A very focused week this week, working on a few things for the same agency as last week. I’m really enjoying it; it’s one of those great combinations of good clients, good work, and good people that makes the work a breeze.

The meeting with the biscuits brand I mentioned last week went really well, and provoked some useful thoughts about the direction the business might go in. I’m looking forward to the next stages.

I’ve also kicked off something for a Chinese ingredients brand which is right up my alley. It involves resolving that tension between maintaining authenticity and, on the one hand, adapting things for a broader audience and, on the other, modernising and not being a prisoner of tradition.

Something Tim Leonard said to me recently has been rolling around my brain. He talked about the two key inflection points – and risk points – for a brand being the transition from business strategy into brand strategy, and then the transition from brand strategy into creative strategy. It made me realise there are lots of people and agencies who are strong at one of those critical points, but not that many who can carry through both. Finding a way to crack that is enormously valuable for clients.

I’ve been getting my head around the recent acquisition of Hotel Chocolat by Mars for £534m. Lots of people have been saying it’s a masterstroke; lots of people have been saying it’s completely bonkers. I think the numbers tell the real story.