Helen Tupper: Busy lives require better goal-setting
Setting goals doesn’t mean expressing your hopes, but instead planning the steps required to achieve them.
Mark Ritson: The National Lottery found out the hard way how moronic consumers can be
A National Lottery Twitter campaign has been hijacked by trolls, but marketers would have seen it coming if they weren’t so absorbed in their fantasies of ‘brand love’.
Nokia, Argos, Apple: Everything that matters this morning
We round-up all the important news in the marketing world.
Brands take action to wrestle back control of their digital spend
New research by the WFA finds that global brands are making extensive changes to how they buy digital media in response to growing concerns over issues including brand safety, viewability, transparency and ad fraud.
On a roll: How Greggs’ CEO Roger Whiteside reignited the brand
When Roger Whiteside became CEO of Greggs in 2013, its sales were in freefall, with some critics questioning its future. But four years later and things are very much on the up.
McCain takes ‘bold’ step to deal with misrepresentation of modern families in advertising
The frozen food brand wants to be famous for shining a light on diversity as it sets a new direction for the brand focused on modern families.
Discounts disappearing from supermarket shelves as promotions fall to 10-year low
UK grocers are under increasing pressure to offer transparent pricing, but there are still opportunities in deals and discounts if marketers target the right categories.
Ending the stigma of taking a career break
Welcoming highly skilled professionals back into the workforce after a long-term career break could represent serious financial benefits for both businesses and the wider economy.
Bob Wootton: Can Blockchain clean up the ad industry?
Blockchain has the potential to force media buys to become much more transparent transactions but that doesn’t make it entirely foolproof, says Bob Wootton, principal of Deconstruction Consulting and former ISBA director.
For brand purpose to work ‘marketers must take a broader perspective’
As custodians of the brand, marketers have a critical role to play in implementing purpose across organisations, says co-founder of brand substance agency Given London and former CSR manager at The Body Shop, Becky Willan.
Marketoonist on how to write a creative brief
Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne See more of the Marketoonist here
Huddersfield Town on being the Premier League’s new challenger brand
As the 2017/18 Premier League season kicks off today, Huddersfield Town commercial director Sean Jarvis discusses the Terriers’ plan to take on the big boys with a new brand identity.
Data Storytelling Awards return and are open for entry
The Data Storytelling Awards celebrate excellence in the use of data tools and techniques in insight and analytics.
Why strategic thinking is a marketing leader’s most important attribute
Far more important than relationship building, people management or vision, strategic thinking is the key leadership attribute marketers need to succeed.
Anatomy of a Leader: The practical skills you need to get to the top
According to Marketing Week’s major new study on the ‘Anatomy of a Leader’, modern marketing leaders are focusing on driving strategy and using their skills to champion the next wave of talent, rather than attempting to be brilliant at everything.
Do you have the Anatomy of a Leader?
Modern marketing leaders are refocusing their energy on sales and commerciality, building on their fundamental functional skills to drive tangible business success, according to Marketing Week’s major new study on the ‘Anatomy of a Leader’.
Russell Parsons: The modern marketing leaders might not be who you think
The marketing leaders of today are not necessarily digital experts or transformation specialists but commercially accountable strategic thinkers.
Take our quiz to find out if you have the Anatomy of a Leader
As part of Marketing Week’s exclusive Anatomy of a Leader research we have devised a short test to see if you have the necessary skills and attributes needed to become a marketing leader.
Anatomy of a Leader: The key skills marketers must possess
From sales and commercial awareness to campaign planning and innovation, what are the key skills modern marketing leaders need?
Colin Lewis: Future leaders will need a compass, not a map
In an uncharted world of exponential change driven by technology, marketing leadership means depending on judgement as much as data, and personality as much as skills.
International round-up: US TV giants cut ads & the trial aimed at reducing ad fraud
Plus why the Australian ad watchdog says it won’t consider complaints for ads about legalising same-sex marriage and Nielsen adds Facebook, YouTube and Hulu views to its digital ratings.
Asda returns to sales growth but brand recovery is still some way off
Asda posts first increase in sales for three years as it says focus on price and customer experience has helped attract new shoppers.
From sausage rolls to salads: Behind the scenes at Greggs
Four years ago Greggs was struggling to win over customers but CEO Roger Whiteside has turned things around by shifting focus from bakery to food-on-the-go.
Four sales trends to watch this Christmas
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Using data to understand shoppers’ real behaviour and target them individually is the route to Christmas sales success. Criteo’s John Gillan gives marketers four festive insights.
5 killer stats to start your week
We arm you with all the stats you need to prepare for the coming week and help you understand the big industry trends.
Hack your commute: Write a letter for a good cause
Inspiring ideas to expand your mind on the way to work.
Tommy Hilfiger, Facebook and Burger King on what makes a marketing leader
Top global marketers discuss the key attributes a modern marketing leader needs to succeed in 2017.
Diageo, Google & new data laws: 5 things that mattered this week and why
We round-up everything you need to know from the marketing world this week including major research into what it takes to be a marketing leader, Diageo’s new marketing role and the Google gender diversity row.
Snapchat promises to focus on proving ad effectiveness
The social platform says it wants to “enhance” its ad offering, develop its programmatic tools and prove the effectiveness of its advertising.
Recommended reading: Groundbreaking campaigns and becoming a master of time
Marketing Week reviews the latest books for marketers.
Thomas Barta: Strategy means nothing without leadership
Even the best marketing strategy, driven by the deepest of customer insights, will go nowhere if you can’t convince colleagues it is the right course of action.
Get organised with this essential guide to key ecommerce dates in 2017
Brought to you by Channel Advisor
Q3 has begun, and it is time to start thinking about the holidays. From Amazon’s Prime Day and Back-to-School sales through the busy holiday rush at the end of the year, use this guide to start planning your promotions.
Provide top customer experiences with agile customer care
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In order to engage with your customers in real time, customer care organisation needs agile tools that empower them to deliver the kind of top-notch customer service that builds relationships and positively impacts the business. Learn what it takes to not only survive in this new landscape, but to thrive.
What advertising effectiveness means to marketers in a digital world
Brought to you by Research Now
With channel diversification and media mixes becoming more complex, the number of metrics that can be tracked in an advertising campaign has increased dramatically. Tracking everything is a difficult task, and marketers need to align the metrics they are tracking with the objectives of the strategy or campaign.
How to overcome data deadlock
Brought to you by BlueVenn
How UK and US marketers are using data in 2017, future trends and how that aligns with consumer thinking.
Nine ways to make the most of Facebook advertising
Brought to you by Channel Advisor
Did you know that Facebook now boasts 1.8 billion monthly active users? And with ad revenues in Q3 2016 reaching an incredible $6.8bn, it is no wonder why more and more retailers are finding it difficult to resist the platform’s immense advertising potential.
Mobile marketing cookbook: Whip up the best push notification strategy
Brought to you by Tune
There are millions of apps throughout several app stores. This means that more than ever, it’s vital to have a plan for keeping your app alive and successfully generating revenue. We have whipped up a mobile marketing cookbook; inside you will find steps to perfect your push notification recipe.
Demystifying digital – a guide to better digital marketing
Brought to you by Ebiquity
The pace of change in digital media is dizzying. With constant innovation and increasing complexity, it is not surprising that many marketers feel both out of control and out of their depth. Taking control of and responsibility for digital is the key to becoming a better marketer. This guide covers advertising efficiency, programmatic media buying, […]
The GDPR: Our guide to what’s coming
Brought to you by Communicator
The General Data Protection Regulation is coming in 2018, bringing with it changes to data protection and compliance laws backed by huge fines. This is a big deal for marketers. Communicator’s guide to what is coming is the first in their series, telling you what to expect and giving you a starting point to assess […]
Behaviour change: Disrupt your consumers, not your innovation
Brought to you by Mash
In today’s fast changing world of changing political landscapes, emergent technology, accelerated competition and seismic cultural shifts, growth has never been harder to come by. Deploying behaviour change strategies remains a key tool for global brands to unlock growth without the scale of investment and risks inherent in innovation.
Four simple steps to implementing the ultimate digital retail experience
Brought to you by Mapp
Kick-start your multichannel, one-to-one customer engagement strategy. Download ‘The secret recipe to create the ultimate digital retail experience’ to discover the challenges of providing a personalised shopping experience and how to overcome them, including examples of how retailers are already doing this today. What is the ultimate digital retail experience? Why experience matters in the […]
How to use content to better motivate modern travellers
Brought to you by Olapic
In an increasingly competitive travel marketplace, driving engagement and bookings with important travel audiences is an enormous challenge for brands. To help supplement the need for high-quality, personalised content at scale, many brands have turned to travellers’ own content on networks like Instagram and Facebook. But what motivates travellers to create and share brand content? […]
Brands and retailers: What’s your relationship status?
Brought to you by Channel Advisor
As a branded manufacturer, do you sometimes feel like you’re adrift in the rising tide of ecommerce – unsure of which direction to turn? Retailers have adapted to ecommerce, and most sell their products online. But for brands, it’s different. Each brand has unique needs and circumstances that dictate whether they should sell directly to […]
Livestreaming is key to building authenticity
Livestreamed events, such as Nike’s recent #Breaking2 record attempt, represent a big opportunity for brands looking to be seen as authentic.
GE’s CMO Linda Boff on why marketing leaders must be ‘growth hunters’
Resilient growth hunters ready to grab the opportunities of the gig economy will be the marketing leaders of the future, according to the General Electric CMO.
International round-up: McDonald’s expands in China, Marriott teams up with Alibaba
Plus Australian alcohol brands face new ad rules and the launch of Verizon’s new loyalty programme.
Ad industry unites to create first European viewability standard
The cross-industry group hopes to create a “baseline quality” for what counts as a viewable impression across Europe in the latest step towards a consistent, global standard.
Ed Pilkington: To talk about quality, you first need a story
Brands need to deliver quality across everything they do, it is then marketers’ job to share the core product messages as part of a compelling narrative.
Morrisons reignites row over ‘misleading’ farm brands with ban
Supermarket chain has pledged that it will not sell ‘fake farm’ own brands despite success of the ranges at rivals including Tesco and Asda.
Three, VW, Absolut: The top 10 YouTube ads in July
The most popular ads on YouTube last month included Three’s Go Binge, Ford’s new ‘Go Further’ campaign and the actor who played Hodor in Game of Thrones trying to deal with demand for KFC’s new chicken and rice lunch.
Diageo hires first director of culture and entertainment
The drinks company is creating a new director of culture and entertainment, media and futures role to fuel growth in the “growing discipline”.
Laundrapp’s CEO on disruption and why it shies away from digital marketing
The laundry app’s chief Ed Relf on building brands by focusing on trust and why marketers make the best entrepreneurs.
Marketoonist on snackable content
Mark Ritson: Google memo reveals the many perils of gender discrimination
The Google memo by engineer James Damore, attacking the company for pursuing gender diversity, shows how damaging it is to make sex-based assumptions – but it also reveals big political problems for the web giant.
Sign up to our webinar on building a world-class optimisation programme
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Learn how to achieve a foolproof experimentation strategy.
Has the Under Armour brand lost its cool?
As sales growth slows and shares hit a four-year low, many are questioning whether Under Armour has lost momentum.
5 killer stats to start your week
We arm you with all the stats you need to prepare for the coming week and help you understand the big industry trends.
Tanya Joseph: New data laws are a chance to reset customer relationships
As the UK government announces plans to overhaul UK data protection laws, meaning the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be transferred into UK law, Tanya Joseph asks what it means for marketers.
Tom Goodwin: The future of retail is everything being shoppable
In the second of three articles on the future of retail, Zenith USA’s head of innovation Tom Goodwin says marketers must get used to everything being a ‘shoppable layer’ of retail, placing their brand wherever sales can happen and shortening the path to purchase.
Hack your commute: Stop multitasking
Inspiring ideas to expand your mind on the way to work.
Snapchat, Amazon, Uber: Everything that matters this morning
We round-up everything you need to know in the marketing world.
Coke, Safeway and Sky: 5 things that mattered this week and why
Catch up on all the week’s big marketing news including Sky launching a new loyalty scheme, Coca-Cola exploring sustainability in its advertising for the first time, and Morrisons bringing Safeway back.
Asics in biggest brand shakeup in 25 years as it looks to broaden appeal
The Japanese sports brand is overhauling its marketing strategy as it looks to become known for more than just running gear.
KFC’s ‘The Whole Chicken’ ad avoids investigation
Almost 500 complaints were filed against the ad, which shows chickens confidently strutting around a barn to DMX’s ‘X Gon’ Give It To Ya’.
Will other brands follow P&G’s lead and cut digital ad spend?
P&G’s decision to cut digital ad spend last quarter shows too many brands are still wasting money on ineffective digital ads.
BT shifts marketing strategy from ‘celebrities and hyperbole’ to building trust
The telecoms giant is changing its advertising style to take a more emotional approach in a bid to become more “relevant” to consumers’ lives.
International round-up: Pizza Hut offers free pizza, Tesco Ireland repositions
This week’s round-up includes Amazon promising ‘thousands of jobs’ in Australia, India cracking down on marketing by pharmaceutical companies and Tesco repositioning its brand in Ireland.