Mark Ritson: Don’t just stand for something, stand against your competitors
There are two ways to position a brand – ‘about’ something and ‘versus’ something – and the most powerful examples of positioning do both.
Mark Ritson: Stop propping up brand purpose with contrived data and hypocrisy
Channel 4’s research claiming consumers want purpose-driven ads is the latest flimsy attempt to bolster a morally bankrupt concept that simply covers over corporate indiscretions.
Mark Ritson: Lush’s moronic #Spycops campaign is a new low for brand purpose
Lush has only alienated consumers with its poorly judged #Spycops campaign, which has nothing to do with the brand as well as being of no benefit to society.
Mark Ritson: Pret must bite the cost bullet if it wants to keep its ‘natural’ brand positioning
Pret A Manger has built a brand positioning based on serving natural food, yet the E numbers in its bread clearly undermine that, so it has to decide whether to change its processes or its advertising.
Mark Ritson: Burberry’s luxury repositioning won’t work, it’s not in the brand DNA
After dispensing with chief creative officer Christopher Bailey, new Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti wants to take the brand upscale, but it goes against its history and traditions.
Mark Ritson: People are not brands – no, not even me
To succeed professionally you need to be known by your audience and stand out from your competition, but ‘personal branding’ is not a real discipline and if you position yourself to fill a niche you’ll come across as a fraud.
Mark Ritson: Only crap marketers mistake stereotypes for segments
The ASA’s research into harmful gender stereotypes is spot-on, but why do marketers believe lumping millennials together as one makes any more sense?
Mark Ritson: Opposing Trump means sacrificing sales for brand values
American marketers have an exquisite dilemma: should they stand against President Trump’s policies and risk alienating half their market, or stay impartial and weaken their brand values?
Mark Ritson: Brand heritage is more important than you think
As my DNA kit Christmas present demonstrates, heritage has a bigger role than most marketers imagine in defining how you should position yourself.
Mark Ritson: Ever heard the one about the Singapore noodle salesman…?
This is the touching story of the world’s first Michelin-starred street food chef, who in spite of his three-hour queues has hopelessly failed to grasp the concept of supply and demand.
Mark Ritson: Trump’s marketing success shows the power of personality
The stunning success of Donald Trump’s earned media strategy proves that social media and content marketing work when brands are willing to take risks.
Mark Ritson: Abercrombie & Fitch’s revival will be due to brand revitalisation, not brand repositioning
You will recall the rather sad story of Abercrombie & Fitch. The once all-powerful fashion retailer declined as a result of ageing customers, bizarre management edicts and over exposure. The company has endured 11 consecutive quarters of declining sales and, in perhaps the most painful blow yet, recently recorded the lowest ever score on the annual […]
The changing nature of ownership: How brands are catering for ‘generation rent’
With home ownership among young people continuing to drop, a new market is emerging for subscription-based and “versatile” furniture brands that want to change the relationship consumers have with material goods.
Weetabix looks to arrest declining sales with campaign that taps into personalisation
The cereal brand is launching a new marketing campaign, Any-Which-Way-A-Bix, to combat a decline in cereal sales and tap into the trend to personalise food.
TSB’s former digital marketing director on the ‘most challenging time’ of his career
Story of my CV: Performance marketing specialist Stuart Brann caught the startup bug early on in his career before taking his digital skills to more traditional financial services players like Barclaycard and TSB.
Marketoonist on data, privacy and brand trust
Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne See more of the Marketoonist here
