Marketing’s reset, brand purpose, localism: Your Marketing Week
At the end of every week, I look at the key stories, offering my view on what they mean for you and the industry. From declarations of a fresh start for marketing to the threat to global marketers from localism, it’s been a busy week. Here’s my take.
Back to life (and reality)
The week just ended would have seen the top brass in the marketing ecosystem gather in the South of France for the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Although Covid-19 robbed those planning to attend the opportunity to pontificate in person, there was no shortage of discussion on the future of brands this week.
The future for the job of marketing was high on the minds of some of those taking part in Lions Live, the virtual conference. HSBC’s global head of marketing Leanne Cutts declared the pandemic a “reset moment”. This was not a wild ‘marketing will change forever’ overstretch. Marketing fundamentals will not change, she said, but it is an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of marketing.
“This is a real reset moment for our role as marketers, as guardians of our brands, for our teams, for our organisations…… I want to take this as an opportunity for the marketing community to amplify what they do well, to be helpful and useful and relevant for the communities they serve.”
Elsewhere, Endeavor CMO and former Uber brand chief Bozoma Saint-John went further in declaring Covid-19 the “greatest marketing test of all time”. The challenge of creating “new ways of being” has been invigorating, she added.