Marketing Week
Advertising - Opinion
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Invest in search now while prices are low
Fri, 13 Apr 2012
This week saw the publication of two important pieces of news that should prompt marketers to shift more of their digital…
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Brand equity must drive communications
1 March 2012
‘Why Guinness and Cadbury are going back to branding basics’
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Zeebox could show the way for TV ad data-gathering
Tue, 14 Feb 2012
Zeebox’s launch last week of click-to-buy TV ads thrust interactivity into the foreground of TV…
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Steve McQueen keeps endorsement real
2 February 2012
A walk around London’s shops at the weekend had me wondering if it was 2012 or 1972...
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Video Viewpoint: Branded content
Mon, 23 Jan 2012
Seb Joseph discusses what brands need to do to make the best of branded content.
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Ad break? Tweet time? Give me a break!
19 January 2012
In years gone by, defending the worth of TV advertising was a simple brief that involved lots of long lunches and the occasional awards ceremony. In the brave new age of digital communications, however, it is no easy feat and much of the credit for the continued strength of TV as an advertising media must go to Tess Alps and her team at Thinkbox.
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Target made a statement by not saying much - can other brands follow suit?
Wed, 11 Jan 2012
US retailer Target has become a web phenomenon over the past week after it featured a young boy with Down’s Syndrome in its latest campaign advertising its new children’s line.
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Will Kindle’s growth drive success for in-book advertising?
Wed, 4 Jan 2012
Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? More importantly, are you going to advertise on it?
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'Sky should create a dedicated adverts-only channel'
Wed, 14 Dec 2011
I fear I shall be traded in as part of Mrs Secret Marketer’s Christmas shopping. Not content with driving her crazy in supermarkets where I confuse the weekly grocery shop with work-related store check distractions, my TV viewing habits have now tipped her over the edge.
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The Secret Marketer on celebrity slip ups
24 November 2011
We are about to put pen to paper on a celebrity endorsement deal. The draft contract paperwork has been toing and froing between agency, lawyers and representatives and there is now a detailed mark-upawaiting final comments sitting in my in-tray. I am under pressure to sign but the press headlines of recentweeks have called for a little more deliberation.
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Choice should include offering the chance to say no thanks
Mon, 21 Nov 2011
One theme that will increasingly occupy the minds of marketers in the coming years is choice. Demanding customers want to consume what they want, when they want, how they want.
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Forget advertising. Marketing is now all about the service
Wed, 16 Nov 2011
Brands from Foster’s to Mini are proving that, whatever your business, marketing is best when it’s service-led.
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Music streaming brands need to prove they are more than freebies
Fri, 11 Nov 2011
We7’s revelation that it is exploring the use of games and quizzes was an important step in streaming brands proving they are useful services in their own right rather than just facilitators for free music.
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Contents and context are as crucial as targeting
10 November 2011
The recently developed relationship between targeting and creative poses a challenge to agency business models.
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Brands can afford to be creative this Christmas
Thu, 27 Oct 2011
Christmas is just around the corner and the outlook for the retail sector is decidedly chilly. But despite the pressure on household budgets I want to see brands give the relentless price message a rest and spread a little joy in their festive campaigns.
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An open letter to the Guardian's George Monbiot
27 October 2011
Dear George, With regard to your latest column in the Guardian (’Advertising is a poison that demeans even love blah blah blah’) I must pick you up on a few points.
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Caspar's Phones 4U ads are so effective it's scary
27 October 2011
I write this week to acknowledge the insane bravery of Phones4U. In this age of social media domination, it takes an enormous amount of professional and personal gusto to spend a large chunk of any marketing budget on an old fashioned TV campaign. But to ...
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It's too late for BA 'To fly. To serve' when you're in a tailspin
27 October 2011
BA’s new-old strapline is a clever idea, but passengers would prefer it if it stopped talking about great service and just started doing it.
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Lack of web data will hurt TV channels
Tue, 18 Oct 2011
Peering into the crystal ball to divine the future of internet-connected TV, it has been alarming to see the gap in expectations between broadcasters and the advertisers that bankroll them.
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Suppliers should question M&S brand strategy before paying up
13 October 2011
How can Marks & Spencer ask its suppliers to help fund its store revamp plans when the retailer has yet to identify its core market?
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Is your brand a data have or have-not? Time will tell you
06 October 2011
Timeliness is becoming the determining factor for online success, but the data systems required to achieve it are creating a digital divide.
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Advertisers can’t help but Like Facebook’s redesign
Fri, 23 Sep 2011
Facebook’s design overhaul is likely to hike up the cost of advertising on the site, but the premiums look to be value for money.
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When the obsession with digital isn't always a good thing
22 September 2011
Not wishing to be completely on trend and spend our entire budget in digital and social media, we have taken the unfashionable step of buying some traditional media. Our media selection includes a package of lovely big 96-sheet poster sites in and around major transport hubs. They are a great targeting fit for our commuter audience.
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Co-creation can be so much more than this
18 August 2011
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Two new TV studies could offer clarity for brands
Wed, 10 Aug 2011
The online world is gradually embracing the idea that more people will be accessing the internet through their mobile devices rather than on desktop computers in a few short years. Google says it has a ’mobile first’ strategy, FT.com is working hard to make its new web app available on various types of mobile device and
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Pink, frilly beer won't tempt female drinkers
04 August 2011
Molson Coors’ bid to woo women with a ’feminine’ beer shows just how misguided and clumsy gender targeting can be.
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Weighing in on the plus size/size zero debate
Wed, 20 Jul 2011
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Behavioural ad concerns should be countered quickly
Tue, 12 Jul 2011
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Whether brands boycott or stick with the News of the World, they face backlash
Wed, 6 Jul 2011
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Do you want to advertise how much data you hold?
23 June 2011
Marketers are finding that their internet ads provide a more detailed customer analysis than evenmedia buying agencies hold.
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Financial services brands are dealing with a complex customer
Tue, 21 Jun 2011
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You can’t trust integrity and innovation
26 May 2011
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The call to action can't be a whisper
19 May 2011
The anti-obesity initiative Change4Life is making waves again. The Department of Health (DH) has unveiled data from the GreatSwapathon, which saw 5 million voucher books containing £50-worth of redeemable healthy lifestyle tokens distributed throughNews of the World, Asda and other channels.
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Marketing Academy unveils second year of future leaders
Tue, 10 May 2011
Potential marketing leaders of tomorrow have been selected for the second year of The Marketing Hall of Legends’ (MHL) intensive coaching and mentoring scheme, The Marketing Academy.
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A promise should be a promise
Thu, 5 May 2011
It’s old news that consumers are getting more savvy and forcing retail marketers to be cleverer in their strategies but by backing out of its double the difference deal, Tesco seems to think shoppers are getting a bit too savvy.
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It pays to be honest about thefts of data
05 May 2011
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This isn’t just any old brand infringement…
Thu, 21 Apr 2011
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Bing takes location-based ads Street Side
Fri, 15 Apr 2011
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Supermarkets are using the ASA as a pawn in the price game
Thu, 14 Apr 2011
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Sofa, so good, for mobile marketing
Wed, 13 Apr 2011
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What if your customers are silent types?
Wed, 13 Apr 2011
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Spare us from yet another ‘P’-break on TV
Wed, 2 Mar 2011
Product placement can build or destroy your brand
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Speeding towards a whole new attitude
10 February 2011
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Online display advertisers stand at the gateway to a revolution
3 February 2011
If you’ve started to feel that the ads you’re seeing online are mimicking your browsing habits, then don’t worry. You’re not becoming paranoid. You’re simply seeing the rise of the latest interactive marketing technique; retargeting.
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Mobile puts marketers’ heads in a spin
Fri, 21 Jan 2011
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Brands should resist going product placement crazy
Thu, 23 Dec 2010
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Jumping on the The X Factor brandwagon
Wed, 15 Dec 2010
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Why advertising is a redundant word
2nd December 2010
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Dixons uses the force in Star Wars ad
Wed, 20 Oct 2010
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The science bit takes art of rave review to expert level
Fri, 15 Oct 2010
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Targeted Advertising – Are we missing the target?
Thu, 14 Oct 2010
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Bloodshed and chaos on the high street
Tue, 7 Sep 2010
Alan Treadgold, head of retail strategy at advertising agency Leo Burnett, talks about the paradox of retailing in 2010.
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Why winning at Cannes means so much to WPP
2 September 2010
If a Cannes award is the best measure of an agency’s creative prowess, then success next year is the only option open to WPP.
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Marketing leaders need common sense and humility to get brand love
Fri, 23 Jul 2010
Lucy Handley
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Marketing is more than increasing sales
1 July 2010
Another iPhone launch, and another masterclass in marketing from Apple.
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Mary Portas' programme is a great lesson for marketers who have little exposure to the coal face
17 June 2010
Anybody seeking a career in marketing could do worse than watch Mary Portas’ new series, Mary Queen of Shops, as the retail marketing guru plays mentor to a selection of Britain’s independent shops. I particularly enjoyed last week’s series opener when Portas clashes memorably with the owner of a failing stuck in a time-warp bakery in South-west London.
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The Secret Marketer talks about creatives
10 June 2010
In my column last week, I suggested that an agency creative director may have put their own personal ego ahead of answering my brief. In doing this, I suggested that the agency had completely ignored the rather sensible inputs of his account suit and planning colleagues.
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Hoodwinked by the emperor's new tweets
6 May 2010
Last week, I sat with the senior management team of a big client that I consult for to review the marketing plans of the company’s three major brands.
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No smoke without fire? Are accusations of subliminal advertising unfair on Marlboro?
Thu, 29 Apr 2010
There is a sub-plot in Kevin Smith’s sophomore movie Mallrats that revolves around a hapless and increasingly frustrated character that fails to see a sailboat in one of those Magic Eye images that burned brightly briefly in the popular cultural landscape of the early 90s.
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Countries are countries, not brands
29 April 2010
The World Cup approaches and, once again, the English nation hopes against hope that it can win the tournament and finally end 44 years of hurt. Meanwhile, in South Africa the dreams are just as bold but aimed in a very different direction. FIFA’s World Cup presents its hosts with, what they believe to be, their biggest ever opportunity to build a stronger country brand.
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Why recycling isn't the way to clean up
22 April 2010
Look to the future because reusing old catchphrases and music is no longer what consumers want in post-recession Britain.
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Why democracy is a poor man's marketing
Wed, 14 Apr 2010
With three weeks to go before the general election, the media seems to have gone politically bonkers. You can’t turn a page or switch on the TV without an immediate update on the upcoming election. Marketers are not exempt from all this either.
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Marketers need to avoid spreading good ideas too thinly
15 April 2010
This week, my marketers set a day aside to review progress and see the first cut of our 2011 plans. This session was restricted to the marketing department only; it was the chance for us to refine our thinking and ask each other some difficult questions before taking our plans out for wider business approval.
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Tasty additions will keep a brand fresh
15 April 2010
If Mark Ritson was standing in the election for sharpest business columnist, he’d probably be celebrating a landslide victory. Since we announced that Ritson was joining us here at Marketing Week, our own campaign to inspire marketers has received a boost. You can read his first column.
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Heroin turns Peaches from bad to rotten
01 April 2010
“We’ve given this a lot of thought, but there’s a point where a business must stick to its principles and as a brand that targets young women, we feel it is impossible for Peaches Geldof to continue to work with us as the face of Miss Ultimo lingerie.”
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Polman reshuffles Unilever's cabinet
25 March 2010
High-profile exits often follow the arrival of an outsider at the top - and Unilever is proving no exception to the trend
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Start of a recovery born of innovation
25 March 2010
As we climb inch by inch out of the recession, shards of light and positivity continue to filter through. But only for those brands that have placed innovation and consistent brand management at the heart of their recession strategies.
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Advertising industry and green charities welcome code changes
Tue, 16 Mar 2010
The advertising industry has hailed the changes made to the advertising codes as “timely and welcome”, while the addition of a code aimed at cracking down on exaggerated environmental claims has been described as a “vital step” in tackling climate change by one leading green charity.
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I reckon you'll never truly let go. Entrepreneurial marketing directors never do
11 March 2010
As I strolled through the marketing department earlier this week, my team was busy gossiping in a group huddle. They were acting very strangely and rushed to hide whatever it was they were all looking at.
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Manual over-ride must be an automatic option
11 March 2010
Marketers must get under the skin of automated decision-making systems so they can help them make the right choice.
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Stuart Smith on Unilever's CMO
11 March 2010
Congratulations to Keith Weed, who has just been appointed Simon Clift’s successor as global CMO at Unilever.
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Tools of engagement in hands of customer
11 March 2010
Domino’s Pizza is about to test a new tool that will give its customers the opportunity to become media owners and earn themselves some revenue from the brand’s marketing.
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Cameron unsheathes the sword of damocles
25 February 2010
David Cameron’s crusade against the sexualisation of children has little to do with solid policy, but it will have marketers falling into line
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First connections of two contrary cultures
25 February 2010
The results of a survey, published in the national press this week, had me gaping in disbelief. Almost half of UK board directors - 44% - predict their companies will return to “pre-recession normality” and that their businesses will not fundamentally change in the next five years. For board members not to recognise the need to reinvent their business models in order to adapt and grow is at blinkered at best.
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Why not take ideas that are proven to work at a local level and run them on a national basis?
25 February 2010
Our ’man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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Not even our group treasury is able to guess what is going to happen on Greece
18 February 2010
Our ’man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree.
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Stop putting social media cart before content horse
11 February 2010
Marketers failing to exploit the power of social media should turn the clock back 100 years and take a good look at the Michelin Guide
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A new weapon in the battle for recognition
21 January 2010
If you haven’t already seen Deutsche Bank’s research note published on Monday then it really is worth a look. It’s not often that these dry but instructive documents make for a marketer’s dream read but this one truly does.
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Loose lips place brand reputation on the line
21 January 2010
Marketers must get to grips with the power of social media to destroy a campaign’s message in the blink of an eye
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My new recruit has to deliver 2.5% over-and-above the base growth just to pay for their desk
21 January 2010
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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My brand team's attendance at the office was somewhere between patchy and pathetic
14 January 2010
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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We're all saints and sinners in the world of moral marketing
14 January 2010
Research suggests that counter-intuitive logic is often the best way to appeal to consumers eager to morally self-regulate
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Why product placement won't be damaging anyone's health
14 January 2010
The current grey market for PP may be not be ideal but it beats the minefield of the overtly commercial system Ofcom must negotiate
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I can see clearly now the economic pain has gone
07 January 2010
A brighter economic outlook will help resolve many of the issues that have cast a shadow over the UK’s media giants
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The time has come to treat your marketing budget as if it were your own money
07 January 2010
Another year, another brand plan. I have high(er) hopes for 2010 and have made a number of resolutions to salute the new decade. I’ll spare you the predictable details on the annual weight loss regime, but on the business front I aim to pile a few pounds onto my marketing budget. I can’t wait to discount 2009 from my memory, “discount” being the key theme for the toughest trading year I’ve ever experienced.
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Step up and take in the bigger picture
17 December 2009
There’s some tough love in this, the last issue of the decade. We’ve eschewed the easy option of filling several feature pages with a review of the year. Instead, we’ve got two features that come packed with essential advice and no little food for thought.
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When the consultants come...
17 December 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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There's optimism with pragmatism in 2010
10 December 2009
Growth in global ad spending will return. But it’s going to come uncomfortably slowly. That’s according to newly published forecasts by both WPP’s media agency network GroupM and Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia.
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Your passion is the best marketing tool
03 December 2009
It’s funny the way things happen. No sooner had I finished reading this week’s cover story on the ways that companies are benefiting from incorporating the “Brand Me” ethos into their communications than a particular email landed in my inbox. It was from an out-of-work creative asking me to look over a campaign he is running for “the brand that is myself”.
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Perfect time to push green credentials
Fri, 27 Nov 2009
Recent negative stories in the press should not distract businesses from pushing their green credentials, say marketing experts.
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How important was AG Lafley?
26 November 2009
It already feels like Christmas in the marketing world. Festive commercials dominate our screens, festive fayre adorns the front covers of magazines and my Starbucks latte is served in a jolly red paper cup. Better still, the party season is upon us.
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Who needs to lie when you've got psychology
12 November 2009
If the experts are right and people really do change their attitudes to fit their behaviour, what does that mean for marketing?
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Brand managers need to shape up
21 October 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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Survival of the fittest
Fri, 16 Oct 2009
There are a lot of terms that are overused in the economic gloom as it forces us to change our way of thinking. One of these is “survival of the fittest”. Yet speaking to marketing directors at the annual Marketing Forum on board the Aurora ship, it is apparent that for them that this philosophy will be central to their 2010 plans.
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Pricing puts me in a perfect storm
Wed, 14 Oct 2009
Pricing is just one of the famed Ps of marketing, yet it seems to represent an unfair share of my time these days. On one side of the equation, my brands are facing record input costs and a further weakening of sterling. On the other, I am struggling as supermarket buyers fend off requests for price increases, preferring instead to beat each other up with unprecedented promotional offers.
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Online ad spend figures no biggie
Thu, 1 Oct 2009
News this week that online advertising spend in the UK had outstripped TV proved to be a surprise to many industry observers. It was a surprise that it was even considered ‘news’ to begin with.
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Philosophical approach to economic recovery
30 September 2009
Does the long and winding road to economic recovery lie with creating new and uncontested market space or simply ‘doing it better’?
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The Secret Marketer
30 September 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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Why brands are staking a claim on Twilight saga
30 September 2009
When reality means frozen pay and job insecurity, brands are cashing in on people’s desire for escapism through the supernatural
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It’s all about Y!ou, but is that enough?
Fri, 25 Sep 2009
Yahoo! is pumping $100m (£62m) into its push to convince consumers that it is should be the new one-stop shop for just about all their online needs. But does its new brand campaign tell consumers anything new?
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Economic change has no respect for tradition
Wed, 23 Sep 2009
Old-school institutions must quickly adapt to the many hard-to-swallow realities that the recession has forced on them
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The secret marketer
24 September 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides aview from the top of the marketing tree
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Insight can drive brand ambitions
Wed, 9 Sep 2009
In a week where well-known British brands have been involved in major business discussions, it would be an easy thing to forget about what marketers are thinking in these testing times.
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The Secret Marketer
10 September 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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Bridesmaids appeal more than marriage
3 September 2009
Some women complain that they are always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Until now, interim marketers have suffered from the same problem. Seen mainly as stopgaps, filling positions left vacant by promotions, redundancies and budget cuts, they have traditionally been the marketing sector’s bridesmaids.
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Criminal minds join a marketing masterclass
27 August 2009
Using prisoners to develop campaigns for your brand may create some cracking publicity, but can it really work in practice?
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The Secret Marketer
27 August 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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What’s inside really counts
Wed, 19 Aug 2009
When writing this week’s cover feature on strategies to ensure that marketers are able to progress their careers even when times are tough, I looked at the news headlines to see whether marketers really had much to fear from the recession.
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Meaty content with a flavour of disney
13 August 2009
Every brand has its own story. Marketers don’t always need to tell it in order to communicate their messages, but doing so can be the difference between adding depth to your brand’s relationship with its customers and not having a relationship at all. Michael Mendenhall knew this when he left Walt Disney to become senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at Hewlett-Packard at the end of 2007.
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In search of the X factor
06 August 2009
What does Carla Calamity have in common with the Oxo Family? I’ll come to that in a minute, via Unilever.
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The Secret Marketer
06 August 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
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Beware outrage that follows false claims
30 July 2009
In such an exposed market, with consumer trust at an absolute premium, you must be able to stand by every message you communicate to the market.
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Kotler provides seat belts for the bumpy ride ahead
02 July 2009
According to marketing guru Philip Kotler, long periods of prosperity are a thing of the past. Turbulent times are the new order
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Marketing Week survey will reveal top London agencies
02 July 2009
Agency Reputation research has been updated to make it more representative of client needs
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The Secret Marketer
02 July 2009
Our ‘man on the inside’ provides a view from the top of the marketing tree
