Blog and News
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...
Time you got promoted
Why sales promotion is tactical gold Sales promotion is one of the most impactful tactics for generating increased sales and revenue. But it’s not just one tactic, it’s a whole catalogue of approaches. I use the word ‘tactics’ advisedly, because one of the great...
Is marketing strategy for SME’s?
Have entrepreneurs and small businesses rejected classic marketing strategy? As an impoverished marketer trying to earn an honest crust in these difficult times, I have observed that while bigger organisations appear still committed to strategic marketing, smaller...
7 Post-lockdown marketing tips
Get ready for the future with post-lockdown marketing It's been a tough time for many businesses - and even those least affected will be finding the market environment has changed. Sometimes these changes are very evident, sometimes subtle and insidious. Aside from...
Why bother with my brand at a time like this?
Should I bother working on my brand at a time like this? Absolutely, it’s more important than ever. Firstly, customers like to deal with people they know, so just being there is a major plus. So keep your visibility high. Talk to people, post, publish, ‘phone. What...
Time for a vision of the future
While many of us were self-isolating and working at home, it was only natural to dwell on the gloomy business environment. We’ve been working to mitigate damage, and concentrate on survival strategies. However, it’s now important to also put some time aside to...
‘Don’t commute – communicate’ – will it stick?
For a long time it seems, I've been trying to encourage clients to embrace modern technologies in their marketing, communications, planning and implementation. The current pandemic has forced many to change and adopt new strategies, particularly in the field of online...
Quality isn’t so important
Of course quality is vital in terms of what you do and how you do it. But as a differentiator, as part of your brand proposition, it’s nowhere near as exciting as you think. I’ve been running workshops with a roomful of bright business people, and asked them to create...
Marketing pains or business gains
What matters most for your business - making gains or relieving pains? Psychologists say we spend more time avoiding pain than seeking pleasure - the pain-pleasure principle. In business too, we all have pains to deal with - slow business, poor profits, aggressive...
5 Ways to make sure your content is relevant.
Traps to avoid with your new brand name. Most startups spend way too much time and energy worrying about their brand name. Just take a look at the names of some of our leading brands and you’ll see that they are not significant in themselves. Their importance lies in...
Sustainable Marketing and the 4 ‘E’s
There is a lot of buzz around sustainable marketing, and rightly so. It's important at not just the procducts and services that businesses deliver are sustainable, but also the marketing processes involved in their marketng and communications. I first became...
How much should I spend on Marketing?
"How much should I spend on my marketing?" is a question I'm frequently asked by prospective clients - or, "If I spend £XXXX on marketing what will I get?"Those are basically the wrong questions. We need to turn the conversation around and ask; "What do you want to...
How three great brand tools can work together.
Approaches to branding and development change over time. However, at times, important disciplines combine with powerful results. Sometimes it's just a matter of timing when familiar techniques and technologies can be sparked by a catalyst arriving at the right moment....
Why the brand belongs in the boardroom
'The brand' is something that’s rarely discussed in the boardroom, unless the CMO (if you have one!) is around. But let’s just step back a moment - actually the ‘brand’ is often a point for discussion, except it’s rarely referred to as such. Because the business ‘is’...
Brand Identity – MISS before KISS – Why simplicity is the key.
It really does pay to have a simple brand identity, especially in today’s digital world. Everybody knows the old ‘KISS’ acronym - ‘Keep it simple, stupid’. But before we can do that we need to ‘MISS’ - Make it Simple. Now is a good time to revisit your brand identity...
How to get the vision back in your brand.
Does your brand know where it's going? More importantly, are you clear where you want it to go?When developing a brand or briefing a consultant, it's critical to consider what you want your brand to look like in, say, five years time, or more. Try not to focus only on...
Brand names and seven key decisions
Traps to avoid with your new brand name. Most startups spend way too much time and energy worrying about their brand name. Just take a look at the names of some of our leading brands and you’ll see that they are not significant in themselves. Their importance lies in...
Your brand doesn’t exist
In fact no brands exist… not even the most famous ones.Let’s look more closely at what that means. A brand is just what’s called a social construct. That means it's a concept that we, as a society, invent to help make sense of things. They are ideas, stories if you...
Nobody’s interested in your product or service.
Customers don’t care about your business - all they’re interested in is what it can do for them. You may be justifiably proud of a new product feature you’ve sweated over. That new system you’ve designed may seem really cool to you. But all the client wants to know is...
Do Marketers and Boards speak different languages?
In an excellent article in Catalyst, the Chartered Institute of Marketing magazine, Chris Daly (CEO of the CIM) suggests boards and marketers communicate in different languages. He considers whether this may limit marketers’ contribution to the business. Now, surely...
How to create marketing plans for uncertain times.
A new year should be the time for getting marketing plans and strategies in place for the year ahead. However, we live in uncertain times and many businesses are holding off planning. Political turmoil, global trade wars and financial instability cloud the view....
The postman knocks once more for direct mail.
Are we ready for the new age of direct mail? You may have also noticed an increase in direct mail received over recent months. Certainly my postman's been making more frequent visits. It was predicted Direct mail would enjoy a resurgence following the introduction of...
Video marketing – if it moves – shoot it
In my early days in advertising, before video marketing, we used to have a saying, “Nothing sells like TV.” It was true… and there was sound reasoning behind it. Firstly, the medium had tremendous reach, and of course, TV is a major medium. However, the overriding...
Argos, innovation – and intuition’s role
Marketing technology is steadily changing business' approach to innovation. The traditional approach was to take a creative idea, analyse, research, develop, commercialise and test throughly. Then, only when a significant understanding and probability of success could...
What happened to sustainable marketing?
Why is sustainability back on the marketing agenda? It seems like just a few years ago, sustainable marketing was a hot topic. Then things went very quiet for a while. I found this curious, as sustainability was increasingly being considered as a pillar of corporate...
When the hand of marketing should be felt but not seen – light-touch marketing
Marketing is a process – the effects should be apparent but not the process.You may find this a pretty obvious statement, and quite inoffensive. For the six or so decades of this still new art (or science?) of marketing, we have held such a truth to be self-evident....
Killer copywriting and how to speak your customers’ language
The web is still fundamentally a text-based medium so language matters. One simple thing can make or break an ad, post or mailer – ‘voice.’ In other words, not just what you say, but how you say it. We all use different voices in everyday life – when we speak to...