Marketers obsess over new tech, tools & channels, but does we really have a clue?
One of the best books about Hollywood is ‘Adventures in the Screen Trade’ in which the screenwriter William Goldman asserts that “nobody knows anything”. He was referring to the fact that despite their market research, gut instinct and experience, no one in Hollywood has any idea how well a film will do before its release. […]
What have the Romans ever done for marketing?
In Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ film, a rag-tag bunch of pseudo-revolutionaries called The People’s Front of Judea asked the question: “What have the Romans ever done for us?” Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, it turns out they gave us one […]
Hate new-year predictions? Who cares? Here are mine!
At this time of year, you can’t move for articles pontificating about what will happen in the next 12 months. But if you can’t beat them, join them. It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not referring to the endless discussions of the John Lewis Christmas campaign, or, for that matter, having a […]
Big Data Downer
The two scariest words in the marketing lexicon are not ‘you’re fired’. They are in fact, ‘big data’. Why? Because nobody really has a clue what it means or what it entails. It sounds like one of those things is going to be good. And, like any mot du jour, it has spawned its own […]
How can you get marketing to be seen as the growth drivers rather than the ‘colouring in’ department?
Marketing is rarely viewed as a process-based profession. The marketing profession is often seen as the exact opposite, compared to the process thinking, of say, project management. Marketers are expected to be creative – even when we don’t have a creative bone in our body. We are expected to provide the inspiration, not the perspiration. […]
Consumers are not lying awake at night thinking about your brand. In fact they don’t really care at all.
All customers want is for a brand to deliver on its promise. Every now and then I have a Damascene moment. A blinding flash of the obvious; something I’m sure everybody else has noticed, but not me. The most recent one was this: most brand folks make the basic mistake of believing that there is […]
I thought Customer Experience was supposed to be a ‘top priority’ in 2016
Brands claim customer experience is a top priority, really they’re just paying it lip service I have to admit, I am not the most patient person. I am even less patient when it comes to being put on hold by so-called ‘customer service departments’. We are all familiar with the inevitable message, “your call is […]
Learning from those who turned small brands into big brands
I believe that marketers are using a framework of marketing knowledge built for a different age. Most of the brands I used as metaphors and examples for explanation, such as the big FMCG brands are basically, old, as in, been around for ages. They have followed a similar brand playbook that has been taught in […]
Storytelling’ and Creating a ‘Relationship’ are a Load of Marketing Codswallop
Do we really believe that our customer’s want to have a ‘relationship’ with us? I’ve spent a lot of time in my career meeting actual customers face-to-face and talking to them. It always strikes me that their world is a little more prosaic and mundane than we marketers envisage while talking about creativity or […]
Six ways to think about innovation – before you start trying to innovate!
Never fall in love: If you think the idea of innovation involves placing big bets on WAGs (wild ass guesses), then save everybody’s time, and buy a lottery ticket. However, if you’d prefer to launch something new into the world with a bit more knowledge about how customers might respond, then you must never fall […]
Everybody wants to join the digital party
Everybody wants to join the digital party – even the management consultants: digital agencies beware! The borders are blurring between management consultants and the marketing world are beginning to blur. Previously the big “firms”, focussed on dealing with the CEO and the board only, producing the perfect strategy slide deck, but leaving the grubby work of implementation to others.
iBeacon – bringing shoppers more added value
The latest in a round of location based communications. The Apple iBeacon launched with so far, a fair amount of success. The iBeacon is BLE a small low energy blue tooth device which can be placed in locations where consumers may be active for example at the check-out or at a product display and so […]
Top SEO trends 2013
SEO to GROW The importance of SEO is now been widely recognised along with the critical need to develop integrated SEO within your marketing strategy to ensure reach across all marketing channels. Combine this with the frequent changing of Google algorithms and you soon realise how more demanding marketing has become and the additional time […]
The $300m question
Lar Veale, from www.sourgrapes.ie is a favourite teacher of mine on the concept of user interface design. He makes it really simple to see things that you never really noticed before. Lar tells a really great story about the $300m button – something which I had not heard of before – other may have, but […]
Maths: Who needs it?
As a marketing guy through and through, I think the Irish emphasis on science and mathematics is completely overstated. Make that completely overstated if want to run a business. To be honest, I would much rather be doing something that involved some creative thinking. However, the basics of any business are the numbers. Unfortunately, the […]
Long or short copy?
Let’s talk about long copy versus short copy. The general consensus of opinion is – ‘no-one reads a four-page letter or long form advertisement’; ‘long letters are old-fashioned’; ‘today’s readers want a short sharp one-page one-paragraph message’. We will discuss the origin of this fallacious thinking another time. But for now, don’t you believe it! […]
Ideas for your copywriting
Want to write ad copy like the pros – check out these 7 tips. 1. Use a hand written letter on your ad copy instead of text. Write the ad on a piece of paper, scan it and publish the ad on your web page. Adding a personal touch will always increase your sales. 2. […]
Sticky Handouts
The key to a great promotional handout for a trade show event is that it provides needed information about you and your business. But for it to stick, in other words, not get thrown in the bin, it has to have something a little more than just information. One of the very best ways to […]