Why artificial intelligence will not be taking your job
Artificial intelligence. Automation. Machine learning. Despite their origin in the discipline of pattern recognition, these technologies are redefining not just…
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Proof that direct mail and email work better together
In today’s digital age, email is the channel of choice for many marketers because it is more cost- and time-efficient…
The top five issues that marketers must challenge today
The pace of change has never been quicker. Accelerating technological developments mean it’s expected that in in five years our…
Year Ahead: Why the data industry has world at its feet
Despite the hysteria and confusion, I am pleased to say that the threatened “GDPR data apocalypse” has not materialised and,…
Spooner on…what’s in store for us in the year ahead?
Scurvy. That’s what 2019 probably has in store for us. SCURVY. Given that most of the UK’s fresh fruit and…
Why brands must get to grips with identity resolution
Marketing in all its forms must work wherever consumers are – and that is everywhere. Identity resolution is at the…
Is the Internet really killing off the British high street?
Many commentators have been quick to blame this year’s poor Christmas high street sales on a shift to online shopping,…
Year Ahead: Time to tackle influencer marketing fraud
Influencer marketing is still in its infancy in comparison to other digital marketing tactics. However, despite this, it is predicted…
Year Ahead: Time to embrace real-time data platforms
Knowledge of the customer continues to be a priority for most businesses. In fact Gartner’s latest CMO study reveals that…
Year Ahead: Get set for the rise of nano-segmentation
Segmenting people into groups based on something they have in common has been around since the 16th Century – Yeomans,…
Year Ahead: Can blockchain fix loyalty scheme woes?
The general consensus is that loyalty is broken. Recently we’ve seen Avios close its doors, Waitrose dramatically alter its offering,…
AI won’t save ad industry but it can redefine marketing
If you believe the headlines, AI may just be the answer to improving most sectors. From an artificial intelligence tool…
Spooner on…this year’s Klorinated Kristmas Krackers
Ah! Xmas! The filthy, numbed, cracked and swollen fingers from harvesting hundreds of thousands of sprouts in the frosty fields…
Marketers must ditch ego to connect with customers
Today’s consumer is both hyper-connected and increasingly wary of sharing their data with brands. Indeed, a recent YouGov survey found that most UK…
Black Friday frenzy puts customer loyalty in jeopardy
That’s right, it’s Black Friday once again, meaning retailers up and down the country are attempting to serve the mobs…
Why the John Lewis campaign marks a turning point
Advertising, like everything else in popular culture, works in cycles, and we’re witnessing a very interesting shift in tone and…
How brands can achieve a 720° view of their customers
How times have changed for marketing. Marketing to groups of similar people – the technique of yesteryear – has now…
How direct mail can cut through the digital deluge
When email first became a widespread communication tool, its immediacy and targetability convinced many industry experts that it would become…
How building a tech stack turns advertising into CRM
Today, no brand is immune from being disrupted by digital start-ups. Some question this logic, but when you consider the…
Why confidence scores are essential for modelled data
How confident are you really about your modelled data? If you asked yourself honestly, the answer to this question is…
Why brands must tackle the ‘infobesity’ challenge
While most businesses now understand how data can deliver a better, more personalised, customer experience, many also express angst about…
Time for the DM industry to address the plastics issue
In January, Theresa May’s government declared a war on plastic as part of a 25-year plan intended to eliminate all…
Why finance firms must fall back in love with direct mail
For financial services companies, cold direct mail has always been a major source for finding new customers, yet in my…
Why is big data never there when you actually need it?
Earlier this summer I cycled from London to Paris to raise money for charity. Sadly, one of my dearest friends…
Are you lagging behind with legitimate interests?
If you are old enough to remember the UK’s only 100-metre Olympic gold medallist, Linford Christie, his mantra was to…
Why GDPR is best thing since slice bread – and email
GDPR is quite likely the best thing to happen to the relationship between brands and customers since the invention of…
Impactful CX can only be achieved through sound data
Customers want a connected experience. Right from the marketing messages they receive, through to interactions with a brand’s assets. While…
GDPR two months on: Are you on road to compliance?
Two months have now passed since the marketing industry should have been GDPR-ready. Although the ICO didn’t set a hard…
CRM systems no longer just exclusively for rich brands
At a time when customers are more empowered, businesses are under ever increasing pressure to deliver a consistent and seamless…
Boring data? Forget it, it’s even driving Cannes’ agenda
On the surface, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and GDPR may not be natural bedfellows but there was…
Time for a joint approach to promote charity legacies
Legacy donations – bequests left in a will – are often a sizeable chunk of a charity’s revenue but aren’t…
GDPR forces marketers to go back to drawing board
New research from NTT Security predicts that it will take up to five years until there are high levels of…
Spooner on…so farewell then Tod Norman, one of a kind
“Change has never in history happened as fast as it is happening today; and it will never happen this slowly…
New order: clients are changing, now it’s agencies’ turn
It’s nearly H2 already. Is everyone on-plan? 2018 always promised change, challenge and opportunity. VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity)…
How to build up consumer trust in the age of GDPR
Data-driven marketing has always required a level of responsibility when it comes to handling consumer data, but GDPR has now…
Loyalty schemes can exploit GDPR to remain relevant
The past few months have been a turbulent time for the UK retail sector. Tesco defied the retail gloom by…
Busting Daily Mail myth of door drop apocalypse now
Far be it from me to act as a spokesperson for the door drop industry, but I do feel we…
For once, the Daily Mail is actually right about junk mail
I can’t quite believe I am going to write this, but for once I find myself agreeing with the Daily…
Spooner on…the early retirement of Sir Martin Sorrell
It is with great trepidation, a fluttering heart and trembling knees that I mount the huge curving staircase that leads…
Changing marketing landscape needs an agile approach
Marc Pritchard recently announced some interesting changes over at P&G. Moving marketers from “project” managers to “brand” managers, cutting the…
Modern-day classification: Who do you think you are?
In the days when I promoted Mosaic, our team used to share what we thought was an amusing anecdote. Marketers…
Segmentation techniques have changed, how about you?
The major changes in consumer behaviour, driven by the increasing influence of new technology, continue to precipitate a massive shift…
Cambridge Analytica: A question of ethics not legality
The news surrounding Cambridge Analytica and its apparent “data breach” has dominated the headlines for days. It’s a story that…
How to stop your company being the next data scandal
Data is under the spotlight yet again as the ICO ramps up its investigation into Cambridge Analytica, the UK firm…
GDPR: Making the case for using legitimate interests
With the exception of wilful cowboys, most organisations – whether they are a charity or a commercial business – probably…
Spooner on…where have all the old creatives gone?
Onward I trudge this bitter morning, knee-deep in the thick snow, stumbling, flailing, striving onward onward towards the cruelly-early-morning locomotive…
Use GDPR to reshape your customer engagement efforts
When GDPR comes into effect in May, data accuracy will certainly be crucial, but the ways in which the new…
We all have a legitimate interest in sound GDPR advice
So, at last a bit of welcome news from the ICO. Here it is in black and white in new…
Cut clutter before GDPR to build lasting relationships
Ask most people who’ve been with their partners for many years about the secret of their romantic success, and the…
Year Ahead: Technologies to drive human engagement
2017 was the year that personalisation, big data, IoT and the use of chatbots really came to the fore in…