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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
As my DNA kit Christmas present demonstrates, heritage has a bigger role than most marketers imagine in defining how you should position yourself.
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.
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.