Zero-based budgeting hurts long-term brand-building, while advertising-to-sales ratios are entirely arbitrary. There’s a much better, ‘two-speed’ way to set marketing budgets.
Ofcom’s latest data yet again shows why TV should be at the top of most big brands’ media plans, yet some marketers insist on ignoring the facts. Here are the answers to their most common quibbles.
For the first time in many marketers’ working memories, the fastest-growing ad channel next year will be non-digital, and it’s a testament to cinema’s enduring audience appeal and emotional impact.
Companies like McDonald’s are abandoning the CMO role in part because marketers insist on constant, pointless reinvention of the position and its responsibilities.
By unveiling that 007 will be a black woman in the next James Bond movie, the producers of the franchise have learned a lesson all brands should take heed of – brands that want to stay relevant and true to their identity must continue to evolve.
Focus groups are a bone of contention, as a Twitter debate featuring Professor Byron Sharp this week showed, but while they are flawed, they are still a quick and cheap route to useful insights.
Can veteran marketer Miguel Patricio use his expert eye to turn a dusty and confused portfolio around or has he got himself into a giant box of shit?
The Cannes Lions festival featured endless ill-informed speculation about 5G mobile networks, all rendered pointless by Mark Ritson’s wondrous new invention – 9G.
Ritson reveals his insights into what makes “perfectly effective” campaigns and why marketers must go big if they want to see the best results.
Marketing Week columnist Mark Ritson digs into the marketing strategy that helped Australian iced coffee brand Dare more than double sales.
Marketing Week columnist Mark Ritson explains how generating excess share of voice enabled Lidl to accelerate sales and market share, and tackle brand perceptions.
Marketing Week columnist Mark Ritson explains how the Mars-owned brand turned around falling sales by introducing clearer positioning and making better use of its brand codes.
Procter & Gamble’s US Tide brand delivered a perfect brief and chose a brilliant piece of creative by Saatchi & Saatchi, making it a deserved Grand Effie winner.
Marketers delude themselves into believing consumers like ads, but by accepting they don’t you’ll better understand how to make an effective one.
Those who highlight what digital media you could buy for the same price as a Super Bowl ad miss the point – they offer unrivalled effectiveness among the largest of audiences.
Internet ad spend may still be growing at the expense of newspapers and magazines, according to GroupM forecasts, but market maturity is approaching, news brands have diversified and most ‘traditional’ media will also grow next year.
Les Binet and Peter Field’s research has gained fame by showing the need to balance long- and short-term marketing, and while criticisms of their methods are fair, their conclusions still appear to be valid.
New Ebiquity data questions whether TV’s superiority for marketing effectiveness will last beyond five years, but it ignores people’s propensity to change behaviour as they get older.
Many variables affect sales, which don’t always correlate to how good your ads are. The only way to measure campaigns effectively is against the metrics you want to change and the time you need to do it in.
As Gary Vaynerchuk continues to dominate much of the debate on marketing around the globe, our branding columnist suggests he is wrong – repeatedly – about the respective value of TV and social media.
By adopting Liverpool FC’s red colour to celebrate its long association with the club, Carlsberg continues to play with its distinctive assets in a way that revitalises the brand.
Mastercard dropping its name from its logo demonstrates branding strength most companies lack – and it’s all down to the sustained and consistent use of highly distinctive assets.
Byron Sharp’s recent claim that it is ‘impossible’ to place a value on brand perceptions is not just mistaken, it is a rejection of true scientific method.
Leeds United last week conspired to create the worst rebrand in history, but the club’s response to fans shows how much passion and character still surrounds a brand languishing far below its competitive peak.
Founders live and breathe their brands, and Superdry’s Julian Dunkerton should be able to correct the strategic mistakes of the past, as long as he’s not stuck in the past himself.
If Elizabeth Warren or another Democrat wins the White House, Facebook, Google and Amazon may finally realise they can’t hang on to their dominant positions forever.
Many marketers will see Tesla’s decision to shut its dealerships in favour of online sales as another example of physical retail’s decline, but the real reason is more mundane – cash.
Consolidation of teams to remove duplication by specialist digital marketers can’t come soon enough, and will allow us to focus on the consumer instead of the media channel.
A new report confirms media agency staff are nothing like the consumers they serve, but the bigger question is whether they and marketers are market-orientated enough to know this and let customer insight guide them.
Superbrands’ bogus methodology regularly turns up inexplicable and nonsensical ‘findings’. Here are my top 10 aberrations from this year’s Superbrands Consumer Top 20 ranking.
Psychographic segmentation has been out of favour for a while despite its obvious usefulness, but combining it with behavioural and addressable data creates a potent mix that could make targeting supremely effective.
Even if we smack our heads in frustration when consumers make stupid choices, there’s nothing worse than a marketer who wastes money ‘educating’ a market. Customers’ perceptions must become your reality.
Carlsberg has turned its famous strapline on its head to admit it is ‘Probably not the best beer in the world’, a move that recalls its heritage while achieving a much needed repositioning.
Distinctiveness and differentiation are both integral to brand success so there doesn’t need to be a trade-off between the two.
Time and again companies have proved unwilling to stick to their lofty purpose statements when it costs them money. For purpose to have any meaning, corporations need to put it before profit.
There are two ways to position a brand – ‘about’ something and ‘versus’ something – and the most powerful examples of positioning do both.
The Guardian is a fine newspaper and should be proud to reverse its losses, but by giving its product away for free it is preventing the news industry profiting from quality journalism.
After probing America’s newest industry four key questions spring to mind: Which will be the big marijuana brands of the future? Why does scale drive ad effectiveness? What day is it? And, why have my legs stopped working?
Gillette’s purpose-driven attempt to revitalise its slogan, ‘The best a man can get’, isn’t just a waste of ad budget but an expensive exercise in destroying its dominant market share.
Direct Line Group’s brand strategy is best-in-class, as evidenced by its IPA Effectiveness Award win last week. Here’s 10 reasons why marketers should sit up and take note.
Steve Jobs built Apple’s brand on simple design and a sparing product line-up, but now its portfolio is a mess of wires and product variants that make Microsoft look like the cooler brand.
Kraft Heinz is suffering from a number of self-inflicted wounds, from underinvestment in its brands to a failure to adapt its portfolio to modern tastes, leading to a parlous financial situation.
The number of direct-to-consumer brands is ballooning, as are predictions of the traditional FMCG sector’s demise, yet people underestimate the resilience and capability of the established giants.
Marketing leadership has failed to instill pride in the discipline, as a LinkedIn post by Unilever’s European president proves, leading to constant attempts to use purpose to apologise for or redefine it unnecessarily.
No company before Facebook has had so many users while being so disliked, but the risk of moving Instagram to the same platform is one Mark Zuckerberg seems willing to take to keep control and integrate the brands’ data.
The merger of Wunderman and JWT into Wunderman Thompson shows the key challenge of consolidating agencies: while necessary, it’s complicated by their commoditisation and lack of differentiation.
The way companies structure their brands gets little attention but is of huge importance, as three high-profile stories have reminded us this week.
To maximise both revenues and savings, Sainsbury’s and Asda’s merger must get brand architecture right, unifying operations while keeping the brands distinct.
Whether or not Thomas Cook responds to financial rumours, once trust in its stability is undermined its brand equity will erode, obliterating future sales.
Noel Edmonds’ clever campaign for compensation from Lloyds Banking Group is harming perceptions of the Lloyds brand, which will ultimately cost it customers – and he’s unlikely to give up.
The KFC chicken crisis caused by DHL’s delivery failures could have been disastrous, but a rapid strategic response has ensured the brand will benefit long-term from increased awareness and a boost in consumer demand.
Marketers were reportedly upset that their ads appeared next to expletives on Mumsnet, but that’s how real people talk and it pales in comparison to terrorist content as a risk to brands online.