Colin Lewis: Just because brands can doesn’t mean they should
Landing customers with unexpected price hikes and made-up fees might increase revenues in the short term but the long-term damage could be devastating.
Colin Lewis: Think Black Friday is big? It’s nothing compared to China’s Singles’ Day
Black Friday may seem like a big event in the UK retail calendar but it cannot compete with the sheer scale of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day, which racked up more than £24bn in sales this year and is rapidly becoming a key strategic plank of brands’ plans.
Colin Lewis: Marketers need strategic knowledge, not just tactical tips
The future of marketing study must still focus on a grounding in strategic principles, while the hands-on teaching of tactical tools must be constantly updated.
Colin Lewis: The secret of direct-to-consumer success is owning the whole experience
Direct-to-consumer brands are shaking up the consumer goods market by owning the whole customer experience, rather than simply the product, and there are aspects of how they operate that all brands could learn from.
Colin Lewis: FMCG has become a breeding ground for underperformance
The big FMCG companies might still get the kudos from marketers, but on results, innovation, insight and diversity they have taken their eyes off the ball and let nimble disruptors in.
Colin Lewis: To identify real trends, imagine looking back on them from the future
It’s often hard to look at trends objectively if you’re living through them, but marketers have got to ask themselves whether what they know today will be proven false tomorrow.
Colin Lewis: Being seen as a top ‘influencer’ doesn’t make you a good marketer
Marketers should be more concerned with doing their day job and making an impact that way than trying to top a list of marketing influencers.
Colin Lewis: One word sums up why now is the best time to be a marketer
The level of opportunity open to marketers today means marketing’s golden age is now. The challenge, however, is working out which opportunity to seize first.
Colin Lewis: How to be a modern day marketing mystic
Marketers no longer need fortune-tellers or clairvoyants to advise them what will happen in the future, a quick look at Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon’s results suggests where the industry is headed.
Colin Lewis: We need evidence-based marketing to save us from the fads and fashions
It is all too easy to base marketing strategies on hope, fear, what has worked in the past and what others are doing, but the best marketers will hinge their decisions on the facts.
Colin Lewis: The days of the FMCG marketing hegemony are numbered
The B2B marketing mindset of building ongoing relationships with customers rather than seeing them as one-time buyers is being adopted by businesses across the board so why are the FMCG giants still seen as the Holy Grail of marketing?
Colin Lewis: There’s no talent shortage, just a broken recruitment system
Recruitment processes too often serve to exclude talent in favour of those with the same skills and experience, so it’s time to change your approach.
Ad regulator bans sexist stereotypes, saying they ‘hold back people and society’
The ad regulator says harmful gender stereotypes have “no place” in modern advertising, with the new rules, which come into force next summer, banning sexist stereotypes such as a man’s inability to change a nappy or a woman’s inability to park a car.
Vote for your campaign of 2018: The semi-final
We’re now down to four campaigns. Vote for your favourite to secure its place in the final.
Coca-Cola Great Britain appoints new marketing director
Coca-Cola veteran and former sales director at distributor Coca-Cola European Partners, Paul Grace, takes over from Aedamar Howlett who has been promoted to a European marketing role after two years leading the GB business.
Tanya Joseph: If influencers are authentic they’ll back your brand for free
Influencers can be a fickle bunch, willing to take money and promote the goods of the highest bidder, which in time will erode consumer trust and love for your brand.
