The right questions are more important than the right answers
Colin LewisWhen it comes to customer insight, all to often marketers go in knowing what they want the answer to be, but becoming a better questioner is a skill that can be learnt.
Colin Lewis
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Strategy is a luxury for small brands – focus on being better known
Colin LewisSmall brands may have many of the same challenges as big brands, but growing a startup is about entrepreneurship and sales, not marketing strategy.
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Ethics are central to consumers’ new definition of value
Colin LewisThe transformation of the economic and cultural landscape means the notion of value is changing and a very different era for marketers awaits.
99.99% of the smartest people don’t work for your brand
Colin LewisWhile the vast majority of top talent doesn’t work at your company, there are ways to tap into their knowledge and marketers are well-placed to help businesses see the benefits.
All marketing is data-driven marketing
Colin LewisData-driven marketing drives results, proves value and delivers insight, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking it can’t be used to enhance creativity too.
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Could a computer write a prize-winning ad campaign?
Colin LewisThere is potential for artificial intelligence to be used in advertising – particularly copywriting – as it has a very definite pattern and structure, but AI-created ads are unlikely to win any awards for creativity just yet.
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A marketer’s view of martech
Colin LewisBeware of letting the tail wag the dog: technology is integral to modern marketing but tools are no replacement for strategy.
China makes customer experience in the West feel outdated
Colin LewisScale, speed and convenience give Chinese brands a lead over their UK counterparts in customer experience – and they’re starting to leave us behind.
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It’s tempting to be cynical but ‘agile’ is the real deal
Colin LewisAgile might be a much derided buzzword but when marketers take their cues from software developers and begin to work in an ‘agile’ way it can offer big benefits to ways of working.
5G is about to usher in yet another new marketing era
Colin LewisThe move from 4G to 5G has been likened to the shift from typewriter to computer and it will have profound impacts on businesses, consumers and marketing.
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Just because brands can doesn’t mean they should
Colin LewisLanding customers with unexpected price hikes and made-up fees might increase revenues in the short term but the long-term damage could be devastating.
Think Black Friday is big? It’s nothing compared to China’s Singles’ Day
Colin LewisBlack 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.
Marketers need strategic knowledge, not just tactical tips
Colin LewisThe 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.
The secret of direct-to-consumer success is owning the whole experience
Colin LewisDirect-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.
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FMCG has become a breeding ground for underperformance
Colin LewisThe 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.