Tesco hopes to build on last year’s Christmas success with a time-travelling delivery van
Sarah VizardTesco is hoping a “fun and festive” approach to its Christmas marketing can boost sales despite economic and political uncertainty.
The Apple Card fiasco is a brand risk – but not a very big one
Mark RitsonApple has messed up by adopting a biased algorithm that disadvantages women applying for its credit card, but the chances of it harming the core technology business are slim.
John Lewis, BritBox, M&S: 5 things that mattered this week and why
Marketing Week ReportersFrom BritBox’s first ad campaign and M&S’s new value strategy, to Christmas ads from John Lewis and Sainbury’s, catch up on all the big marketing news from this week.
The strategy behind John Lewis and Waitrose’s first joint Christmas ad
Sarah VizardJohn Lewis and Waitrose have joined forces on their first campaign in the latest phase of a broader strategy designed to bring the brands closer together in the minds of consumers.
Marketers offer their views on the John Lewis Christmas ad
Marketing Week ReportersJohn Lewis pulled a surprise twist by launching a joint campaign with Waitrose this Christmas, but has Edgar the excitable dragon managed to win the heart of marketers?
How The Guardian turned ’emotional desire’ into financial support
Charlotte RogersThe combination of a clear purpose, editorial commitment and great timing helped The Guardian’s ‘Hope is Power’ campaign become a “huge driver” of financial support worldwide.
3 questions I wish I’d asked as a junior marketer: Mars’s Berta de Pablos
Molly FlemingAs chief growth officer of Mars, Berta de Pablos is dedicated to eliminating stereotypes, but as a junior marketer one senior leader’s advice to get rid of her accent and adapt her leadership style nearly changed the course of her career.
M&S Food looks to ‘debunk myths’ over its prices in campaign focused on value
Sarah VizardM&S is hoping to communicate its lower prices and points of difference on quality in a new campaign, ‘Re-Marks-able value’.
How to create intricate customer interactions with a human heart
Marketing Week PartnerArtificial intelligence systems can refine customer targeting and improve programmatic advertising, but only with human oversight.
Former M&S marketer Jude Bridge to become Oystercatchers managing partner
Marketing Week ReportersThe former Marks and Spencer, Mothercare and Save Children marketing boss replaces Phil Edmonds at the helm of the marketing consultancy.
Recommended reading: Tangoing tigers and streaming subscriptions
Matt BarkerMarketing Week reviews the latest books and blogs for marketers.
John Lewis and Waitrose launch first joint Christmas ad about an over-excitable dragon
Sarah VizardThe two retailers are hoping to bring a bit of both their brands to tell the story of a young dragon called Edgar who keeps accidentally ruining Christmas.
Renault Clio should be applauded for its powerful same-sex love story
Molly FlemingRenault is celebrating the Clio’s 30th anniversary with a campaign that quietly and thoughtfully tells a same-sex love story that doesn’t descend into cliche.
How Channel 5 joined forces with the Spice Girls to build a TV brand
Charlotte RogersFrom getting the Spice Girls to cut the ribbon at its debut event to pioneering an integrated approach to marketing, the launch of Channel 5 was all about challenging norms and channelling creativity.
Salesforce CMO on what B2C marketers can learn from B2B
Russell ParsonsSalesforce is taking a more creative and longer-term approach to marketing as it looks to make clear its points of difference in an increasingly competitive sector.
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Sainsbury’s tells Santa origin story in Victorian Christmas ad
Sarah VizardSainsbury’s is celebrating its 150th year with a Christmas campaign centred on how festive traditions such as Santa Claus and stockings could have come about.
1 Comment
Boots launches ‘Bootiques’ to help people gift better this Christmas
Ellen HammettThe immersive campaign kicks off with a TV takeover tomorrow evening, which will see the 90-second ad air on ITV, Channel 4, Sky and social media at the same time.
Ikea launches first Christmas ad with ‘irreverent’ take on festive hosting
Sarah VizardIkea hopes to help Britons recover from ‘home shame’ by showing them how little changes can brighten up a house and get it reading for festive hosting.
M&S puts focus on jumping jumpers in ‘very commercial’ Christmas campaign
Ellen HammettM&S puts the product front and centre of its ads for both its food and clothing and home businesses as it looks to drive sales both online and in-store.
In-store retail is finally going digital
Ben DavisFrom Sainsbury’s debating the future of till-free shops to Alibaba reaffirming its commitment to smartphone-assisted retail, the future of in-store shopping is digital.
There’s a brand risk for McDonald’s in firing its CEO
Molly FlemingSteve Easterbrook was in the middle of a brand turnaround when he was fired on Sunday for a “consensual relationship” with an employee.
3 Comments
Ignoring TV is a strange choice for a big brand
Mark RitsonIf you have a big budget and are making long-form video ads, it makes little sense to leave the most effective medium out of the mix, as Gap has done by rejecting TV for its Christmas campaign.
Reports
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The changing face of retail and the real impact of 5G
Digital Shift: The changing martech landscape and horizontal innovation
From the ever-changing martech landscape and the rise of brands looking to innovate horizontally to the changing face of retail and the real impact of 5G, this Digital Shift report from Econsultancy covers all the hottest topics in digital marketing. Click below to listen to the accompanying webinar. Listen to the webinar
Marketers today face a radically different communication and product landscape.
1. Foreword When I ask senior marketers to tell me what marketing framework they are most familiar with, they often suggest the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). This model was first published in 1960 by American marketing professor Edmund Jerome McCarthy in his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. This was in an era of […]
Mobile users expect immediacy and convenience at their fingertips
1. Foreword Before the launch of the iPhone in 2007, and for some years after that, ‘mobile’ was perceived as a standalone channel, deserving a dedicated strategy, budget and team. Now that ‘mobile’ has become infused into every aspect of digital marketing, no longer considered as a distinct channel, do marketers still need a standalone […]
Marketing That Matters: How ‘This Girl Can’ broke the mould for behaviour change campaigns
Marketing Week ReportersWe continue our podcast series by looking into This Girl Can, the groundbreaking 2015 campaign from Sport England.
How Virgin Media plans to become ‘the most irresistible brand’
Sarah VizardThe telecoms giant is shifting more money to brand marketing as it looks to “get its Virgin-ness” back and attract more customers to its services.
3 Comments
Adidas: We over-invested in digital advertising
Sarah VizardAdidas admits that a focus on efficiency rather than effectiveness led it to over-focus on ROI and over-invest in performance and digital at the expense of brand building.
Just 10% of brands in the UK excel at customer experience
Charlotte RogersThe tech industry leads the way in customer satisfaction, while the logistics, energy and water sectors lag far behind, according to new research from the company behind NPS shared exclusively with Marketing Week.
Risk and reward: How retail brands are managing returns
Matthew ValentineA normal part of doing business or an expense crippling the bottom line, the issue of returns is climbing up the retail agenda as brands deliberate how to tackle repeat offenders.
McDonald’s turns to tech to build the future of fast food
Molly FlemingSince the acquisition of tech startup Dynamic Yield in March, McDonald’s has been rapidly building its tech capabilities to improve the customer experience and boost revenues.
1 Comment
How to succeed as a marketer abroad
Charlotte RogersExploring the international market can be an exhilarating ride, throwing yourself into new cultures and widening your scope of reference, but going into it with your eyes open is crucial.
Why alternative job titles prove marketing is not the ‘colouring-in department’
Matthew ValentineDoes the plethora of new titles for senior marketing roles reflect a change in the nature of marketing, or is it a case of window dressing gone wild?
Meet Marketing Week’s Marketer of the Year: Tesco’s Alessandra Bellini
Ellen HammettTesco’s Alessandra Bellini believes in the power of brands, is rigorous with measurement and doesn’t do what her customers say. She also just loves selling bananas. The winner of the Marketing Week Masters Marketer of the Year award explains how keeping it simple has helped turnaround the Tesco business.
Are brands missing the point of personalisation?
Marketing Week PartnerPersonalising a customer’s experience should mean that brands respond in real time to the context of each individual’s natural journey, but to achieve this requires marketers to take the lead in breaking down their companies’ silos.
Why brands need to offer a little more conversation
Marketing Week PartnerConversation-starters are the best way of solidifying relationships with customers, as delegates at the Festival of Marketing heard.
How to create intricate customer interactions with a human heart
Marketing Week PartnerArtificial intelligence systems can refine customer targeting and improve programmatic advertising, but only with human oversight.
