The hidden power of the marketing funnel
Thomas BartaTo some people the marketing funnel is far too simplistic; to others it can be a priceless tool for improving sales.
Digital TV must overcome its contradictions if it wants to attract more ad dollars
Ben DavisDigital TV is becoming ever more popular among consumers, yet it lags behind in advertisers’ plans. Yet as the siloes between digital and TV break down, it is an area brands should find worth exploring.
Being a ‘me-too’ brand is more desirable than it sounds
Helen EdwardsIt’s all very well being differentiated, disruptive and revolutionary, but if your main competitor makes a meaningful improvement, your brand will drop behind if you don’t follow suit.
Ethnography beats focus groups hands-down, but they still serve a purpose
Mark RitsonFocus 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.
Rebranding CMOs as growth officers doesn’t help market marketing
Lucy TesserasAs another big global business hires a chief growth officer rather than a CMO, will it help to reframe marketing’s role within the wider business or is there a risk of further damaging marketing’s reputation by pitching it as something separate to growth?
Brands must adopt the same approach to diversity as they do marketing briefs
Tanya JosephIn order to increase the representation of people from diverse background, brands have got to create the right conditions for diversity to grow.
Introducing the new Marketing Week
Russell ParsonsWelcome to the new-look Marketing Week, where we’ve made some changes to serve our purpose of helping you become a more effective marketer while reflecting the modern marketing landscape.
Kraft Heinz’s new CEO needs to deliver a much-needed dose of tough love
Mark RitsonCan 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?
Marketers are forgetting the importance of A/B testing
Thomas BartaThe value of A/B testing should not be underestimated, but all too often it’s overlooked.
5G is the latest hot topic on the bullsh*t roadshow
Mark RitsonThe Cannes Lions festival featured endless ill-informed speculation about 5G mobile networks, all rendered pointless by Mark Ritson’s wondrous new invention – 9G.
User experience will suffer without trust in AI
Ben DavisPeople don’t automatically trust machines, so as personalisation and automation step up a notch marketers need to ensure they do everything they can to create transparent and user-friendly experiences.
Don’t lose sight of the fact your job is to find customers
Thomas BartaWhile a marketer’s job is varied, ultimately the end-goal is to find profitable customers.
There’s no perfect method for measuring creative
Helen EdwardsAs the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity draws to an end for another year, many marketers will be patting themselves on the back for wins at the awards. But are they really measuring the effectiveness of their creativity?
7 models for greater marketing effectiveness
Shane O’LearyMarketing suffers from a lack of consensus about what’s likely to work and many marketers often kill creative effectiveness by making things more complicated than they need to be.
4 Comments
Apple’s confusing product portfolio makes Microsoft look sleek
Mark RitsonSteve 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.
How Treatwell uncovered the most effective way to spend its marketing budget
Marketing Week PartnerWhen the European beauty bookings service needed to find new customers, it decided to get rigorous about the impact of each pound spent on advertising.
1 Comment
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.
Harry Lang: Creative awards remind brands of the need to take risks
Harry LangWhile advertising awards have little commercial value to clients, they at least remind us that great ads are cheaper and more effective at driving purchase behaviour than relying on outsize media spend.