Mark Ritson, a commentator in Marketing Week, is a rare beast.  He speaks his mind, is not afraid to offend, and is rarely wrong. 

His latest column takes on branding consultants - pretty much all of them.

His seven signs of a crap branding consultant will be familiar to anyone working on marketing and business development - and no more so than in professional services. 

From millennials and trigger words (innovative, client focused), to Maslow's Hierachy of Needs and trademarked 'special methodologies' - there is no escape.

And whilst Mark has picked on the branding consultants, he could have quite easily picked on social media, sales, and, gulp, PR people.