They say mistakes are the best way to learn. I’m not so sure about that, but mistakes definitely make for memorable lessons. Back in the late nineties, I began my first job in media buying. Essentially, learning how to spend a lot of money –...
Everyone in business knows the importance of a clearly defined strategy, even though it is often eaten for breakfast by culture, according to Peter Drucker. It sometimes seems like culture and strategy are polar. That the two can never coexist. That they are combative. Divergent....
John Lewis & Partners in the UK has declared 2018 to be the “year of shopping on the move”, citing in their Annual Report how smartphones now account for 42% of visits (up 17 percentage points year on year). Downloads of the John Lewis app...
There can be no doubt that programmatic media buying has the potential to change the way brands connect with customers. The promise of more relevant, timely and persuasive communication is intoxicating for a marketer. Coupled with a more efficient media buy and greater transparency, programmatic...
Rapha cycling is a compelling model for the future of retail. They’ve been hailed by some as an example of how bricks n clicks retailers can deliver an emotive and engaging experience. Mary Portas, retail legend and star of the British TV show Queen of...
Chess masters don’t focus on the pieces on the board, they look at the empty space for potential moves. Professional footballers don’t look at the player with the ball, they look at the other players moving into position. Amateurs focus ONLY on the pieces, on...
Much like Jane Austen’s novel back in the 19th Century, we have a Sense and Sensibility predicament in media right now. With the likes of Google and Apple recently making their phone screens less addictive, marketers will have to drop the romantic notion that they can...
In case you missed it, GDPR is now enforceable as of last Friday. You probably knew it was coming, because your inbox may have experienced an explosion of “We’re Changing our Privacy Policy” emails. Whilst GDPR will affect different business in different ways, all businesses...
The old truism that the company you keep says a lot about you is never more apt than when developing brand partnerships. People are quick to judge, so you have to get it right. Even when you get the brand fit right, there is still...
Often when monster news cycles dominate the media (cricket cheats, data cheats, social cheats…) smaller, less titillating stories can get missed. Such may be the case with an interview Marketing Week UK did with the Commercial Director of Formula One, Sean Bratches (read here). It’s...