I bought a bucket hat this week in the colours of my team, Newcastle United, from back in the 1970s when Supermac was marauding up the pitch for us and smashing in the goals.

Probably my earliest football memories are of our cup run in 74. And although we didn't win, I still get a warm glow thinking of that time (and I can still sing “Howay the Lads” – our cup single by the Barrie Brothers).

I think one of the attractions of nostalgia like this is that we remember when things were simpler.

Our lives seem so complicated these days. So much pressure, so much to do. And nothing seems easy.

It's little wonder we get a warm feeling thinking back to a time when the weight of the world wasn't on our shoulders and everything seemed so straightforward.

Given the pleasure that simplicity gives us, it's strange then that in our marketing we seem to end up making things much more complicated than we need. Both for ourselves and especially for our clients.

We seem to get so tied up trying to be clever or persuasive or influential that we end up just confusing our clients.

I can't tell you the number of times I've seen people offering products and services where I can't figure out what on earth they're supposed to do or why I would be interested.

Or where I would need a PhD to figure out how I'd benefit from them.

One of my golden rules for marketing is to make things as clear and simple as possible.

All these clever tricks of persuasion people tell you about run a very poor second to simply being clear about what you're offering and what people will get from it.

Don't make people guess or jump through hoops to figure out what buying your products or services will mean for them and their business. Spell it out in simple terms.

It may not be clever. But my word, it's effective.