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Digital is a downstream discipline
Helen EdwardsBrands need big ideas to earn fame, but even though most media spend goes on digital, digital agencies are not set up for creative excellence.
Helen Edwards
The biggest benefit of returning to the office is internal competition
Helen EdwardsFor all the assertions that teamwork and innovation are the main reasons to go back to the office, in reality the biggest incentive is the impulse to keep pace with colleagues.
A brand plan for the ‘quarantine hotel’ CMO
Helen EdwardsMid-market hotels are in the strange position of having to detain prisoners rather than delight customers. Here are a few ways they can avoid brand damage.
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Design deserves the same status as advertising in marketers’ plans
Helen EdwardsAdvertising generally takes precedence over the more modest discipline of design when it comes to brand strategy, but marketers should recognise that they have the same influence over consumers’ perceptions.
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A dictionary for Mondelēz, and 10 more suggestions for marketing Secret Santa
Helen EdwardsStuck for something to buy your favourite agency, CMO or marketing columnist? Here are some apt ideas that can’t fail to please.
John Lewis’s diversification strategy smacks of fanciful thinking
Helen EdwardsWhen established brands try to move beyond their core competence it rarely works, and John Lewis’s plan to move into residential property seems poorly thought through.
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Stop ‘nudging’ customers and pay attention when they nudge you
Helen EdwardsBrands that ignore the small signs customers are unhappy will soon feel the financial impacts if they don’t respond.
Your employer brand means just as much to consumers
Helen EdwardsNow may seem the right time to prioritise customer-facing brands, but in this crisis your employer brand is critical to staff motivation and consumers’ perceptions of your company’s ethics.
Don’t expect a slogan to make your brand famous
Helen EdwardsIt’s true that a strapline can give a brand fame and mental availability, but only if it’s a great one, which gets harder to achieve as time goes by.
Localism’s potential is limited by the scale needed to innovate
Helen EdwardsThe pandemic has accentuated consumers’ already strong affinity for local brands, but innovation budgets remain big brands’ advantage.
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Coronavirus offers big brands the chance to think like a ‘re-startup’
Helen EdwardsActing like a startup is never usually realistic for large corporates, but the Covid crisis now requires these companies to reassess many of their first principles.
Irreplaceability is the ultimate goal of a brand
Helen EdwardsAs marketers work from home and strive to make sense of their marketing priorities, there is a case to be made for optimism, pragmatism and perspective.
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B2B marketing is hard, as those who cross over know
Helen EdwardsB2B marketing can be great because the size of the opportunity is great but marketers must also realise it is a test of both flexibility and endurance.
Embracing doubt helps you do things differently
Helen EdwardsIf you are wondering whether you have the confidence to make it in the marketing industry, remember to listen to in-vogue marketing mantra less and the consumer a bit more.
Marketing’s claim to the C-suite is more than strong enough
Helen EdwardsMarketing is infuriatingly hard to articulate, and apt to languish unnoticed and unappreciated by those in harder-edged corporate roles. It can, however, make the difference between a corporation and its brands hobbling along the ground or soaring up into the stratosphere.