Marketing Week
Mark Choueke Editorial

Editor
Twitter: @markchoueke

  • Change is now normal. So what's new?

    12 January 2012

    Last year 63% of you underwent some level of restructure to your marketing team or department.

  • Swimming against the tide: brands need to embrace a culture of creativity

    5 January 2012

    Why thinking creatively and shunning received wisdom may be your most powerful strategy in 2012.

  • Success in 2012 will be reserved for creative thinkers

    5 January 2012

    I finally got around to reading Walter Isaacson’s brilliant Steve Jobs biography this Christmas, as did Mark Ritson it seems. After filing his latest column, Ritson later emailed me to emphasise the pointrelating to Jobs that he makes in the piece.

  • CIM is wrong to call for merger with sales

    15 December 2011

    Sales and marketing departments have a bit of a difficult relationship. There’s some underlying tension there and that has always been the case. So what’s the answer? Well, merge the two, obviously. That’s the solution according to the latest ...

  • Marketers facing up to demographic change

    8 December 2011

  • You need to mind your language, TalkTalk

    24 November 2011

    “We’re not planning on trying to con them with lots of extra marketing.” This rather unhelpful quote came from a surprising source last week in Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, who was referring to her customers. I say surprising because Harding is a former occupant of several heavyweight marketing and commercial roles at brands that include

  • We're in the business of serving customer needs

    Wed, 16 Nov 2011

    It’s a brutal market out there, but there are still plenty of opportunities for those who are prepared to be positive and think differently.

  • Customer experience: the new battleground

    Wed, 2 Nov 2011

    Read this week’s cover feature about how customer experience should be at the top of your priority list

  • 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.

  • Will Nokia speak the right language?

    Wed, 19 Oct 2011

    Nokia is changing its strategy to focus on young people. A brave move. A friend of mine, who teaches 11 to 18-year-olds at a north London comprehensive, has told me about the “different language” kids speak these days.

  • Collaboration is future of marketing capability

    13 October 2011

  • Costa's story has killer insight for every brand

    06 October 2011

    Customer service is something of a theme in this issue. There’s a dedicated feature and there are masses of tips in our

  • Customer experience will keep the BA brand flying high

    Wed, 21 Sep 2011

    You can imagine that when British Airways was able to tell us that it was ’the world’s favourite airline’, the strapline worked as powerfully internally as it did externally.

  • HMV must move fast if brand is to survive

    15 September 2011

    At the beginning of the summer I was invited to meet with HMV chief executive Simon Fox. The opportunity arose because even throughout a torrid year that contained four profit warnings, I’ve beenbroadly supportive of the strategy Fox announced in July 2010 to transform ...

  • Let pitch guide you out of creative dead-ends

    Wed, 7 Sep 2011

  • Changing rooms are alien territory to me

    01 September 2011

    Mrs Choueke loves to shop. It doesn’t seem to matter what she is aiming to buy or how, she’s a natural.She’s amazing at finding the perfect gift, instinctive with impulse buys (cleverly filling our flat with stuffI didn’t even know we needed) and is a tireless strategist when planning a major purchase for herself.

  • Google will stretch its marketers' imagination

    18 August 2011

    Google’s acquisition of Motorola’s Mobility division this week was an incredibly shrewd landgrab fort he future.

  • Where Coke went wrong during the riots

    Wed, 10 Aug 2011

  • My response to Mark Ritson

    Wed, 27 Jul 2011

  • CEOs have to wake up to a new set of rules

    21 July 2011

  • Growing mistrust will not stop at the red-top

    Wed, 13 Jul 2011

  • Facebook needs to become more useful

    07 July 2011

  • Mark Choueke: Enter the Data Strategy Awards now!

    Mon, 4 Jul 2011

  • Why honesty is the best green policy

    Wed, 29 Jun 2011

  • Spread the word on marketers' ability

    23 June 2011

  • Data can turn any dream into reality

    Wed, 15 Jun 2011

  • Boden scoops Engage Award with personalised catalogue

    09 June 2011

    Mail order clothing brand Boden beat off competition from larger brands to win a coveted Marketing Week Engage Award in the CRM/ Loyalty category last month.

  • Craig Inglis has been knowingly undersold

    09 June 2011

    On the same day media personality Janet Street-Porter used her Daily Mail column to call for John Lewis to sack marketing director Craig Inglis, Inglis was named as the Marketing Society’s 2011’marketer of the year’. Inglis triumphed ahead of heavyweight business figures such as Aviva CMO Amanda Mackenzie and O2 marketing director Sally Cowdry.

  • Sponsors must kick FIFA where it hurts

    Wed, 1 Jun 2011

    I’ve witnessed first-hand the bizarre spectacle of FIFA president Sepp Blatter berating journalists. I was at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich when headline sponsor Coca-Cola unveiled its 2010 World Cup campaign.

  • Behind closed doors at the world’s most famous brand

    26 May 2011

    To celebrate 125 years and elaborate on its 2020 growth plan, Coke opened the doors of its Atlanta HQ to Marketing Week. Top executives were buoyant about its pioneering attitude to marketing and looking to a future informed by past mistakes.

  • If only Coke could bottle its optimism

    26 May 2011

    When I journeyed to Coca-Cola HQ in Atlanta, Georgia, to meet the people charged with growing theworld’s most famous brand (see cover story), I expected three days of self-congratulating fanfare, celebrations and bunting. It was, after all, the ...

  • Coke details 2020 plans

    Wed, 11 May 2011

    Coca-Cola has revealed how it intends to double its revenue by 2020.

  • It pays to be honest about thefts of data

    Wed, 4 May 2011

  • It pays to be honest about thefts of data

    05 May 2011

  • Without a guardian brands lose their way

    Wed, 27 Apr 2011

  • Come and be with the 'ideas people'

    21 April 2011

  • Social media strategy needs human touch

    Wed, 13 Apr 2011

  • "Cheap social media makes marketers lazy"

    Wed, 13 Apr 2011

    A leading UK marketer has warned that the discipline of marketing is becoming “lazy” in the face of “cheap social media”.

  • Digital opens new doors of opportunity

    07 April 2011

  • Diet Coke victim of meddling marketers

    Wed, 30 Mar 2011

  • Exclusivity remains last word in luxury

    24 March 2011

  • Time to deal killer blow to cigarette sales in UK

    Wed, 16 Mar 2011

  • Q+A: Ann Lewnes, senior VP of marketing, Adobe

    17 March 2011

    Creating a box of tools that will shape your digital content

  • Have you tried something new today?

    10 March 2011

  • Tune in to the mood of your customers

    Wed, 2 Mar 2011

    A university approached me this week to advise on its proposed curriculum for a newcourse in digital marketing that its business school wants to offer in September.

  • Global Ethics recruits Ashley Stockwell to overhaul One brand

    Wed, 23 Feb 2011

    Global Ethics, owner of the One brand, has appointed former Virgin Media executive director of brand and marketing Ashley Stockwell to revamp the One brand and develop the business.

  • Where the seeds of revolution are sown

    24 February 2011

    The astonishing and often alarming reports emerging thick and fast from a string of revolutionary fronts in Africa and the Middle East are, at times, unsettling and tragic but also burgeoning with promise. Somehow they serve to crystallise for all of us what level of change we, as individuals and brands, are capable of.

  • How you could shape the future of marketing with your next decision

    Wed, 16 Feb 2011

  • Forced marriages will end in divorce

    Wed, 2 Feb 2011

  • Search giant shapes the future for digital Britain

    27 January 2011

    As the pace of digital development gets ever faster, Google’s UK chief explains how he is at the centre of shaping your online future.

  • Media plurality is the casualty of politics

    27 January 2011

  • Take a punt on your digital future

    20 January 2011

  • HMV must pump up its own volume

    13 January 2011

  • Tis the season for cautious optimism

    16 December 2010

  • Have the courage of your risky convictions

    Wed, 8 Dec 2010

  • Premium beer brands need a local flavour

    2nd December 2010

    In the week that ActionAid levelled a serious accusation against SABMIller, the brewing giant’s head of marketing Nick Fell tells Mark Choueke why the business is venturing down a different marketing path to its rivals

  • Why advertising is a redundant word

    2nd December 2010

  • Data marketplace will allow a shift in power

    Wed, 24 Nov 2010

  • This is the beginning of the end for cash

    Wed, 17 Nov 2010

  • Join our celebration of your innovation

    Wed, 10 Nov 2010

  • Profile: Camillo Pane, general manager, Reckitt Benckiser

    11 November 2010

    Reckitt Benckiser’s UK chief tells Mark Choueke the global business relies on speed to create and define FMCG sectors. But that starts with a belief in its brands, which now include Durex and Scholl

  • The Marketing Week Engage Awards 2011 is now open for entries

    Tue, 9 Nov 2010

    In 2010 an Engage Award proved, more than any other, to be the award you wanted to win.

  • RB has the right man for a brand new role

    4 November 2010

    You probably have not heard of Volker Sydow. He is German, he is a top class marketer and he is celebrating a new job. The new global category director for sexual wellbeing and footcare at Reckitt Benckiser (RB) may not have the most glamorous job title but he won’t care.

  • Focus on the inside job to gain respect

    Wed, 27 Oct 2010

  • Marketing can shine in age of austerity

    21 October 2010

  • Data must underpin your creative genius

    Wed, 13 Oct 2010

  • A marketer's passport to global success

    Wed, 6 Oct 2010

  • Risk taking is all part of building a brand

    Thu, 30 Sep 2010

  • Why should I attend The Annual?

    Mon, 27 Sep 2010

    Read on to learn more about the event

  • Golden opportunities from acts of succession

    23 September 2010

  • We’re growing as your information needs grow

    16 September 2010

  • The Annual

    Fri, 10 Sep 2010

    With 19 days to go until The Annual, Marketing Week’s flagship conference focused on best practice and workable insights for marketers, organisers confirm that the Marketing Academy’s 28 young marketers will all be attending the event.

  • Special guests newly confirmed at The Annual

    Thu, 9 Sep 2010

    With 20 days to go until The Annual, Marketing Week has confirmed that the Marketing Academy’s 28 young marketers will all be attending our flagship conference in London.

  • Young talent takes in views from top level

    9 September 2010

  • Big Society already exists - it’s called social media

    Wed, 1 Sep 2010

  • Virtual world revolves around your followers

    26 August 2010

  • Media manifesto is golden opportunity

    Thu, 19 Aug 2010

  • Join the marketing plan for marketers

    Wed, 11 Aug 2010

  • It's time to show marketing leadership

    Thu, 5 Aug 2010

    HMV Group combines HMV and Waterstone’s marketing teams

  • You can take masterclass in marketing excellence

    5 August 2010

    Marketing Week’s flagship conference will see star names reveal top secrets.

  • PR's not just spin, it's brand management

    29 July 2010

  • Q&A with Alexandra Wheeler of Starbucks: Bring digital to life by building relationships

    Thu, 22 Jul 2010

  • Look no further for expertise on digital

    24 June 2010

  • Toxic BP must stop spreading its poison

    17 June 2010

    BP’s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is still unfolding. Even now as I write, 56 days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April, there is still a sense that we are at the very beginning of the story.

  • Brand-conscious and young: your new market

    10 June 2010

    If proof were required that children are incredibly aware of how brands affect their lives, then here it is: “If I had £1,000, I’d spend it on a 42-inch Panasonic TV because Panasonic is best for Wii.” That quote came from a six-year-old when Marketing Week commissioned Discovery to carry out research for this special ’marketing to children’ issue of the magazine.

  • Diageo marketing chief urges marketers to sound like "business people"

    Wed, 2 Jun 2010

    Diageo chief marketing officer Andy Fennell says the marketing discipline undersells itself when it promotes the discipline as merely the provider of “creative services”.

  • Architect behind a global brand-building mission

    3 June 2010

    With marketing held responsible for company growth at Diageo, CMO Andy Fennell relies on a strong sense of what will succeed - and a team of 950 marketers - to make the most of an annual budget worth almost £2bn.

  • Take your inspiration from a higher level

    3 June 2010

    It seems that insurer Prudential, recently in the headlines for proposing one of the largest and most audacious deals ever by a British company, is about to hit the skids. Though nothing will be made formal until a shareholder vote next Monday, it appears that Prudential’s proposed $35.5bn (£24.6bn) takeover of AIA, the Asian insurance arm of its rival AIG, is dead.

  • Marketers turning data streams into business strategy

    27 May 2010

    Data has the power to add incredible value to a brand’s offerings, but only if marketing departments meet the challenge of making maximum use of it.

  • Striking out at BA can only backfire

    27 May 2010

    A friend of mine who came over for dinner last weekend told me that he had just emailed a message of support to British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh. The email, which read “Keep on fighting and don’t give an inch”, will have landed in Walsh’s inbox the day before the first of these five-day cabin crew strikes started on Monday.

  • Football flies the flag for 'Brand England'

    20 May 2010

    “Countries are not brands. They are countries.” So said our columnist Mark Ritson, in a recent examination of the concept of nation branding exercises. Many of you who weighed into the online debate sparked by that particular column took Mark’s side.

  • Mobile giant will be 'everywhere' brand

    13 May 2010

    Everything Everywhere is not a good name for a new company. It is childish, cumbersome, vacuous and hollow. Don’t get me wrong, it would make a pretty good strapline and an unbeatable (by definition) business proposition. It just seems to me a bit of a naff choice of company name.

  • A challenge never knowingly underestimated

    6 May 2010

    It’s a big job Mr Bolland. You come with a big reputation. But there is a lot of hard work ahead if you’re going to restore the jewel of the British high street to its former glory.

  • Sponsorship can be as nail-biting as the game

    29 April 2010

    As I write, the opening match of the Fifa 2010 World Cup is 45 days away. Most of you will have had any brand plans associating you with this magical event in place long ago.

  • Brace yourselves for this climate of change

    22 April 2010

    Everywhere we look we are being battered with messages about change. Each of the three main political parties is telling us we are “desperate for change” and is trying to convince us that it is the one best placed to manage that change.

  • Time to raise interest rates among voters

    08 April 2010

    And they’re off. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown triggered the 6 May election we all knew was coming. To mark the beginning of the campaign, we’ve brought you something of an Election Special.

  • 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.”

  • 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.

  • Spicer leaves EHS 4D Group

    Fri, 19 Mar 2010

    Mike Spicer, group managing director at agency EHS 4D Group, has left his role with immediate effect.

  • Credit Suisse urges investment in brand building companies

    Wed, 17 Mar 2010

    Credit Suisse is the latest global financial services provider advising investors to build their portfolios around stocks or companies that focus heavily on marketing strategy and brand-building.

  • Marketing moves up the financial agenda

    Wed, 17 Mar 2010

    Marketing investment was always seen by those on the finance side of business as a cost - and not one that could be measured easily enough.

  • 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.

  • Sustainability is pr power behind M&S

    04 March 2010

    Marks & Spencer’s impressive announcement regarding the expansion of the original Plan A - the 100 internal commitments the business is making by 2012 have been joined by an additional 80 targets to be hit before 2015 - was a fantastic PR coup for the business.

  • 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.

  • Academy to coach a new generation of market leaders

    18 February 2010

    The industry’s big names have put their weight behind a scheme to collectively solve the problem of succession planning by developing the 25 best young marketers

  • COI speaks louder than any politician

    18 February 2010

    The Conservative Party has said it will slash COI’s marketing spend if it forms our next Government. This, I believe, is nothing more than inexperienced politicians grandstanding. It is an attempt to curry favour with voters who, quite reasonably, don’t have a clue how best to reduce the national deficit.

  • Strong argument for a line of succession

    11 February 2010

    This was one of those rare press days when potential Leader columns were in abundance. I already had this column written several times before news events repeatedly forced me to start again. Subsequently I’m writing this one very much on the fly.

  • Deal or no media deal? Call swap shop

    28 January 2010

    Noel Edmonds introduced children of the Seventies to bartering when he hosted Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. Mark Choueke discovers that when it comes to buying media space, the principle is alive and still evolving

  • Let the party political pantomime begin

    28 January 2010

    I expect the next few months to produce some fairly painful marketing. The three main political parties have effectively kicked off their campaigns and the only good thing I can say about the forthcoming general election is that one way or another, the whole miserable process will probably be over by 7 May.

  • 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.

  • Inequality keeps up with pace of change

    14 January 2010

    Let’s start with the shocking. In 2001, the pay differential between men and women in marketing director roles was just £2,700. If you’re a male marketing director in 2010, however, you stand to earn £17,000 a year more than your female counterparts.

  • New year, new positive outlook

    07 January 2010

    Welcome to 2010. It looks like a tough year ahead. Trends and predictions are all very well but anybody can be a futurist. You need something more solid than famous people telling you what they think might happen.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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”.

  • Democracy dawns on the modern marketer

    26 November 2009

    Last week’s column by Andrew Harrison would have worked beautifully in this issue. Our columnist was in combative mood as he railed against the widely repeated notion that “your brand does not belong to you but actually belongs to your customer”.

  • O2 to shed 10% of marketing team

    Wed, 18 Nov 2009

    O2 has placed its entire 220-strong marketing department into consultation in a process that aims to reduce the headcount by 10%.

  • Does your brand have the stretch factor?

    19 November 2009

    O2 is stretching its brand into healthcare, education and financial services as it seeks to bring great customer experiences to new sectors, but should your business consider a similar strategy? O2’s marketing team explains to Mark Choueke how they did it

  • Put the customer first, then success will follow

    19 November 2009

    O2’s 21 million customers makes it the biggest telecoms company in the UK. Larger, as we learned last week, than its former parent BT (19.4 million landlines). There is no doubt that, like all businesses, O2 faces its own set of challenges right now - our news story on page 4 alone confirms that. But what’s interesting is the nature of O2’s structure as a business and how it equips the senior management to deal with such challenges. For O2 is led, truly led, by marketers.

  • Our Engage Awards Are Open To You!

    Thu, 12 Nov 2009

    The first ever Marketing Week Engage Awards 2010 has launched and the website through which you can enter has now gone live.

  • A new generation of leaders on scrapheap

    12 November 2009

    Ericsson announced on Tuesday that it plans to shed 700 jobs next year. The move is part of the telecommunications company’s “ongoing global cost reduction activities”. On the same day, Lloyds Banking Group, 43% owned by Britain’s taxpayers, announced it was cutting another 5,000 roles from its UK operations on top of the 7,500 roles it axed earlier this year.

  • O2 looks at expanding into healthcare

    Wed, 4 Nov 2009

    O2 believes its growth will come from expansion into several new areas including healthcare and education as well as developing its range of financial services products.

  • Banking's shake-up creates opportunity

    05 November 2009

    The banking world is reeling (again). European Union bods have demanded the break-up of RBS and Lloyds, with both forced to sell off prized brands to alleviate competition concerns. The Government is adding another £40bn worth of taxpayers’ capital to the balance sheets of our “nationalised” banks. HSBC is losing 1,700 UK jobs.

  • Engagement is the future of marketing

    28 October 2009

    The future of marketing. It’s hard to predict, but that, in a nutshell, is what you will all be currently attempting as you reach the point of signing off budgets for next year. What activities are going to give your brand the most traction in 2010? How do you execute them and how much will they cost?

  • City AM looks the model of the free on 1,000 birthday

    21 October 2009

    On its launch, commentators said a free business daily couldn’t be done, but 1,000 issues later and City AM is a force to reckon with, and its owners keen advocates of free.

  • Shifting sands leaves a gulf at the Guardian

    21 October 2009

    “If you project for five years or a decade ahead, the notion of the printed newspaper or digital is not a discussion. The discussion is the practicalities of getting from A to B as fast as you can while taking the right people with you.” This was Marc Sands, now the former marketing director of The Guardian, speaking to Marketing Week four weeks ago about the future of newspapers as they continue to evolve to new platforms.

  • Twittering classes cannot be gagged

    14 October

    What an astonishing story. A month ago The Guardian revealed secret documents containing details of damages offered to more than 30,000 Africans by British oil trader Trafigura for the dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast.

  • Putting some fizz into drinks marketing

    30 September 2009

    At the Zurich-based launch of Coca-Cola’s marketing plans for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Mark Choueke sits down for a chat with Joseph Tripodi, chief marketing officer, who explains the brand’s view of how modern sponsorships should work

  • The tools to navigate the digital universe

    30 September 2009

    As marketing continues to grow and evolve, mutating into new forms of consumer engagement across new spaces, so the various debates as to what works and what doesn’t continue to rage.

  • Presentation is the lifeblood of CSR

    Wed, 23 Sep 2009

    Corporate social responsibility is arguably the most important thing on any brand marketer’s mind. It’s important because studies increasingly show that consumers will spend their money on brands that reflect their values and concerns.

  • 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

  • Coca-Cola CMO sees digital marketing as vital

    Wed, 23 Sep 2009

    Coca-Cola’s marketing will evolve into content management as the soft drinks giant pursues “a far more aggressive digital presence”, according to Coke’s top marketer Joseph Tripodi.

  • Brand marketers and agencies' single goal

    Wed, 16 Sep 2009

    If you don’t have a strong and trusting relationship with your customers, you don’t have anything. You may have the sexiest brand with the most fantastic premium positioning, but if you aren’t investing in a bond with each and every one of your customers, they are likely to see you as irrelevant.

  • Takeover season marks an early thaw

    10 September 2009

    The market thawed a little this week. T-Mobile stopped flirting and announced it had chosen a suitor in Orange. A day earlier, US food giant Kraft revealed its hand with a £10.2bn cash-and-shares bid for Cadbury.

  • Collaborative approach marks new age of CSR

    20 August 2009

    A new wave of research hopes to boost brand awareness and interest in the One Young World summit taking place next year. But can the project succeed? asks Mark Choueke

  • Take a firm stance in the face of recession

    20 August 2009

    As I write this, the day’s newspapers report a slide in the value of shares worldwide amid fears that the recent stock market rally has come to an end.

  • 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.

  • Stalwart bank brands play the loyalty card

    06 August 2009

    A month ago I changed my bank. I’m already fighting with the new people in charge of my money over £70 worth of what I consider to be unwarranted charges. Our cover story this week suggests that by bothering to change my bank at all, I am in a minority.

  • 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.

  • Research Showcase 2009

    Mon, 27 Jul 2009

    Introduction: Insight. Real, authentic knowledge of what your customers are thinking, feeling, seeing and being influenced by. It’s like a mirage that seems ever further away the more you read what your consumers are Twittering or reporting back to their Facebook communities.

  • Specialist content is way forward online

    23 July 2009

    There’s an argument going on regarding news organisations charging for online content. Content that was previously free. When Rupert Murdoch announced last May that he will charge for access to all of News Corporation’s newspaper websites within a year, he effectively pressed the start button on a stopwatch. Time for navel-gazing is over. We all, magazine and newspaper publishers alike, have to decide what we believe. We have to modify our products accordingly, then hold on and pray ...

  • The thorny problem for Rose and Sharp

    09 July 2009

    The night before I met Marks & Spencer executive chairman and CEO Stuart Rose and its marketing director Steve Sharp, marketers from some of the world’s biggest brands gathered on the roof of Unilever House on the banks of the Thames to celebrate The Marketing Society’s 50th anniversary. When I mentioned to one group at the party that I was to meet Rose and Sharp the following afternoon, conversation turned first to the shareholder ire aimed at Rose and later to what they called ...

  • War of the Rose

    09 July 2009

    Embattled M&S chief Stuart Rose and marketing director Steve Sharp answer their critics and launch a solid and vivacious defence of their governance and marketing strategies.

  • Marketing week live meets expectations

    02 July 2009

    I am writing this on the run. I’m down at the Grand Hall at Olympia checking out the first day of Marketing Week Live, our event that reflects the integrated nature of modern marketing. (If you still don’t know what I’m talking about check out marketingweeklive.co.uk).

  • Watch this space to keep track of changes

    25 June 2009

    I met Philip Kotler this week. We had breakfast while he was in London for a couple of days. A remarkable man. Dr Kotler did not appear jaded by a tour schedule that would make Glastonbury headliner Bruce Springsteen weep.

  • Everything a marketer needs under one roof

    Fri, 19 Jun 2009

    If you don’t innovate and push investment during a recession you’re going to fail. Standing still means you’re moving backwards. I know, I know, you’ve heard it all said a hundred times already and read it a hundred more. But as a publishing company with a top media brand in the marketing sector, we lead by example and like to show we are practicing what we preach.

  • Lessons in marketing come from the heart

    Wed, 10 Jun 2009

    Wal-Mart’s recently appointed international CMO tells Mark Choueke how the biggest company in the world is using Asda’s experience to place marketing at the heart of its international empire.

  • Asda team runs Wal-Mart academy

    Wed, 10 Jun 2009

    Asda’s marketing team will train retail executives from all of Wal-Mart’s non-US brands at a new global retail marketing academy based here in the UK.

  • Marketing at heart of all retail success

    11 June 2009

    When Wal-Mart admitted defeat in 2006 after eight years of trying to make Germany one of its key markets, it was clear then that the US giant needed help. Its approach to business, so successful on the other side of the Atlantic, had not translated into German.

  • Thin shafts of light pierce black mood

    4 June 2009

    Our cover image this week might suggest that we at Marketing Week have spotted the green shoots of recovery and are calling the end of the recession. We’re not. This particular recession is as deep as it is wide and it’s clear to even to the most unseasoned observer that there is still a long way to go before full economic health is restored.

  • Don't let the flaws hold you back from frontiers

    28 May 2009

    What’s the single most important factor in the success of any marketer? It would be easy to cite the strength of the brand or the depth of resources that a brand owner is prepared to invest as the measure that ultimately divides good marketers from great ones.

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