Who imposed a gagging order?
Marc Brenner’s editorial Heaven. No two ways about it. In a meeting room near Bloomsbury Square I found myself surrounded by about forty MR clients. They had been gathered together by Millward Brown, who were showcasing new ‘tweenie’ research. The clients affably mooched around the room sipping coffee. These were the people I had been told were impossible to reach and never wanted to talk to the press. Shy lambs indeed. I wolfed my pastry and made my move. “I’m Marc Brenner, the editor of Research.” The clients did not bolt for the door. Nor did they reach for their mobiles in order to put their PRs on conference call. I asked them what they were hoping to get out of the event. They told me. Nothing was off-the-record, nothing was whispered. Here was a group of clients with firm ideas about what they wanted from research. They were confident about talking to me about their own needs and how research agencies often failed to meet the challenge. The quiet brigade Who was there? Represent
