Month: February 2011

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Hotel heritage opens a window on wider world

Michael Barnett

Click here to see marketers question Paul Brown Click here to read a Q&A Hilton Worldwide’s president of global brands and commercial services outlines his vision for what he describes as a ’brand management organisation’ with major expansion plans. When Conrad Hilton addressed the American Hotel Association convention in 1954, he said it was his […]

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Where the seeds of revolution are sown

Mark Choueke

The astonishing and often alarming reports emerging thick and fast from a string of revolutionary fronts in Africa and the Middle East are, at times, unsettling and tragic but also burgeoning with promise. Somehow they serve to crystallise for all of us what level of change we, as individuals and brands, are capable of. The […]

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Why revolutionaries are the mother of evolution

Richard Madden

Brands can learn a lesson from the ’punctuated equilibrium’ academic theory that argues revolution is necessary. The phrase planners probably hear most often is: “We’re looking for evolution, not revolution.” But the more I understand about the way the world works, the more I realise that you can’t have evolution without the occasional revolution. The […]

Privacy not at issue…

Marketing Week

Our privacy controls give users the power to decide what and how much they share and under no circumstances will they be forced to sacrifice this to use a new product. If a user only wants to share their deals with a few close friends, then they can adjust their privacy settings to allow this […]

…And Facebook venture is a natural extension of mobile

Marketing Week

The launch of Facebook Deals represents the natural evolution of mobile marketing. By giving consumers deals, discounts and offers based on their proximity to retail outlets, Facebook can tie together both commercial opportunities and consumer benefits. The space is at last being used to its full potential and what could transpire is the ultimate realisation […]

Use NPS to change face of business

Marketing Week

When measuring customer advocacy, net promoter score techniques (MW last week) are both a great place to start and the worst place to stop. However, a non-diagnostic NPS programme is merely an exercise in data collection, a slave to the balanced scorecard. Too many companies use NPS as a short-term research tool rather than a […]

Engagement strategy just a sales tool

Marketing Week

It is great to see car manufacturers like Honda moving beyond conventional advertising and demonstrating an interest and understanding of customer engagement (MW 10 February). However, I question Honda’s claim that its latest marketing initiatives are “consumer focused, not budget-led”. Using social media encourages open communication and conversation. The decision to buy a car is […]