Winter World Cup means charities must plan Xmas now
It’s World Cup year again – but UK fans hoping for a summer festival of football will have to shelve…
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Check out Google Analytics 4.0 now, before it’s too late
As we all probably know by now, Google Analytics 3 (GA3) is being phased out on July 1, 2023 but…
Bank on emotional capital or risk sinking without trace
Marketing history is full of gory PR disasters, but there are few roles you’d hate to have had recently more…
Bye bye Don Draper, hello collective specialist agencies
The agency long held the answer to creative questions. A generalist proposition, wielding all the marketing prowess a client could…
How anti-vax data can help us tackle the nation’s ills
Those who aren’t vaccinated against Covid may find themselves in a more vulnerable position than before: some risk losing their…
Four steps to building an intelligent retention strategy
Marketers are increasingly recognising that building an effective loyalty programme is crucial for the long-term prospects of any business, especially…
As restrictions lift, can retailers out-play their rivals?
Covid restrictions might be being scrapped this week, but most businesses still face months of uncertainty, none more so than…
Will analytics arms race shape the future of marketing?
Brands have reviewed the strategic use of analytics within marketing, coming to understand the strong growth that it brings. As…
Why you should be using local and location specific SEO
Have you ever used Google to search for a business’s opening times or to find ‘x y z near me’?…
Spooner on… where on Earth will the Metaverse go?
No time today for the now-traditional introductory remarks about the miseries of my life in servitude to that charismatic brute,…
Get to grips with data hygiene if you want to clean up
The Government’s recent data protection consultation is designed to ensure the principles outlined in GDPR are clearer. As the report…
Home-movers set to rebuild the economy during 2022
“Everything’s going to be alright,” wrote the IPA’s director general in early December. Marketing budgets are up, having received the…
Never mind Plan B, brands need a plan C for Covid
How different does January 2022 look to January 2021? Swap Omicron with Delta and there are undeniable commonalities – albeit…
Three lessons for marketers to thrive in the year ahead
There is little doubt that the past two years have been a massive learning curve for business coping with a…
How the data industry will emerge from the Covid crisis
During any crisis, some businesses fail, and some thrive. The outcome generally is that those who thrive, do so in…
Why marketing to the whole human will thrive in 2022
The pandemic has been the ultimate crisis moment – one that has demanded radical and immediate reactions from governments, businesses…
Three reasons to review your agency contracts in 2022
As brands head towards the new year and plan what, in many markets, could be yet another unpredictable 12 months,…
Why the home life data revolution is set to accelerate
As technology takes a greater hold of people’s lives – extending from gadgets and personal devices to their entire living…
Don’t stop us now: Time for brands to act on cookies
Advertisers were having such a good time until the end of the third-party cookies was announced and measurement solutions such…
Spooner on: The Ghost of Christmas Overdone, 2021
Imagine my delight when I was invited by the jovial, debonair Lord McKelvey to ‘sit in the servants’ kitchen and…
Why you don’t need to know your customers’ shoe size
There is a common misconception that brands need access to every data point imaginable to understand and market to their…
Utility brands must protect customers; and themselves
Over the past few weeks, the UK’s energy crisis has been a huge cause of concern for both utility brands…
Five steps to case study brilliance to open new biz tap
Your clients think your work’s hot. That’s brilliant. Then let’s warm up some new business by using your expended graft……
How to stop repeating the CRM mistakes of the past
In a post lockdown economy, businesses in every sector are adjusting to change. Staff turnover has reached unprecedented heights as…
Combining datasets without compromising on trust
The rapid adoption of technology to optimise every aspect of our lives not only generates large volumes of data around…
Why swapping data for pints could leave a bad taste
The Information Commissioner’s Office has been all over the news this week suggesting consumers should be wary about sharing data…
Top tips for charities to boost donations this Christmas
As we take our summer holidays, let’s not forget that Christmas is on its way and charities would do well…
Personalised inserts can beat SEO and PPC all day long
With more shoppers having turned to online purchasing as a result of the pandemic, consumers’ screens, email in-boxes and social…
Spooner on: The importance of good manners for all
A terrible scrabbling and clattering woke me at first light this morning. Throwing back the ragged, moth- and rat-eaten curtains…
Why prioritising 100% data accuracy is a mistake
Now more than ever, it is constantly drilled into marketers that decisions must be data driven and the prerequisite for…
Opportunity knocks with demise of third-party cookies
Did you know that the number of car accidents following lockdown #1 shot up? The reason for this is quite…
Which system will best replace third-party cookies?
As part of Google’s post-cookie roadmap, it has announced it won’t be using alternative identifiers in its products. Identity solutions…
Are you listening? Why CX is crucial to brand reputation
Prior to the advent of digital marketing and social media, brands were able to craft their own reputations. From billboards…
Rubbish in; rubbish out: How to reduce algorithmic bias
Machine learning and analytics are big business. Forbes has estimated that the market will be worth a staggering $21bn (£14.9bn)…
Sustainable business is about protecting all our futures
For a long time, being sustainable has been seen through an altruistic filter and, in that light, brands could pick…
Time for marketers to ditch outdated consumer cages
Why is our urge to label our customers so pervasive? One simple answer: This is the way our brains work….
Why demand for B2B agencies is at an all-time high
One of the major industry themes you’ll no doubt have seen across the past year has been network groups posting…
Nudge marketing can get the nation back on its feet
Boris Johnson has recently outlined another potential incentive scheme, this time in an attempt to try to combat rising cases…
Is your data strategy ostracising millions of consumers?
Lockdown’s been hard for people working and studying at home. I don’t need to tell you that. Access to physical…
Five golden rules of devising an ecommerce strategy
In many industries today, brands view ecommerce as an economic saviour. As traditional distribution channel prosperity suffers, mostly due to…
Spooner on…The benefits of signing the woke pledge
I am worried about Lord McKelvey. Whilst draining the moat of the smaller Bavarian Castle Folly at his vast Sussex…
How data science is now the ‘white heat’ of marketing
Data science used to be shrouded in mystery, a scientific process usually carried out by the IT department or esoteric…
Why home-movers are still hot property despite Covid
It has long been known that home-movers are big business. In fact, research shows that this group of consumers contribute…
CES 2021 will be a true test of the online experience
They say necessity is the mother of invention. The greatest technological and social advances are often borne from times of…
Why are we still discouraging girls from studying STEM?
The advice I was given when leaving school was that I should consider a career as a secretary, nurse or…
Spooner on…Covid Christmas is turning us all Crackers
Waitrose & John Lewis & Partners, Adam & Eve/DDB I have a lot of sympathy for Waitrose and John Lewis…
Thinking of giving client services the boot? Think again
Ours is an industry based around empathy. After all, we spend much of our working day asking: “If I were…
Spooner on…why it’s good to talk during troubled times
Well, well, well. As I write this, my 39th column for Lord McKelvey’s proud and prestigious organ, we find that…
Agile not fragile: Checking out the new retail landscape
Most businesses in the retail and ecommerce sector are seeking maps to navigate the new landscape, with new types of…
How to beat the algorithms and let ad creativity shine
Enthusiasm for automated technology in marketing has never been stronger. Gartner’s latest study forecasts that tech will take the lion’s…