
How often do marketers fail to stand in the customer’s shoes?
This failure comes far, far, far too often. I always try to repeat to myself the phrase “How would I react if I received this
#ThursdayThoughtSparks: Our tips on ESG Comms, Marketing and Management

This failure comes far, far, far too often. I always try to repeat to myself the phrase “How would I react if I received this

So – two fascinating aspects of an Advertising Standards Authority ruling from earlier this year. The first thing is that this is a case picked

Just how much green guff are we reading, day by day, month by month, ad nauseam? Is it significant? Is it saying something either credible

There’s the old adage that first class people hire other first class people; but second class people only hire third class people. The immediate interpretation

What is this obsession with automation? Sure, it applies to the world of consumer marketing and also what I would call ‘mass’ B2B. The benefits

What is this obsession with automation? Sure, it applies to the world of consumer marketing and also what I would call ‘mass’ B2B. The benefits

Managers – in businesses large and small – are generally hopeless at confrontation, particularly around issues of under-performance. This is corrosive. Every time a managers

What makes a good social post, I ask? Lots of engagement and response, you say. Wrong, I say. Because a few good engagements are worth

If we involve experts to give us input, then we shouldn’t contradict or gainsay them when they come up with inputs that don’t match our

All the out-of-the-box marketing metrics are all about quantity. This is incredibly misleading. Sure, much targeting effort goes into pushing out messages, campaigns and propositions

Sometimes you get a ruling on green marketing (or rather, on greenwashing) that beggars belief. It makes everyone gasp in astonishment not just because it

Nobody likes a sycophant. Or if they do, it’s a sign of their own highly developed inadequacies. But upstaging is just as pathetic. Avoid it

How many times (I speak to those who have experience in service business sales) do you end up selling what originally caught your target audience’s

You’ve got to have a lot of evidence to make green claims. So get prepared and view those claims objectively. It would be tragic if,

Some people try to be ‘pure’ business managers. They give out orders right, left and Chelsea, but they never end up with any actions themselves.

So in our world of B2B marketing, how many letters do you get? How often do suppliers approach you through the mail? How often do

Interesting one from the ASA a couple of years ago about the advertising claims made by a major international bank. The issue was around two

Why did Carlsberg say ‘probably’ (the greatest lager in the world)? Why did Nike say “Just do it”? – something that is so vague as to be unchallengeable, yet so aspirational as to be infinitely interpretable.
Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.