto for 2022: transparency about the roadmap, and a year built around data, loyalty, automation and being a better marketeer.

2021

29 Jul 2021 Why become a mentor On 15 years of mentoring, the Plan B programme, and why giving your time sharpens your own thinking too. 27 Mar 2021 Track & Trace is Back The return of track and trace for reopening: what the guidance said, and the data opt-in opportunity within it. 5 Mar 2021 How You Can Build New Engagement to Deliver Loyalty Once the Doors Open Reopening after lockdown: using Proof of Presence to identify your best pre-pandemic customers and rebuild frequency.

2018

5 Mar 2018 Gift Cards - Not Just For Christmas Why gift cards are a year-round revenue channel, the four reasons to sell them, and the occasions to push them. 11 Jan 2018 Airship’s Welcome Campaign Drives Visits to Revolution Bars Group PLC A four-stage welcome journey for Revolution Bars: unique codes, booking incentives and the numbers behind the results.

newsletter

When I publish something new, on hospitality, the tech that runs it, or what I’m building now, I’ll send it to you. Occasional, not weekly. Unsubscribe in one click.

2017

27 Oct 2017 Delivering the Future How delivery, dark kitchens and voice tech are reshaping restaurants, and the new revenue and risks they bring. 17 Jan 2017 Email Segmentation Strategy for Personalised Marketing in the Financial Sector Segmenting a card provider's database by transaction data to serve personalised offers at scale. 4 Jan 2017 Busting Web Design Myths: Why You Should Never Put Calls to Action Below the Fold Why the received wisdom about the fold is wrong, and why your call to action often belongs further down the page.

2016

27 Oct 2016 Makulu - Evidencing Consumer Demand A 14-week social and email campaign for a South African wine brand that built a database and grew reach. 24 Aug 2016 An insight into marketing objectives How Airship Insights turns segmentation and interactive marketing into measurable ROI. 2 Aug 2016 Drive additional revenue with Gift Cards How Living Ventures more than doubled gift card sales with an integrated online platform. 15 Jul 2016 Social Media & The Science Behind It Three research findings on how social media spreads emotion and shapes behaviour, and what marketers should do about it. 5 Jul 2016 Subject Line Testing - One of the Keys to Successful Open Rates Why subject lines make or break open rates, how to test them, and five ways to write ones that get opened. 3 May 2016 How Airship Increased Loyalty and Footfall in Venues for Walkabout Bars A CRM and WiFi-data case study for Walkabout: connecting Sky 'The Cloud' data to drive footfall and loyalty. 26 Apr 2016 Beginners Guide to Facebook for Business How to set up a Facebook business page, best-practice posting, running ads and the image sizes you need. 11 Mar 2016 What is a customer journey? What a customer journey actually is, why it drives revenue and loyalty, and how to translate it into digital. 5 Feb 2016 How can WiFi drive revenue in your business? Turning guest WiFi into a data and marketing channel: what to collect at sign-up and the journeys it unlocks. 18 Jan 2016 A Beginners Guide to Twitter Back to basics on setting up a Twitter profile for your business, with the key terminology explained. 4 Jan 2016 Help! My Email Broadcasts Aren’t Getting Delivered! Why your SPF record matters for email deliverability, with the read and delivery uplift from Airship's own data.