Tech behemoths maintain brand dominance as sustainability is key, says Kantar

Tech companies continue to dominate the biggest global brand lists - as the latest ranking from WPP and Kantar shows the largest brands are in a solid position to recover and thrive post-Covid-19.

The 2020 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking saw Amazon retain top spot and Apple again secure second place, with Microsoft and Google swapping places for third and fourth. The latter was down to a 30% brand value change for Microsoft compared with last year, although this...

30 June 2020 | Branding

How marketing can be a force for good – with Covid-19 helping showcase brand empathy

A few weeks ago, I was all set to appear at Big Data AI World, on a panel about the impact of AI on ethical marketing and advertising. It occurred to me that the subject matter was quite niche when the broader issue – marketing for good – is immense and wide-reaching. I wondered therefore if there was any appetite for readers here to find out more about why and how I believe marketing can be a force for good.

In fact, I didn’t get around to writing until this weekend,...

14 April 2020 | Branding

Gillette, Unilever, TOMS Footwear: Three strong examples of purpose-led marketing

DTC brands are eating CPG companies' proverbial lunch and upending conventional retail models. The secret to success is rooted in their go-to-market strategy, which is based on espousing values shared by their consumer base. These shared values in turn fuel purpose; publicly standing for something emasses legions of fierce brand loyalists who share the same beliefs. These consumers, many of whom are the all-desirable younger generations, act as a catalyst for growth through vigorous...

7 April 2020 | Best Practice

Stop hurting yourself, SEO: Why the industry needs to get its house in order – quickly

Opinion Marketing is coming to terms with a new world order. Until last year, that looked like a gradual but fairly smooth transition. In 2019, two of its industries took a beating.

One was advertising. The other was SEO. While the advertising industry was being attacked, by and large, by aggressors outside its control – an increasingly fragmented media landscape, its own increasing fragmentation, budget and time pressures and a shift in the balance of power between client and...

11 March 2020 | Advertising

CMO evolution: Understanding the need for change but fearing not keeping up

CMOs have a problem. Their role is changing, from exploring customer engagement and adding to the sales pipeline, to one of more consistent growth. Yet a new report warns that a potential recession has led to an overall negative feeling among marketing chiefs.

Chief Outsiders polled more than 50 of its CMO consultants – executives with senior experience at Fortune 500 level now working at mid-sized organisations – last month to give their verdicts.

According to...

9 March 2020 | Advertising

The great data trade-off: Why consumers will still share details – but only for a true value exchange

What do the NHS, Fortnite and US Customs and Border Protection all have in common? The answer may surprise you, but they have all had major data breaches since November 2018.

These sorts of privacy scandals never seem to leave the headlines, and people are right to be concerned about who they share their data with and why. Indeed, data ownership has been a major public concern since the Cambridge Analytica scandal and people are taking steps to control their digital footprints....

21 February 2020 | Best Practice

Facebook explores issues of online content regulation in new whitepaper

Facebook has published a whitepaper which explores the potential need and pitfalls of online content regulation – at the same time CEO Mark Zuckerberg admits his company, and big tech firms in general, need greater scrutiny.

In a paper written by VP content policy Monika Bickert, Facebook notes four primary challenges in regulating internet-based communications: the variance in legal environments and speech norms; the ever-changing development of technology and speech;...

18 February 2020 | Attribution

Twitter reports $1bn in quarterly revenues for the first time – but long-term health remains key

Twitter has reported quarterly revenue figures north of $1 billion for the first time, with 152 million ‘monetisable daily active users’ (mDAUs) representing a 20% hike year over year.

Total revenues for 2019 were at $3.46 billion, an increase of 14% year on year. Of the quarterly figure, 88% of revenues were derived from advertising, with data licensing and other revenues contributing the rest. US revenue comprised just under three-fifths (59%) of total revenues.

7 February 2020 | Advertising

If Lloyd’s wants to change workplace behaviour, it needs to rethink how it judges performance

Opinion Last month, the employees of Lloyd’s of London received an email in which their chief exec, John Neal, urged them to behave appropriately during the ‘particularly challenging time of year’. Considering the date it was sent, December being the time of winding down, drinking up, and, of course, Christmas shindigs, coming after a lawsuit and more than 500 staff reports of sexual harassment over the past year, the powers-that-be at the insurer might have been...

31 January 2020 | Best Practice

Consumers are seeking out eco-friendly beauty brands: Exploring the rise of ‘conscious capitalism’

Meaningful beauty purchases are increasingly driven by how eco-friendly a product is, with shoppers also embracing new technology to choose the products that fit their needs and wants.

Yet despite this, a new BBC3 documentary, Beauty Laid Bare, will reveal how little plastic is actually recycled. The three-part documentary follows four people in their 20s for two weeks across America investigating the secrets of the multi-billion dollar beauty industry and shows how it is one of the...

29 January 2020 | Best Practice