Recently a growing number of voices have been questioning the logic and value of social media marketing. But in the main these views are overwhelmed by the ubiquitous support for all things social. This post summarises a range of these dissenting arguments to help invite greater debate about why and how brands should use social … Continue reading
Consumers may now shape and define brands. But it’s still the marketing team behind a brand that builds it. This post outlines four key team principles for outperformance brand building. The Challenge of Synchronising Mid to Large Brands To direct their team’s brand management efforts, a CMO typically employ a variety of tools and resources, … Continue reading
Proctor & Gamble has recently caused quite a stir in the marketing world with a global restructure that, as reported by the UK’s Marketing Magazine, “abolishes the term ‘marketing director’ and renames the marketing organisation as ‘brand management’”. As a result of this, its senior marketers across the globe will now be known as brand … Continue reading
Brand strategy is now part of the mainstream of destination and place marketing. But for small destinations brand management can seem too complex. Or the stories that they develop look too similar to other places, and so don’t do enough to enhance the destination’s attractiveness. But there is one simple and effective technique any destination … Continue reading
In brand building small things can have a big impact. A previous post outlined how achieving superior brand communications is often “a game of inches”. This post looks at identifying which details of what a brand does that makes the most difference to its success. Too many moments of truth Attention to detail is by … Continue reading
Fans of sports movies will recognise that the title of this post borrows from Al Pacino’s famous coach’s speech in the American football film, Any Given Sunday. “You find out life’s this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game – life or football – the margin for error is so small. I … Continue reading
According to Richard Branson, “Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple”. It’s ironic then how much marketing tends to overcomplicate things, given that Branson is one of the profession’s most popular pin-up boys. Our last post for 2013 held a comic mirror up to some … Continue reading
Comedy can help us see things that we’re usually blind to, or that we simply prefer to ignore. As put by writer Mary Hirsch, “Humour is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” The ad industry, for all its foibles, often manages to laugh at itself. And in … Continue reading
If you manage brands, the chances are at some point you’ll find yourself in a situation where someone wants to determine the Unique Selling Proposition for a brand you’re responsible for. Usually this will be because the brand isn’t performing and it’s been concluded that there’s a need to refresh or reposition it. So the … Continue reading
Earlier this year, on a sweltering March day at Melbourne’s Moomba festival, I was intrigued to see every second person walking around with a curious looking hot snack. Not only did this choice seem incongruous with the temperature, but people were queuing for over 10 minutes in the mid-day heat to get one. What was … Continue reading
