Blog and News
Beating the Bot: How to Get Noticed When AI Takes Over
Stop the scroll – Beat the bots – Invest in originality, emotion, and relevance, and give your audience a reason to pause—and pay attention.
Marketing Technology – an amazing decade.
For marketing technology, the last ten years have been a breathless race onward and upwards. Marketing is no longer a place for technophobes – if it ever was.
Let’s take a different look at AI
Look at AI, if it freed up 50% more marketing time for your business, how would you spend that extra resource? Here’s a few ideas.
Your marketing actions for 2025
We’ve been talking with clients about 2025 (Yes, it’s almost upon us!). We’ve been considering what marketing actions will be top of our agenda.
Why memorability matters
Memorability matters. Customers may not be ready to buy on their first interaction with your brand – so make sure they remember you.
What should an SME Marketing Technology Stack look like in the AI age?
Is your Marketing Tech Stack keeping pace with the AI world? Time to supercharge your stack and save a shed-load of time and effort!
Marketing for more
Marketing for more is a normal reaction – but what ‘more’ do you really want? And how much more? And by when? Get under the skin of ‘more’. What does it mean?
7 Old-school marketing approaches that still pack a punch.
In our AI-driven, digitally dominated world, it’s easy to overlook old-school marketing approaches. However, these time-tested strategies add impact and results.
Be prepared for AI surprises
I’m a big fan of AI, and use it in some form, most days. But when others use it, don’t let AI surprises catch you out. Here’s how I was unprepared.
The Most Important Skill in an AI World?
What will be the Most Important Skill in an AI World? As AI continues to revolutionise industries and take over more day-to-day tasks, one question looms large: What’s the most important skill in an AI world? The answer, surprisingly, is a very human one: creativity....
What building board games taught me about AI
In my early days in publishing I was approached by an academic who had a brief from a government department to create some board games to introduce and explain how various businesses worked. (This may not seem to be about AI, but please bear with me.) It was really...
From Automation to Advisory: Are Coaching Services the Future of B2B Marketing
In the rapidly evolving landscape of B2B marketing, a significant shift is taking place. As automated systems handle the routine tasks of marketing, there's an increasing demand for personalised advisory, mentoring, and CEO coaching services. This trend is reshaping...
The Website is Back: Why you need website advice more than ever.
The Website is Back: Why you need website advice more than ever. In recent years, the mantra “social media is king” echoed throughout the business world, leading many to believe that traditional websites were becoming obsolete. However, the tide has turned. Today,...
Are Creative and Production getting a divorce?
Is there a crumbling relationship between creative and production in the world of marketing? Have the flames been fanned with the rise of AI?
Should Marketing be a regulated profession?
An incompetent marketer is unlikely to damage your health but could harm your wealth and reputation. Why professional standards in marketing matter.
Problems for SME marketing strategy and how to overcome them
For an SME Creating a marketing strategy may seem like a complex process. That's one of the reasons that owners and managers often ignore strategy and jump straight to tactics. They’re anxious to get some marketing tasks underway. Just do something! Any action seems...
Time to take another look at your brandscape?
Why you should take a look at your brandscape? Brands don’t exist in vacuums, but are part of complex brandscapes. They not only live alongside other brands but are affected by them and together shape their commercial environment. Understanding your own brandscape not...
7 Reasons Brand Building can Supercharge your Small Business Growth
How investing in the brand will smooth your path, fast track development, and accelerate business growth. Let’s take a look at just 7 ways that building a dynamic brand contributes to building your dynamic business. Stand Out in the Crowd: In a competitive market, a...
Why we need to rethink marketing strategies for SMEs.
The usual marketing tools for big businesses are not necessarily the most successful tools for small business. Marketing is still a relatively new discipline. Many of the fundamental principles in use today are those formed in the early decades. They are sound and...
The Price of Creativity
Value and price - the creative dilemma The exploding catalogue of AI solutions can take over many of the day-to-day functions of advertising creatives, and this brings the value of real, human, creative concepts into sharp focus. The value of those brilliant ideas,...
Creativity and the problem with humans
Creativity is a very human problem Let’s start with the good news. There is evidence to suggest that there may be a creative gene. Even better, it looks like we all have it! Dr. George Land, along with his colleague Dr. Beth Jarman, developed a creativity test known...
Why a Creative Culture is Essential, Even for Small Businesses
If you’re involved in running a small business today, you don’t need me to tell you of the numerous challenges you face – competition, limited resources, and the need to stand out in a crowded marketplace. To overcome these hurdles, a creative culture is not just a luxury but a necessity.
Project management in marketing – from soup to nuts
Some marketing consultants give great advice. But then you need to go further - a lot further. The work needs to be done to put that advice into practice. Many essential projects identified in the advice just gather dust. I believe there’s a need for a different kind...
What is project management in marketing?
Project management in marketing is the practice of planning, organising, and executing marketing projects to achieve specific objectives within a given timeline and budget. It involves the use of various project management tools and techniques to ensure that marketing initiatives are completed efficiently and effectively.
Memorability and b2b marketing
Memorability in marketing refers to the ability of a brand or advertising campaign to stick in the minds of consumers. This is important because the more memorable a brand or campaign is, the more likely it is that consumers will remember it and make a purchase. This...
Advertising Concepts – what’s the big idea?
What’s the big idea? How to create great marketing and advertising concepts “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product,” wrote David Ogilvy. “Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the...
Why we need Fuzzy Goals
Why we need fuzzy goals for today’s brand strategies. One of the cornerstones of traditional, brand-strategy creation, is goal and objective setting. There has always been an issue that situations and the business environment are constantly changing. Objectives are in...
Personal branding and the brand as person model
Long before the concept of 'Personal Branding' was understood, brand practitioners often used the 'Brand as Person' model as an aid to help establish brand personalities. The concept was simple. If your brand was a person, what sort of personality would it be?...
Brand semiotics and brand equity
Brand Semiotics provide powerful tools to not only understand brand personalities, but also to identify opportunities to occupy advantageous positions in the brandscape. Brand choice is significantly influenced by emotional engagement and the intangible, perceived...
Brand damage and P&O
Is potential brand damage at P&O down to bad luck, bad management, or poor communications? Whichever, there can be little argument that once again a major brand may suffer significant brand damage. It doesn’t take a specialist to spot the potential for such...
4 really good reasons for a brand refresh
4 really good reasons for a brand refresh A brand refresh can be a powerful tool - so long as it’s for the right reason. But let's start with a really bad reason. And this is all-too-common - the owner, or CEO wants a change. They’re fed up or bored with the brand or...
7 Deadly Sins of Branding
Branding should be based upon common sense, but sadly, we see so many pitfalls awaiting the unwary - or the un-prepared. Pitfalls that are easily avoided, and brands and brand identities that can deliver great rewards for their businesses. So, we've assembled the 7...
Brand guidelines matter
Why do brand guidelines matter? Because the best brand identities are not necessarily the best designed, but are always the most consistently applied. Great design matters, of course - but from a brand point of view the most important factor is consistency. Every...
Confidence and brand leadership
Brand leadership is about a business's passion. There is an intangible quality shared by true brand leaders in fields as varied as manufacturing, finance, food and drink, or fashion - that quality is confidence. It’s often manifested in appearing not to have to try...
Use the power of intrigue to draw people in and keep them engaged
Intrigue: (verb) to interest someone a lot, especially by being strange, unusual, or mysterious. Dripping out information is a smart way to keep visitors and readers holding on for more. Authors and screen-writers have mastered the art. Of course they could probably...
So what?
Don't let your claims get caught in the 'So what' trap. The claims you make about your product or service are so important. Whether you are writing an ad, or a post, making presentations, video or creating an elevator pitch - there is one golden rule. Steer clear of...