Mini MBA: Those trained for yesterday, are old hat today
The most popular marketing education in the industry is teaching you to fail. Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA has trained thousands…
Views
AI won’t replace marketers, it’ll replace lazy marketing
Artificial intelligence isn’t coming for your job. But it is coming for your bad habits. For months, the headlines have…
Subscriptions are easy; getting them right takes effort
Subscription-based models have long since moved beyond digital entertainment. Once synonymous with streaming services, they now extend into household goods,…
How to encourage shoppers to purchase your brand
Traditional economic theory assumes people make rational choices, but behavioural economics shows emotions and biases play a much stronger role….
Data-driven sampling: Small sachet; big growth engine
Sampling is one of marketing’s oldest tactics – a centuries-old method built on the simple premise of try before you…
Inside the shift that’s making ads more human, not less
While headlines scream endlessly about AI, something far more significant is happening beneath the noise in digital advertising. AI is…
Why the rise of ROAS has got everyone hoodwinked
The migration of return on advertising spend from a useful measurement to a key strategic KPI has occurred largely without…
The danger of telling ourselves what we want to hear
Earlier this year my wife and I were gripped by Apple Cider Vinegar, the Netflix drama based on Belle Gibson’s…
How programmatic DOOH boosts independent agencies
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising has historically been one of advertising’s most exclusive clubs, but where legacy relationships and red tape…
Beware the march of the ‘Frankenstack’ martech army
If you’re a modern marketer, you live or die by your martech. Fortunately, we recently carried out research among 250…
Why cutting marketing in hard times is fatal for brands
In times of economic downturn or uncertainty, businesses often look inward – streamlining operations, freezing hires, and yes, slashing budgets. In…
Why it’s time for a major rethink of the creative model
One of the recurring issues clients face is paying for resources they don’t need. I once had a client tell…
Spooner on…pushing the envelope of effective marketing
There is no sound. The great threshing sheds are silent. No gardeners toil in the rose garden, the physick garden,…
AI is a game changer but why is it all so cringeworthy?
It’s mid-May and LinkedIn has spent the past few weeks is losing its mind. Some of the excitable posters are…
Getting to grips with the present, and future, of gifting
Gifting isn’t just about exchanging presents; it’s a deeply ingrained social ritual that reveals as much about the giver as…
Growth is not enough; CMOs must be market shapers
The challenges faced by CMOs are numerous: declining budgets, an ever-expanding scope of responsibility and difficulty proving the value of…
How to seamlessly integrate GenAI without a disaster
It’s pretty clear now that the LLMs and generative AI we are currently working with aren’t the birth of Skynet,…
Combat marketing tunnel vision for the bigger picture
Finding the appropriate balance between commercial opportunities and marketing investment has been a long-term challenge for brands. Recent research from…
All In Census: Why the industry needs your involvement
Despite talent retention challenges in 2025, opportunities for data-driven progress remain. Initiatives such as the All In campaign, with the…
How to choose the right path for digital experiences
There is little doubt we are at a crossroads for digital experiences. On the one hand, consumers are more expectant…
What love songs can really teach us about brand loyalty
Too often brand loyalty is characterised by what we can see in Google Analytics, or similar. It’s all about value,…
How to fix the fear that’s stifling marketing creativity
Marketing has always been fast, high-pressure, and unforgiving. From the “lunch is for wimps” era to today’s always-on, globalised environment,…
Spooner on…are you with St Augustine or with Satan?
I had set out to write an intelligent column about the difference between writing copy and writing content, but now…
Three strategies to enable CMOs to thrive in 2025
CMOs are facing unprecedented challenges in 2025. Multiple, compounding disruptions make it increasingly difficult for marketing teams to plan and…
Lessons from Q4 to drive year-round marketing activity
When it comes to annual priorities, the months leading up to Christmas often carry a lot of expectation. Driven by…
TikTok row shouldn’t detract from power of the platform
The ownership of TikTok might still be up in the air in the US, but globally there is little doubt…
Why charging by the hour makes a mockery of creativity
Imagine how much more mind-blowing creativity output, and life, could be if we stopped billing by hours and started billing…
How you can thrive in 2025…with data-driven precision
Once again, advertising is set to operate against a backdrop of uncertainty this year. Amid ongoing price pressures and global…
How you can thrive in 2025…with a purpose-driven plan
Over the past 10 years, brands have had to withstand a global economic downturn and once in a lifetime pandemic…
How you can thrive in 2025…with new digital marketing
As 2025 takes hold, our thoughts turn to the trends that will shape the digital marketing industry over the next…
How you can thrive in 2025…by creating true stand-out
What is the point of brands if not to be remembered? As we look towards the coming year, the need…
How you can thrive in 2025…with premium news sites
In 2017, the Collins dictionary proclaimed “fake news” as its word of the year, following President Trump’s consistent use of…
How you can thrive in 2025…with scenario planning
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest in the land,”…
How you can thrive in 2025…with charity fundraising
Despite the gloom and doom that seems to be the current fashion, 2025 is not – looking into our crystal…
How you can thrive in 2025…with data-driven retailing
It’s been another tough year for retailers: ONS data tracks retail sales dipping and rising over the course of the…
How you can thrive in 2025…with influencer marketing
Influencer marketing has become a cornerstone of modern digital marketing. No longer the new kid on the block, it has…
How you can thrive in 2025…by betting on thinking big
In 2025, the fastest growing brands will better balance short-term sales growth and long-term brand building. At first glance, this…
How you can thrive in 2025…by targeting Gen Alpha
We often forget that Gen Alpha – those born since 2010 – are growing up in a world designed and…
Don’t let younger audiences drive your TV ad strategy
Reaction to Barb’s recent report on the UK TV market has sparked renewed focus on YouTube and TikTok as platforms…
How to use data and analytics to prove marketing’s ROI
It’s no secret that CMOs are facing downward pressure on their budgets: according to the 2024 Gartner CMO Spend Survey,…
Why festive creative story-telling is not just for Xmas
The retail landscape has transformed dramatically over the past four years. We’ve navigated through a pandemic, embraced digital innovation, and…
Balance authenticity and accuracy for DEI success
With Black History Month (BHM) just ended, it’s a good time to reflect on charities’ progress on equality, diversity and…
High time to reinvent your content marketing strategy
“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.” It’s a phrase we’ve all heard before – an invitation to rely on…
How to maximise charity donations as Christmas looms
This year’s Online Donations December Insights Report provides an analysis of digital fundraising trends during the Christmas period in 2023,…
Why now is the time to rethink B2B marketing model
B2B marketing is in desperate need of a reset. For too long, marketers have clung to safe, formulaic strategies that…
Why only a compelling story will bring analytics to life
Data and analytics can speak volumes, and yet, in reality, they can’t speak for themselves. Their proof points are powerful…
How to ensure Shopify upgrade works for your brand
Shopify’s new checkout may not have generated the same level of excitement as Google’s third-party cookie U-turn, but the potential…
How AI is fuelling a radical change in how we all work
I originally intended to title this article “AI: an existential threat to data,” but I reconsidered for a couple of…
Getting a multichannel view of campaign performance
Many digital marketers assume their campaigns will be inherently easier to track, since they comprise more digital tactics. However, there’s…
Will data drive your cost-of-living crisis exit strategy?
Not much seems to unite the UK these days. But one thing the vast majority of us can probably agree…