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 […]
Mark Ritson: Is Apple’s crusade against the US Government genius or madness?
Apple CEO Tim Cook has gone to war with the US Government over his refusal to help the FBI decrypt a terrorist’s iPhone. In a break from the norm, I’ve decided to be controversial (for me at least) by sitting on the fence and arguing for both sides of the marketing coin when it comes to Cook’s stance.
Mark Ritson: Brands’ inane ‘visions’ have lost touch with what consumers really use them for
Brand purpose, content marketing and the belief that millennials are looking for ‘more than just a brand’ are leading to brand managers creating brand visions that have nothing to do with their actual product or consumer.
‘Marketers are at risk of being driven by data’ – Diesel CMO
Data can help drive the creative process but many in marketing are overestimating its contribution, according to Diesel’s chief marketing officer Dario Gargiulo.
Unilever, Apple, Cannes Lions: 5 things that mattered this week and why
From Unilever’s Keith Weed calling out influencer marketing and other key moments from Cannes to the results of 20 years worth of salary survey data, we round up all the marketing news you need to know from the past week.
Influencers, consultancies and the recruitment crisis: The key topics of conversation at Cannes Lions
Cannes Lions 2018: Marketers turned out in force to advertising’s biggest annual event. But away from the usual talk of purpose and creativity, some big issues such as the recruitment crisis, how advertising responds to the #MeToo movement and cleaning up the influencer marketing space were discussed.
P&G: If you aren’t doing multicultural marketing, you aren’t doing marketing
Cannes Lions 2018: Marc Pritchard believes the days of marketing to a general audience are over, and with people wanting to see themselves in ads brands will have to start representing their whole audience.
