Which brands are winning the global head-to-heads?
Second-placed brands are giving the market leaders across a number of categories a run for their money by focusing on creativity, humour and digital innovation.
McDonald’s on the next stage of its digital transformation
In the latest episode of Digital Decoded, we test McDonald’s mobile ordering app and speak to the brand’s digital director to find out what the future holds.
Coca-Cola: We need more courage to become a growth-orientated business
Coca-Cola wants to make sure it has “greater curiosity” so that it doesn’t rest on its laurels and is able to adapt more quickly to changing consumer behaviour.
Saga relaunches brand as it looks to shake off ‘old people’ image
Former Tesco marketer Matt Atkinson is overseeing big changes at the brand as it looks to appeal to an age group that is healthier and more adventurous than ever.
KFC’s ‘The Whole Chicken’ ad could face investigation as complaints top 250
KFC’s new ad has received hundreds of complaints about a range of issues, including whether it is “offensive”, “misleading” and “distressing”.
McDonald’s claims it has ‘only scratched the surface’ with food delivery as sales soar
The fast food brand says ‘mobile ordering and pay’ is its biggest priority, as it looks to expand into breakfast and lunch occasions.
How outdoor’s digital transformation is winning over advertisers
The outdoor ad industry has invested huge amounts in a digital transformation that has helped reignite excitement among marketers by making the format more creative, interactive and targeted.
Ford shifts to local advertising as it looks to become more ‘British-centric’
The car marque says all of its future ads will be made in the UK and tailored specifically to the British market, but insists it has nothing to do with being nationalistic or Brexit.
Tackling market research with confidence
Understanding customers is vital but market research isn’t always as high up the agenda as it should be.
Volvo wins Channel 4’s £1m diversity competition
Volvo has triumphed in the first Diversity in Advertising Award, winning £1m in airtime for its pitch around non-visible disability.
Channel 4 unveils first Great British Bake Off sponsors
Channel 4 has signed up Lyle’s Golden Syrup and Dr. Oetker as the official broadcast sponsors for The Great British Bake Off, which is set to return to TV screens later this year.
Harry Lang: You can’t ditch brand for performance marketing – even in digital
It’s difficult to create true differentiation today, but even in online-only industries you still need brand marketing to make performance marketing effective.
Unlock your creativity
Marketing Week’s sister brand Creative Review is launching a learning programme designed to increase creative abilities.
Ad spend under pressure as big brands pull back on TV
UK advertising saw its slowest growth for almost four years in the first quarter as TV spend dropped 6.2%.
Mark Ritson: Only crap marketers mistake stereotypes for segments
The ASA’s research into harmful gender stereotypes is spot-on, but why do marketers believe lumping millennials together as one makes any more sense?
Google beats Apple and Facebook to top global brand health list
Tech brands including Google, YouTube and Facebook dominate YouGov’s first global brand health rankings, while retailers top the list in the UK.
Marketoonist on the problem with focus groups
Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne See more of the Marketoonist here
Helen Tupper: Be informed, not overwhelmed
Learning about your industry and competitors will improve your effectiveness but we often don’t prioritise it. Here are some strategies for making the time.
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.
Amazon, The Guardian, TomTom: Everything that matters this morning
Catch up on all the latest marketing news with our morning round-up.
Hack your commute: Take a different route
Inspiring ideas to expand your mind on the way to work.
Employees must know we care about their wellbeing, says Shutterstock
Healthy body, healthy mind is the philosophy at stock photography site Shutterstock, which focuses its wellbeing strategy on promoting understanding and inclusivity.
Greggs, L’Oréal, gender stereotyping: 5 things that mattered this week and why
Catch up on all the week’s big marketing news including the crackdown on gender stereotyping in advertising, the latest IPA Bellwether report and Greggs’ plans for home delivery.
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
Brought to you by Zendesk
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 […]
Greggs wants a slice of the home delivery pie
The food-on-the-go brand’s CEO Roger Whiteside says Greggs is looking to expand its digital ambitions with plans for mobile ordering, click-and-collect and a possible move into the delivery sector.
International round-up: Gillette’s targeting errors & Facebook’s subscription news service
Plus ‘unconventional’ agency acquisitions are on the up and fraudulent ad traffic plummets in Australia.
Tackling gender stereotypes: Are new ad rules the answer?
The new rules face issues over how to rule on a subjective matter and whether it’s the campaigns themselves, or the teams behind them, that are really in need of a shake-up.
Unilever credits in-house content agency U-Studios as marketing savings ‘bear fruit’
The FMCG giant says its savings have been delivering “faster than expected”, with the brand reducing agency fees by 17% in the first half of 2017.
Thomas Barta: A leader’s biggest asset is their ability to inspire
Inspiring customers is high on every marketer’s agenda but to realise great marketing, inspiring your organisation may matter even more.
SoundCloud’s DeJuan Wilson on his journey from admin assistant to global marketer
SoundCloud vice-president of global marketing DeJuan Wilson has had an unusual and eventful career, starting in admin at Coca-Cola, working for hip hop artist P Diddy and now competing with Apple Music at SoundCloud.
Argos to get rid of its most senior marketing role
The retailer’s chief digital and marketing officer Bertrand Bodson is leaving, with no plans for a replacement and his responsibilities to be split across the team.
Marketers’ hiring plans on the up, but for how long?
More companies are planning to hire than cut staff over the next three months, but risks from Brexit could hit future job growth, according to the latest IPA Bellwether.
Wellbeing in the workplace – the latest Marketing Week podcast
Microsoft’s Helen Tupper and Direct line’s Mark Evans join Marketing Week’s Russell Parsons for the latest careers podcast.
Mark Ritson: Putting the C in KFC is an advertising error
KFC’s new ad by Mother puts chickens front and centre, but given the realities of how its birds are reared it’s a dangerous route to go down.
Russell Parsons: People must be seen as a company’s greatest asset
Workforce wellbeing should be a company-wide concern that is built into the fabric of the business. Simply offering a gym membership won’t cut it anymore.
Vodafone puts focus on AI and voice in renewed customer service push
Vodafone is focusing on AI, voice and its chatbot TOBi as it concentrates on customer service and an internal digital transformation.
Why brands are failing to meet the needs of single parents
Despite there being nearly three million lone-parent families in the UK, many employers and brands are still failing to meet the needs of this group.
Digital ad budgets see biggest rise in almost 10 years
Digital growth means overall marketing budgets are up but the IPA warns in its latest Bellwether report that economic and political headwinds will hit ad spend.
SodaStream CEO on why marketing is key as it aims for ‘cult’ brand status
The drinks company spends four times more on advertising than research and development and believes its marketing approach has “hit a nerve” at competitors Coca-Cola and Nestlé.
Marketoonist on brand love
Chief growth officer is just a symbolic role, says J&J CMO
Johnson & Johnson’s Alison Lewis believes the job of marketing has always been about driving growth.
L’Oréal’s Hugh Pile takes sabbatical to help run family business
L’Oréal’s CMO for Western Europe will be replaced but Pile will ‘stay connected’ with the company and return in a new role.
Marketing in the age of ‘micromoments’
Philips is rethinking how it uses data and has taken a new approach to innovation to meet shifts in customer behaviour, according to senior vice-president and global head of digital marketing and media, Blake Cahill.
Brands face crackdown on gender stereotypes in advertising
New rules around gender stereotyping are set to be introduced after a report by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found advertising affects people’s expectations of how others should “look or behave” according to their gender.
The full Masters of Marketing shortlist revealed
Brands including Maltesers, Sainsbury’s, Just Eat and Channel 4 have made it onto the shortlist for this year’s Masters of Marketing awards, in partnership with YouGov.
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.
Combining online and offline channels is key to mastering attribution
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Brands still take a simplistic approach to attribution and are missing the opportunity to engage customers as individuals, says Jaywing head of digital analysis Mitch Vidler.