Five pricing principles marketers can use to foster greater consumer happiness
Helen EdwardsCustomers are becoming increasingly savvy about pricing tactics, but there are ways for marketers to avoid resentment. However, they come with a catch.
Helen Edwards
A brand is more than a commodity, the question is how much more
Helen EdwardsIt’s true a product’s purpose is to perform its function effectively, but the value of a brand is in making consumers believe it does more than that.
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10 books for marketing advantage
Helen EdwardsYou’ve likely read the foundational books of Kotler, Keller and Levitt but there are a number of other books marketers should read to add breadth, insight and originality to their marketing arsenal.
Marketers have a duty to please suppliers as well as customers
Helen EdwardsShortages of staff and raw materials mean marketers must influence how suppliers perceive them, and ground product development in supply chain reality.
Great brands offer numerous lessons any marketer can apply
Helen EdwardsFollowing the recent death of Red Bull cofounder Dietrich Mateschitz, our columnist breaks down the elements behind its and other notable brands’ marketing success stories.
The metrics of ‘maybe’: Why you need to step off the proven paths
Helen EdwardsObsessively repeating what has proven effective may deliver results but leaves you vulnerable to disruption, so always leave some space to experiment.
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Five research techniques that are living on borrowed time
Helen EdwardsEvery research agency has a methodology it wants to sell, but here are five that marketers should consign to the scrap heap.
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For a true view of the consumer, get them to talk like themselves
Helen EdwardsUnfiltered, unfettered conversations among real people reveal their values and priorities, so make your focus groups more spontaneous and less controlled.
Try, try again – especially if you think you got it right first time
Helen EdwardsToo much marketing feels like the product of a workshop settling too quickly on a solution. Instead, iterate your ideas and push yourself to do better.
Emotions are contagious: Don’t let fear be your team’s underlying emotional current
Helen EdwardsThe way marketing leaders behave directly influences their team. Positive CMOs are more likely to get their teams to deliver positive outcomes – and the same is true at the other end of the scale.
Search for the sweet spot between optimism and realism
Helen EdwardsMarketers aiming to be entrepreneurial mustn’t be too ambitious or too negative, but instead be a ‘spotist’, who sees both the opportunities and challenges without being overwhelmed by either.
Consumers are cutting back – is your brand next for the chop?
Helen EdwardsInflation forces consumers to edit brands out of their lives. To retain a starring role, your brand must be essential to their day, or inject it with joy.
Having second thoughts about first-person branding? You should be
Helen EdwardsBrands and products that refer to themselves as ‘I’ come across as infantile and annoying. Think twice when creating your tone of voice.
Marketing’s transformative questions don’t start with ‘how?’
Helen EdwardsMarketers are often preoccupied with practical challenges, but also need to address questions of vision that start with ‘why?’ and ‘what if?’.
The key ingredient your brand – and sector – is missing
Helen EdwardsEvery sector has a blind spot in the experience that brands offer, and by addressing it you could gain a real competitive advantage.
Marketers must prove ‘sustainable consumption’ is not an oxymoron
Helen EdwardsBrands need to encourage better – not more – consumption, if they are to have a place in a sustainable future for our planet and society.