Mike Yershon had seen an American 1940s film on the BBC featuring a guy who needed to come up with an advertising campaign for the Farnhight Featherlite, a new car to be launched.

This guy had his blank paper on a draughtsman’s board but the ideas would not come. Then, in the early hours of the morning before the crucial day when he had to deliver, it all came pouring out.

At the age of 16, in the summer of 1959, having left school with no job and no prospects, this story completely appealed to me. So when kind people asked what I wanted to do, I told them “advertising”.

Platforms and technology changed the game.

Business leaders/decision makers (who wish to survive) have to steer the right course. Their job is to take advantage. There’s two questions - will they and how will they execute? In the media business that means being as effective in ‘digital’ as in traditional.

Being prepared is only strategy for business in this century. That’s true for two reasons.

1. It’s impossible to know what’s happening from one week to the next.

2. Preparation enables the business to take advantage of whatever happens.

Being prepared for business life after 2020 has to start now. A lot of businesses designed for today will fail by then.

After decades of proving it we know it’s extremely easy to solve the wrong problem really well.

• Experience taught us that a great Ad campaign can leave a badly prepared operation in dire straits.

• The smartest and most relevant technology on Earth can gather dust through disuse.

• Expensive consulting firms and strategy documents often don’t move the needle.

Certain capabilities are needed to survive. Ingenuity, curiosity, creativity and hands on experience in how media works.